INTRODUCTION

Without creativity, our ancestors may have never looked at a piece of slate and thought it would make a
good tool. Or, entered a cave and decided to paint the walls. Not only is creativity central to what it
means to be human, but it’s also at the heart of innovation and problem-solving. Whether it’s in the
classroom or in a boardroom meeting, creativity is the force that inspires, and educates. It helps
businesses grow, starts social movements, and has the capacity to shape and change our lives in a
million ways every day. With creativity being such an integral part of innovation and inspiration, we
deep dive into what creativity looks like in different parts of the world and the impacts it can have in
broader society.

Creative thinking is an invaluable skill for college students. It's important because it helps you look at
problems and situations from a fresh perspective. Creating thinking is a way to develop novel or
unorthodox solutions that do not depend wholly on past or current solutions.

Creative learning depends on a quality of education where; all young people from every kind of
background are equally recognized as being creative learning engages young people in serious,
meaningful, relevant, imaginative and challenging activities and tasks young people are respected for
their knowledge, experience and capabilities young people have an individual and collective right to
actively shape their education teachers have the power to support, adapt and evaluate learning
experiences for students, exercising their professional judgment schools invest in teacher learning
schools build partnerships with creative individuals and organizations schools enable young people to
participate fully in social and cultural worlds families and local communities can play an inspiring and
purposeful role in young people’s learning.

IMPACT OF CREATIVE LEARNING

The impact of creative learning environments on pupil attainment, confidence, resilience, motivation,
problem-solving, interpersonal skills and school attendance. These findings have implications for policy,
practice and research internationally.

WHAT IS CREATIVE LEARNING?

Creative learning is not memorizing information. It's building knowledge and developing skills using
creative techniques. Rather than dictating how information should be absorbed, creative education—
guides the learner through the instruction process using creative methods.

Creative learning is characterized by:

 Questioning and challenging - There are two types of questions you might be asked when
presenting an idea or project: clarification questions and challenge questions. Clarification
questions are asked when someone is curious or doesn't understand something. Challenge
questions indicate disagreement or concerns about something you've said.
 Making connections and seeing relationships - While connections are about doing and action
and are usually time-constrained, relationships are about being and the experience of
connecting with someone over an extended period of time.
 Envisaging what might be - This involves learners being able to ask “what if?” questions,
imagining and seeing things in the mind's eye, visualizing alternatives and seeing possibilities,
problems and challenges.
 Exploring ideas, keeping options open - keep-your-options-open decisions reliably lead to lower
levels of satisfaction than irreversible ones. In other words, we are significantly less happy with
our choices when we can back out of them.
 Reflecting critically on ideas, actions and outcomes. (Ofsted, 2010)- When you reflect critically,
you use course material (lectures, readings, discussions, etc.) to examine our biases, compare
theories with current actions, search for causes and triggers, and identify problems at their core.

Learning and creativity are intrinsically linked. All learning, like creativity, begins with the learner
receiving information, ideas, feelings and/or sensations that he or she processes through an activity that
can range from thought to individual or collaborative action.
CREATIVITY

Creativity together with collaboration and problem-solving are highlighted as key meta-knowledge
competences that enable educational designers, teachers and of course students to act on their
disciplinary knowledge and develop new forms of personal and collective knowledge about a rapidly
changing world (Kereluik et al., 2013). Channeling the cultivation of such skills in education is crucial
since they are underlined as necessary to support the transition to new ways of thinking, learning and
addressing many of the current and challenging environmental and sustainability challenges of our times
(NewmanStoren, 2014; Sharp et al., 2021). Teaching and learning about these challenges requires all
parties concerned to develop the appropriate dispositions and competences.

 Much of the heavy conceptual lifting around creativity has been done in the areas of psychology,
education and business. The construct of creativity has a great deal to offer educational
psychology. Creativity appears to be an important component of problem-solving and other
cognitive abilities, healthy social and emotional well-being, and scholastic and adult success.
 Creativity can be conceived as an intrinsic end in itself (the consequence, product or outcome)
and as a means to some other end (e.g. innovation, organizational change, health, happiness).
The intrinsic motivation principle states that, when intrinsic motivation is supported by the
social environment, people are more likely to be highly creative.
 In education, creativity 'occupied a murkier position' with it more likely viewed as an on route
indicator of a desired outcome than a valued outcome in its own right. Creativity also directly
enhances learning by increasing motivation, deepening understanding, and promoting joy.
Intrinsic motivation is essential to the creative process—and relies on students pursuing
meaningful goals.
 Creativity often involves in context a 'combination of originality and task appropriateness'.
Creativity is generally defined as the ability to produce work that is novel and appropriate.
Although an original ideal it is not necessary to be appropriate to and viewed as creative,
original ideas are not valued less by being appropriate. However, with unoriginal ideas,
appropriateness may inhibit judgments of creativity.
 In business, creativity is often associated with the development of new ideas, along then with
the implementation of those ideas towards organizational 'success'. Creativity in business is a
way of thinking that inspires, challenges, and helps people to find innovative solutions and
create opportunities out of problems. It's the reason some companies wow us with new,
amazing ideas, whilst others merely follow the beaten path. It's the source of innovation and
inspiration.

Overall, researchers and practitioners agree that creativity is a complex and multi-faceted phenomenon,
which makes a universally accepted definition hard to come by (Harris & Ammerman, 2015; Treffinger et
Al, 2002).

Divergent thinking is important in creative thinking process because it generates a wide range of original
ideas that form the basis of creative thinking. It also plays an active role in this process as it includes
fluency, flexibility, originality and elaboration. Further, creative thinking refers to the originality and
uniqueness of ideas and solutions that did not exist previously. Therefore, divergent thinking helps
creative thinking to construct new and original ideas.

FOUR VIEWS OF CREATIVITY

A though creativity has been long considered only domain-general, different studies showed that
creativity is also domain-specific at both the behavioral. If creativity is domain specific, it means that a
single theory of creativity – such as the theory that divergent thinking is a basic component of all
creative thinking – cannot account for the diversity of creativity across domains.

INDIVIDUALIZED, INDIVIDUALIZED,
SUBJECTIVE-SPECIFIC GENERALIZED
 COLLECTIVE, SUBJECT COLLECTIVE,
SPECIFIC GENERALIZED

J.P. Guilford's “Structure of Intellect” theory proposes a three-dimensional model of intelligence, with
added emphasis on skills cultivated through a liberal arts education. Developed decades ago, the theory
could help guide education policy today.

Creativity helps you think in different ways, approach problems from different angles, and take risks in
order to try something new. Creative thinking could lead to your next million dollar idea (it's led to
plenty of others!).

Treffinger clustered these many attributes into four broad categories:

1. Generating ideas - Idea generation is “the process of creating, developing, and communicating
ideas which are abstract, concrete or visual.” As the first stage in the idea management funnel,
idea generation simply focuses on identifying solutions for a problem.
2. Digging deeper into ideas - The digging deeper into ideas category includes cognitive
characteristics commonly referred to as convergent thinking or critical thinking. The
characteristics in this category include: analyzing, synthesizing, reorganizing or redefining,
evaluating, seeing relationships, desiring to resolve ambiguity or bringing order to disorder,
preferring complexity or understanding complexity.
3. Openness and courage to explore ideas - it require the confidence to examine critically and
challenge authoritarian pronouncements. People who possess these characteristics are not
afraid to express their own beliefs and opinions.
4. Listening to one's 'inner voice' - You’re listening to your inner voice when you feel empowered,
authentic, and peaceful. You will notice that good people and positive experiences are drawn to
you with ease. You are listening to fear and doubt when you feel stagnant, unfulfilled, angry,
and resentful. By listening to your inner voice, you become the creator of your life rather than a
bystander.

Creativity is the interaction between the learning environment, both physical and social, the attitudes
and attributes of both teachers and students, and a clear problem-solving process which produces a
perceptible product (that can be an idea or a process as well as a tangible physical object). Creativity is
producing something new, relevant and useful to the person or people who created the product within
their own social context. The idea of context is very important in education. Something that is very
creative to a Year One student – for example, the discovery that a greater incline on a ramp causes
objects to roll faster – would not be considered creative in a university student. Creativity can also be
used to propose new solutions to problems in different contexts, communities or countries. An example
of this is having different schools solve the same problem and share solutions.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1996) stated that “creativity results from the interaction of a system composed
of three elements: a culture that contains symbolic rules, a person who brings novelty into the symbolic
domain and a field of experts who recognize and validate the innovation”. He discovered that people
find genuine satisfaction during a state of consciousness called Flow. In this state they are completely
absorbed in an activity, especially an activity which involves their creative abilities.

CREATIVITY, INTELLIGENCE AND THINKING

The relationship between intelligence and creativity is that both of them are functions of the brain that
process information to determine a solution or an answer to a problem. Intelligence and creativity are
different abilities that contribute to the other. Intelligence can be measured by the intelligence quotient
or IQ. Creativity, on the other hand, is not so easy to measure. The general belief is that people with
high IQs are generally more creative, and people who are highly creative have high IQs. This isn't
necessarily true. Although scientists have found a correlation between those individuals with an IQ of
120 or more having a higher level of creativity, the relationship between intelligence and creativity is
more of an overlap of skills or abilities instead of a dependence on one another.

The theory of successful intelligence developed and tested by Robert Sternberg attempts to predict
success in life across analytical, creative, and practical dimensions. This article presents the theory of
successful intelligence as a useful framework for incorporating various psychotherapy techniques.
Application of the theory has effectively trained teachers to enhance important skills in normally
functioning children and adolescents, as well as adults in real world settings. Presumably it can be taught
to therapists to be applied in a psychotherapy setting.

Critical thinking features in university syllabi, programs, and classes both in the UK and US and is
considered one of the primary learning outcomes of higher education. Yet empirically we still know very
little about how critical thinking is taught or the extent to which teaching practice is informed by
academic research. Further work is needed to understand teaching practice across disciplines through
the light of critical thinking research.

Students have to learn how to operate in complex world with problem – based approach. On this
course, teachers will learn how to increase students' mathematical, reading and scientific literacy.
Finally, teachers will also solve authentic PISA test, and evaluate the results. PISA defines creative
problem solving as:

'Measures students' capacity to engage in cognitive processing to understand and resolve problem
situations where a method of solution is not immediately obvious. This includes the willingness to
engage with such situations in order to achieve one’s potential as a constructive and reflective citizen.'

A “problem” exists when a person has a goal but does not know how to achieve it. In order to reach
their goal, individuals must overcome barriers such as a lack of relevant knowledge or strategies.
“Problem solving” thus refers to transforming a given situation into a goal situation, when no obvious
method of solution is available.

A working mod of creative learning in action

As a result of a relatively small initial grant from the Asia Education Foundation three years ago, Rooty
Hill High School has shifted its focus from doing an Asia Literacy ‘project’ to a much more inclusive and
expansive program that involves hosting the western Sydney region Confucius Classroom.

1. Inquisitive. Wondering and questioning - Exploring and investigating - Challenging assumption.

Inquisitiveness is intellectual curiosity. It is the tendency to want to know things, even if they are
not immediately or obviously useful. It is being curious and eager to acquire new knowledge and
to learn the explanations for things even when the applications of that new learning are not
immediately apparent.
2. Persistent. Sticking with difficulty - Daring to be different - Tolerating uncertainly. Someone who
is persistent continues trying to do something, even though it is difficult or other people are
against it.
3. Imaginative. Playing with possibilities - Making connections - Using intuition. To be imaginative is
to be inventive and original. If you enjoy coming up with stories, writing songs, or just thinking
about things in new ways, you're an imaginative person. Great painters, musicians, and writers
are imaginative.
4. Collaborative. Sharing the product - Giving and receiving feedbacks - Cooperating appropriately.
A collaborative person can take feedback and implement changes based on what others think;
they can also give others constructive feedback that helps improve what they're working on.
5. Disciplined. Developing techniques - Reflecting critically - Crafting and Improving. Disciplined
people are true to their word. When they make a decision to do something, it's set in stone, and
they don't even need an accountability partner to keep them on track. If you've worked with
someone who is disciplined you have likely seen how others benefit from their organization and
reliability.
WHY CREATIVITY MATTERS

Creativity allows us to view and solve problems more openly and with innovation. Creativity opens the
mind. A society that has lost touch with its creative side is an imprisoned society, in that generations of
people may be closed minded. It broadens our perspectives and can help us overcome prejudices.

What is the broader case for creativity being important today?

The creative economy has no single definition. It is an evolving concept which builds on the interplay
between human creativity and ideas and intellectual property, knowledge and technology. Essentially it
is the knowledge-based economic activities upon which the 'creative industries' are based. Countries
around the world rely on the creative economy to produce jobs and growth, to stimulate innovation, to
fuel tourism, and to promote culture.

This strongly suggests that Scotland's performance suffers from being tied to an increasingly outmoded
economic and social model and would benefit from applying lessons from the different models . We
have identified five key transformational programmes of action that can drive improvements in
Scotland's economy: stimulating entrepreneurship; opening new markets; increasing productivity;
developing the skills we need for the decade ahead; and ensuring fairer and more equal economic
opportunities.

Shanghai and Hong Kong as examples of innovation. The main lessons include the government’s
abandonment of a system built around “key schools” for a small elite and its development of a more
inclusive system in which all students are expected to perform at high levels; greatly raising teacher pay
and upgrading teacher standards and teacher education; reducing the emphasis on rote learning and
increasing the emphasis on deep understanding, the ability to apply knowledge to solving new problems
and the ability to think creatively.

The PISA 2012 Creative Problem Solving assessment focused on students’ general reasoning skills, their
ability to regulate problem-solving processes, and their willingness to do so, by confronting students
with problems that do not require expert knowledge to solve.