POINTS OF DEPARTURE

The ‘art’ of creative teaching: implications for higher education

Robyn Gibson*

Undergraduate and Preservice Programs, Faculty of Education and Social Work, University ofSydney, NSW, Australia

Richard Florida’s The rise of the creative class (2002) delivered a strong wake-up call to higher education institutions worldwide. By linking creativity totechnological innovation and economic prosperity, Florida argued that univer-sities and colleges should nurture creativity in their students. But for many years,the higher education enterprise has been criticised for dampening creativity ratherthan fostering it. This paper explores the subversive nature of creativity, the valueof creative teaching and proposes a number of strategies higher education shouldconsider if they hope to graduate the future leaders of twenty-first century society.

Keywords: creativity; ‘the creative class’; creative teaching; student-centeredlearning

Introduction

In recent years, creativity per se has been heralded as a means with which to solve a

plethora of social, political and economic problems facing the twenty-first century.

In response, creativity as an area of educational research has grown with a number of

educators and researchers suggesting strategies to cultivate creativity in educational

contexts. Others have sought to discuss those factors which may impede or evenblock creative behaviour in the classroom.

Background

The publication of cultural critic, Richard Florida’s The rise of the creative class

(2002) delivered a strong wake-up call to higher education institutions in Europe,

North America and Australia since it had profound implications for educational

priorities and curricula. In his subsequent text, The flight of the creative class (2005),Florida linked creativity to technological innovation and economic prosperity. As

such, it provides a powerful mandate for universities and colleges worldwide to

nurture creativity in their students. However, an environment that supports creativity

is one that encourages risk-taking, independence and flexibility. This has significant

implications for pedagogy (Haring-Smith 2006) since for many years, the higher

education enterprise has been criticised for dampening creativity rather than

fostering it.

The intention of this short article is threefold. In exploring the subversive natureof creativity, I propose that it runs counter to many of the dominant influences in

current higher education learning. In challenging a status quo which might be

*Email: robyn.gibson@sydney.edu.au

Teaching in Higher Education

Vol. 15, No. 5, October 2010, 607�613

ISSN 1356-2517 print/ISSN 1470-1294 online

# 2010 Taylor & Francis

DOI: 10.1080/13562517.2010.493349

http://www.informaworld.com

characterised as ‘teacher-centred’, I argue for the value of creative teaching as

opposed to transmissive pedagogy. Finally, I provide a number of creative

mechanisms tertiary institutions should consider if they hope to recruit and graduate

‘the natural � indeed the only possible � leaders of 21st century society’ (Florida

2002, 315).

Creativity defined

According to Eisner (2005), boundary pushing, inventing, boundary breaking and

aesthetic organising are key features of the development of creativity. Yet the issue of

creativity is multi-faceted and open to disparate and often contradictory definitions.

In fact, Sternberg (2006) argues that ‘creativity as a problem of study is large,

unwieldy, and hard to grasp’ (3).Creativity has often been viewed as a somewhat mystical phenomenon � consider

the visitation of the muse or serendipitous inspiration (Haring-Smith 2006). Yet, our

understanding of it has grown through systematic study over the past 50 years. Prior

to this, only 0.2% of all entries in Psychological Abstracts pertained to creativity.

Since then researchers have observed and analysed creativity in subjects ranging

from eminent scholars and artists to young children and even painting elephants

(Florida 2002).

Early research into creativity often viewed it as analogous to intellectual ability

and devised various tests to measure it in those exceptional individuals with the

‘appropriate’ personality traits. Today, creativity is no longer considered synonymous

with intelligence. A fact known to Albert Einstein when he commented ‘imagination

is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the

world’ (1929) more than 80 years ago.

Creativity involves the ability to create meaningful, new forms. It ‘uncovers,

selects, re-shuffles, combines and synthesises already existing facts, ideas, faculties

and skills’ (Koestler 1964, 120). But it also requires self-assurance and the ability to

take risks. Boden (1990) in The Creative Mind argues that creativity:

involves not only a passionate interest but self-confidence too. A personneeds a healthyself-respect to pursue novel ideas and to [ultimately] make mistakes; despite the criticismfrom others. (255)

Like teaching, creativity must be viewed as a subversive act since it disturbs and

disrupts existing patterns of thought (Florida 2002). It is a capacity inherent to

varying degrees in virtually everyone. Unfortunately, it is an ability that seems to

diminish commensurate with the number of years devoted to formal education. If we

are to believe the figures of the often-cited Robinson Report (Robinson 2000) we find

that by the age of 5, a child’s potential for creativity is 98%; by the age of 10, this

figure has dropped to 30%; at 15 it is just 12%; and by the time we reach adulthood,

our creativity has plummeted to a mere 2%.

If each of us is or can be creative to a lesser or greater degree if given appropriate

opportunities, often referred to as ‘small c creativity’ than imagination is a key

component. To support this argument, Haring-Smith (2006) states that:

608 R. Gibson

If all individuals have the potential to be creative and if creativity is a process that can bedissected and therefore taught, then colleges anduniversities can work to createcurricula, pedagogies, co-curricula programming and a general institutional environ-ment to support creative development. (2)

How do we go about fostering creativity in institutions of higher learning? How do

we create places where creative individuals thrive? ‘Environments that let them becreative � that value their input, challenge them, have mechanisms for mobilising

resources around ideas and are receptive to both small changes and the occasional

big idea?’ (Florida 2002, 40). Without doubt, the educational environment plays a

significant role in developing students’ creative expression. In response to this,

Csikszentmihalyi (1988) has suggested that the most fundamental question in

creativity is ‘where is creativity’, not ‘what is creativity’. Therefore, we need to ask

ourselves, is ‘it’ to be found in our universities and colleges?

Creativity and higher education

Such institutions are bestowed with the responsibility of producing future leaders in

all fields of endeavour. But are we graduating members of the so-called ‘creative

class’. A group of individuals Florida (2002) maintains has and will continue to

shape deep and profound shifts in the way we work, in our values, and in every aspect

of our lives. Apparently they are the students educators love to teach. Intelligent,

open-minded risk takers who enjoy tackling challenges, value diversity and engage in

flexible and creative problem solving (Haring-Smith 2006). Not surprisingly, this new

class is reliant on the creative process as a mode of being, thinking and knowing. Buthave academics recognised and responded to the needs of these creative learners?

Bourner and Flowers (1997) state that the time when academics in higher

education could simply replicate the teaching methods that they experienced as

students is quickly drawing to an end. In part, this is due to a falling level of real

resource per student, an increasing focus on teaching quality and developments in

the technologies used for communicating and disseminating information. While

Bourner and Flowers call for greater effectiveness and great efficiency in learning and

teaching, I would place greater levels of creative teaching at the forefront of thiswider debate.

Creative teaching

Advocates of creative teaching argue that it results in deeper understanding among

learners (Bereiter 2002; Sawyer 2004). According to Simon and Hicks (2006)

integrating creative styles of learning and teaching in our educational practices is not

only timely but necessary if our students are to be offered opportunities to explore

their own creativity and come to ‘know’ without the pressure of formal modes of

learning and assessment.

Creative teaching requires an openness to experience, a willingness to take risksand healthy amounts of flexibility, spontaneity and open-mindedness (Ewing and

Gibson 2007). Sawyer (2004) maintains that creative teaching should be viewed as

disciplined improvisation because it always occurs within broad structures and

existing frameworks. Within the creative classroom, there is a balance between

Teaching in Higher Education 609

structure and script, flexibility and improvisation. Moreover, creative teaching

acknowledges the active participation of students including opportunities for

inquiry-based learning, constructivism, project-based learning and collaborative

learning. It emphasises negotiation and collaboration in inquiry (Sawyer 2004).Grainger, Barnes, and Scoffham (2004) have explored the nature of creative

teaching in university courses as disparate as geography, music and English. They argue

that creative teaching is a complex yet invigorating cocktail and have identified a

number of themes associated with creative teaching. These include contextualisation,

using metaphor, style and pace of delivery, tutor confidence and ability to inspire,

valuing students, emotional engagement and challenging students to reflect upon their

own learning.

How do we go about fostering creativity in our students through the use ofcreative teaching methods? Amabile’s (1983) work on creativity and motivation

highlights the importance of giving students and for that matter, faculty as much free

reign as possible in their endeavours. It is here that we find an on-going tension

between creativity and organisation. Elements of organisation including universities

can and frequently do stifle creativity. Creative people experience and often cultivate

a blurring of time. Artists, musicians, writers, scientists, inventors and many creative

students have erratic and irregular schedules, working from home and seemingly

playing at work (Florida 2002). This is because creativity cannot be switched on andoff at predetermined times � it does not always fit neatly into a university timetable.

Furthermore, Amabile’s (1983) research found that creative individuals produce

higher quality work when they are motivated by personal commitment rather than

extrinsic rewards. This conclusion has interesting implications for the grading

systems used by most universities of higher learning.

We know that creativity and knowledge flourish in communities that

embrace diversity, collaboration and interdisciplinarity (Cutler 2003, x). Creative

people gravitate to centres of creativity. From classical Athens and Rome, toFlorence during the Renaissance, to the Left Bank of Paris at the beginning of the

twentieth century; communities that provide stimulation, diversity and a richness of

experience. These are the very initiatives that we, in higher education need to pursue.

Creative strategies

In an educational setting such as a university or college, an environment which

contributes positively to the development of creative potential is likely to includeadequate time for creative thinking; rewarding creative ideas, thoughts and products;

encouraging risk-taking; allowing mistakes; imagining from various perspectives;

questioning assumptions (Sternberg and Williams, 1996); identifying interests and

problems; generating multiple hypotheses; focusing on broad ideas rather than

narrow facts and thinking about the thinking process (Starko 1995). Furthermore,

according to Amabile (1989) competition, restricted choices; conforming pressures,

evaluation, frequent failures and rote learning can easily destroy creativity in any

educational setting.As an arts educator, I am offered ample opportunities to teach creatively and

thereby encourage and facilitate the growth of creativity in my students. Yet like

many, I work at a university which accepts potential graduates based on a

competitive ranking system, which continues with a transmissive pedagogical process

610 R. Gibson

that being, mass lectures and seems to delight in final semester, stress-inducing

examinations.

Traditionally, teachers in higher education have focused on imparting content

knowledge rather than on considering how different students learn and which

strategies might in fact, promote that learning. In her paper ‘Creative teaching:

Effective learning in higher education’ (2007), Cornish argues that ‘we need to designlearning activities that are supported by instruction and modelling, that include a

collaborative and problem-solving element, that are engaging and relevant, and that

require both reflection and articulation of that reflection’ (4). However, she

concludes that it is not enough to restrict this approach to learning activities,

assessment tasks must also incorporate these skills.

The issue is complex but not unmanageable. How do we go about implementing a

student-centred approach that focuses on active learning and healthy doses of

creative activity? It is apparent that students are demanding more relevance and ‘real

learning’ in the university courses (Sotto 1994). We need to listen to, and

acknowledge, the student ‘voice’. A highly successful mechanism for empowering

students and thereby encouraging them to take ownership of their own learning is

through curriculum negotiation.

Negotiating the curriculum is a process in which students have an active voice in

the design and content in both the learning journey itself and its outcomes (Boomer

1992). It aims to alleviate the power relations between student and teacher and

thereby create a student-centred environment. From experience, many universitystudents are initially uncomfortable about taking hold of their own professional

autonomy since they have often gone through a primary, secondary and tertiary

system of education that rewards conformity. A process that has diminished their

creativity levels to a mere 2%. The situation is dire but one which the higher

education enterprise needs to address.

Asking students to take ownership of their learning requires them to develop the

capacity to plan and manage their own learning and to make the conceptual shift

from learning a subject to becoming an active problem solver. Using curriculum

negotiation encourages students to become active participants in their own learning.

If employing this approach, it would be incongruous to then assess this learning

via traditional, expository essays or multiple-choice examinations. If, as Ramsden

(2003) suggests, assessment should be used to encourage interest, commitment and

intellectual challenge, it is imperative to utilise authentic assessment as an on-going

learning activity in order to make it a more qualitative function of learning.

However, in many higher education institutions, assessment is flawed since studentsrarely play a role in determining exactly how they will be assessed. Furthermore,

assessment is rarely integrated into the learning process. Instead, it is often seen as a

separate entity (Ewing and Gibson 2009). I offer my students a range of alternate

modes of assessment that complements their unique style of learning. My aim is to

involve the students as much as possible in the formulation and manner of the

assessment as a means of exploring the meanings and consequences of ‘flexibility’ in

learning (National Advisory Committee 1995). This flexibility is evident in the range

of innovative assessment options I offer the students and my willingness to take other

possibilities on board. For example, students can present a rationale for the Creative

Arts via an artform such as photography, performance or musical composition. They

can detail their ‘learning journey’ through the course using a reflective scrapbook

Teaching in Higher Education 611

which incorporates both text and image. The manner in which the assessment task

can be delivered � written, electronic, performance or visual modes � is also

negotiated. Marking these assignments is time-consuming but never tedious.

But how can we persuade university lecturers that this process is worthwhile?

Many lecturers teach undergraduate classes of 100� students and face enormous

pressures on their time especially within the current higher education climate. Once

again, we need to think creatively. If assessment involves us (teachers) in learning

from our students’ experiences, why do we assume that this needs to occur on an

individual basis? Academics need to consider the use of partnerships or learning

teams who can work collaboratively on the assessment task. The use of peer

assessment is another option that may offer more time and space for the lecturer to

actually get to know the students in their classes.

The process of creative teaching is ‘typified by experimentation, trial and error,

[sometimes] a reluctance to ‘‘let go’’ control of the teaching situation, exhaustion as

seemingly ever-more effort is put into planning new activities and assessment tasks,

and most of all by creativity’ (Cornish 2007, 7). But the possibilities are unlimited.

Conclusion

Debates continue about the purposes of higher education and how these are

prioritised depending on those involved. Clearly there is a tension between the

intellectual concerns of universities and colleges and the development of skills with

which to meet the economic needs of society (Rowland 2006). I am conscious,

however, that creativity is often omitted from these debates. Yet by fostering

creativity in our students, we learn about our own teaching and ultimately become

more creative teachers.

It seems clear that if we, in higher education institutions hope to produce

individuals who will succeed in our complex and rapidly changing world, the focus

must remain firmly on creativity as an essential capacity. One that must be nurtured,

valued and acknowledged as the key to our future!

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