A sample of pupils, teachers and parents in each school were asked about their understanding of creativity and its links to schooling using these questionnaires.
The findings in general showed that understanding of the concept of creativity is not clear and that it varied considerably between parents, staff and children. For example, in the UK school, only a third of staff but over half of parents and 56% of children thought that some people are just born creative. Parents (50%) were much less likely than teachers (92%) or pupils (64%) to believe that creative people can find good jobs in the future.
Some answers were contradictory as the questions were phrased in different ways in order to elicit a nuanced understanding of people’s perceptions.
In a survey of 12 staff, 25 pupils and 4 parents in the UK school:
96% of pupils, 92% of staff and 100% of parents thought creativity was about imagination. Half of the staff but no students or parents though it was about problem solving. Half of the staff but no parents and only 12% of pupils thought creativity was about taking risks. Children were more likely to associate it with crazy ideas!
Art and English were seen to be the two school subjects that offer the most potential for developing creativity in all groups who took part in the survey while Maths and Geography were seen as the subjects offering the least potential. A quarter of parents and a third of staff also saw science as a subject with low potential for developing creativity.
Creativity was linked by most respondents to composing music and producing art. However a large number of parents (50%) and staff (58%) also associated creativity with trying different ways to solve maths questions (despite their answers elsewhere in the survey) and different ways to win computer games (75% of parents, 58% of staff). However for pupils these figures were lower at 25% and 40% respectively.
Most respondents agreed that creativity is about perseverance, using your imagination, collaboration, being curious, adapting and improving exiting ideas. However only 25% of parents and 20% of children thought it was about being disciplined.
Baseline Survey: Latvia
The results in Latvian school showed that understanding of the concept of creativity
differs and is not clear among parents, staff and children. All respondents agreed that creativity is important to be developed and it is not waste of time. To their mind, only some people are just born creative.
In the Latvian school 10 teachers, 15 pupils and 11 parents participated in the survey.
When asked what creativity is, all children answered it is imagination, 80% of them said it is unusual idea and some mentioned design and originality. Large number of parents (90%) and stuff (90%) associated creativity with originality, 72% of parents and half of stuff named imagination and unusual ideas as the important features of creativity. Like parents, teachers did not mention design as an important part of creativity.
Art and Handicraft were seen to be the two school subjects that develop creativity in all groups who took part in the survey while Math and Sport were seen as the subjects offering the least potential for it. However, children did not believe that school subjects develop creativity.
Large number of children (87%) did not agree that students with high IQs are more
creative than ordinary students. Parents and stuff mostly did not agree with it.
All teachers and children but 81% of parents thought that creative people can find a good job in the future.
90% of parents, 70% of teachers and 80% of children thought collaboration was about creativity. Half of teachers and children, but no parents thought creative children don’t like following school discipline rules. However only 9% of parents, 50% of teachers and 20% of children thought being disciplined is important.
Teachers (50%) were much less likely than parents (72%) or pupils (100%) to believe
that creativity is about adapting and improving existing ideas.
Baseline Survey: Croatia
In Croatian school 19 pupils, 13 teachers and 15 parents participated in the survey.
Most of our pupils (68%) considered the creativity to be originality, breaking rules and unusual ideas. The majority of parents (53%) picked almost the same: originality, unusual ideas, but they added problem solving. Our teachers, however, mostly agreed (77%) that the creativity is creation, taking risks and problem solving.
Pupils, teachers and parents all agreed (100%) that Art and Crafts is the subject that offers most potential for developing creativity. The majority of pupils and parents chose Music as the second one, and the teachers agreed on ICT.
On the other hand, most of the teachers, pupils and parents considered that Maths, Physics, History and Biology offer the least potential for developing creativity.
As for the dwarfs, 100% of the pupils, teachers and parents picked the 3rd dwarf as the most creative one (musician/ composer). Other answers were the 2nd (drawing), the 5th (problem solving) and the 7th (games) dwarf.
Moreover, pupils in general (63%) thought that some people are just born creative and that they were more creative outside school. Teachers, on the other hand, considered creativity to be very important in problem solving and a valuable asset which would help them find a good job in the future.
Most pupils (89%) didn’t agree that pupils with higher IQs are more creative than others.
The definition of creativity for our pupils was originality, curiosity and being different. The teachers and parents considered taking risks, originality, unusual ideas, resourcefulness and problem solving to be the essence of creativity.
Baseline Survey: Turkey
In the Turkish school 63 students,32 teachers and 41 parents participated in the survey. Most of the participants ( 92% of pupils, 89% teachers and 78%parents) considered creativity as imagination,creativity and design.None of the participants considered creativity to be relevant with risk taking,problem solving and running out of rules.
The majority of the participants (99% of teachers,95% students and 81% parents) considered the courses Art And Craft, Technology and Design and Music to be the most supportive courses for creativity.On the other hand, the same group agreed that Maths, Science and Physical Education were the least supportive courses to improve creativity.
The participants repled the Snow White and the Seven Dwarf question in direct proportion with the previous questions. The majority of the participants associated (94% all the participants) creativity with high IQs and being talented in drawing and music composing. Large number of pupils and parents (87%) contrary to teachers agreed that students with high IQs are more creative than ordinary students. All participants thought that creative people can find a good job in the future and creativity was about imagination and curiosity.Unfortunately,the pupils mostly agreed on the idea that they were more creative outside school and the school was an obstacle to improve their creativity.In addition,the majority of the pupils and parents didn’t find a connection between creativity and patience and collaboration. Moreover,all of the participants disagreed on the idea that improving creativity was a waste of time
Baseline Survey: Poland
In the Polish school 16 students,10 teachers and 16 parents participated in the survey. Most of the participants ( 80%) agreed that creativity is important to be developed .Only few parents considered creativity to be relevant with risk taking, problem solving and running out of rules.
The majority of the participants (90% of teachers,87% students and 87% parents) considered the courses Art And Craft, Technology and Design and Music to be the most supportive courses for creativity.On the other hand, the same group agreed that Maths, Science and Physical Education were the least supportive courses to improve creativity.
The majority of the participants associated (80% of teachers,81% students and 87% parents) creativity with high IQs and being talented in drawing and music composing. Large number of pupils and parents (over 80% of all participants) agreed that students with high IQs are more creative than ordinary students. Most participants thought that creative people can find a good job in the future and creativity was about imagination and curiosity. 50% of students agreed on the idea that they were more creative outside school and the school was an obstacle to improve their creativity. More than half (56%) of the students and parents didn’t find a connection between creativity and patience and collaboration. Most of the participants (over 80%) disagreed on the idea that improving creativity was a waste of time.
