Should creativity be
emphasised within The
National Curriculum?
Research 2:
developing
understanding
MOD001293
, Literature review
Should creativity be emphasised within The National Curriculum?
When I started researching the general topic of creativity I found that there aren’t any
certain definitions of the word, making it difficult to explain. To ‘create’ means bringing
something new to the world, that did not already exist. The Oxford dictionary (2014) defines
creativity as ‘The use of imagination or originals ideas, especially in the production of an
artistic work’ which suggests that creativity comes from an individual’s imagination. The
National advisory committee on creative and cultural Education (1999) defines it as ‘An
imaginative activity fashioned so as to yield an outcome that is of value as well as original’
confirming the notion that creativity comes from within, and means to be original or
originate a new idea. In this literature review I intend to examine the key themes related to
creativity and answer the question ‘should creativity be emphasised in the national
curriculum?’ I will do this by carrying out a critical review of literature related to my topic
found within academic books and journals.
During my extensive search into creativity, I found there to be three main themes that are
discussed throughout the literature. The common topics are; how creativity supports
learning development, the use of generating creative thinkers for the wider society, and the
barriers to fostering creativity within the curriculum. These themes were the main point of
most of the academic reading and so from this I developed my research question. I decided
to study into creativity as I am a fond believer of how creativity encourages free thinkers
within the classroom and I wanted to gain a wider and more detailed knowledge on the
subject in general. I also chose this topic as I recently completed a module (creativity and
pedagogy in Education) that left me asking questions about creativity in the classroom, for
example how is creativity assessed? Could it be used as a lesson in itself, rather than to
guide other lessons? And are teachers trained to teach creatively or is it something that
comes naturally?
Theme 1; generating creative thinkers for the wider society
The first theme within my topic that I found to be widely discussed, was how teaching
creativity can benefit our society, rather than the individual pupil. I found 3 main pieces of
research necessary to developing my understanding within this theme. The first of which
was Robinson (2000) that states teaching creativity to young children will enable them to
possess a set of core skills that they will need in later life in order to enhance future
production, and as a form of cultural capital needed for useful participation in the wider
society. In his book he suggests creativity is extremely important ability needed in later life
for handling the problems and challenges associated with the unpredictable economic
future of our society. It is apparent within his work that Robinson (2000) believes that
creativity must be emphasised within the curriculum in order to create effective workers in
1|Page
emphasised within The
National Curriculum?
Research 2:
developing
understanding
MOD001293
, Literature review
Should creativity be emphasised within The National Curriculum?
When I started researching the general topic of creativity I found that there aren’t any
certain definitions of the word, making it difficult to explain. To ‘create’ means bringing
something new to the world, that did not already exist. The Oxford dictionary (2014) defines
creativity as ‘The use of imagination or originals ideas, especially in the production of an
artistic work’ which suggests that creativity comes from an individual’s imagination. The
National advisory committee on creative and cultural Education (1999) defines it as ‘An
imaginative activity fashioned so as to yield an outcome that is of value as well as original’
confirming the notion that creativity comes from within, and means to be original or
originate a new idea. In this literature review I intend to examine the key themes related to
creativity and answer the question ‘should creativity be emphasised in the national
curriculum?’ I will do this by carrying out a critical review of literature related to my topic
found within academic books and journals.
During my extensive search into creativity, I found there to be three main themes that are
discussed throughout the literature. The common topics are; how creativity supports
learning development, the use of generating creative thinkers for the wider society, and the
barriers to fostering creativity within the curriculum. These themes were the main point of
most of the academic reading and so from this I developed my research question. I decided
to study into creativity as I am a fond believer of how creativity encourages free thinkers
within the classroom and I wanted to gain a wider and more detailed knowledge on the
subject in general. I also chose this topic as I recently completed a module (creativity and
pedagogy in Education) that left me asking questions about creativity in the classroom, for
example how is creativity assessed? Could it be used as a lesson in itself, rather than to
guide other lessons? And are teachers trained to teach creatively or is it something that
comes naturally?
Theme 1; generating creative thinkers for the wider society
The first theme within my topic that I found to be widely discussed, was how teaching
creativity can benefit our society, rather than the individual pupil. I found 3 main pieces of
research necessary to developing my understanding within this theme. The first of which
was Robinson (2000) that states teaching creativity to young children will enable them to
possess a set of core skills that they will need in later life in order to enhance future
production, and as a form of cultural capital needed for useful participation in the wider
society. In his book he suggests creativity is extremely important ability needed in later life
for handling the problems and challenges associated with the unpredictable economic
future of our society. It is apparent within his work that Robinson (2000) believes that
creativity must be emphasised within the curriculum in order to create effective workers in
1|Page
