Creativity as an area of educational research continues to grow and these findings have had an impact on educational objectives, instructional strategies, and the physical school environment (Torrance, 1972; Torrance, 1983). Creativity has been considered an important skill for the 21st-century workforce and has now become a desirable student-learning outcome within educational programs (Feldman & Benjamin, 2006).

A 2010 IBM study, based on conversations with over 1,500 chief executive officers across the globe, identified creativity as the most important leadership quality for the future. “Creative leaders invite disruptive innovation, encourage others to drop outdated approaches, and take balanced risks. They are open-minded and inventive in expanding their management and communication styles...” (IBM CEO Business Value, 2010).

Classroom instruction not only needs to address how to enhance student creativity, but educational programs should also directly teach students about the field of creativity itself (Sternberg, 2002). With this knowledge, students would be able to make informed decisions in pursuing creative activities to better control and direct the development of these abilities.

Over the spring of 2012/13, Singapore American School (SAS) received permission from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) to conduct a non-traditional Focus on Learning self-study on five of the desired student learning outcomes (DSLOs): character, communication, collaboration, creativity and innovation, and critical thinking.

Within the self-study findings, the desired student learning outcome area of growth in relation to creativity and innovation revealed the following:

SAS needs to develop a deeper understanding of creativity and innovation as it relates to explicitly teaching and assessing the creative process. In addition, more opportunities for creativity via curriculum (teacher teams, student grouping, multimedia, and other ways to apply knowledge) need to be developed.

The objective of this website is to provide all stakeholders at SAS research-based content pertaining to creativity in the context of education, synthesize the research presented, and provide curriculum and assessment examples that focus on creativity.

Comments, questions, or if you would like to contribute to this site please feel free to contact me.

“Creativity can solve almost any problem. The creative act, the defeat of habit by originality, overcomes everything.” — George Lois

mlaurence@sas.edu.sg

High School Visual Arts

Singapore American School

Tel: +65 6363 3404 ext.6528