Edging closer to the creative core

Abstract

This paper considers some of the implications in expanding the teaching of creativity to art and design students from one class, taught by one person, to numerous classes taught by a team. In the process, a range of issues have to be addressed. These involve defining what sort of creativity is being taught, how content may be adapted to a more formal presentation, how the subject might be taught and by whom. In particular, the problem of assessment is examined and especially attempts to make it more objective. Using Best's [1982] contention that the process is identified by the product, emphasis is placed on assessing evidence of creativity in terms of product outcome. However, given the importance of the creative concept, the assessment process has to be capable of detecting the level of intellectual content. It is suggested that the Novelty-Creativity Taxonomy of Kaufmann [2004] and the Hierarchy of Creativity proposed by Cowdroy and Williams [2006] offer a means to resolve this conundrum while providing the foundations for objective assessment.