Australian parents and educators believe creativity in education will fuel the economies of the future, but they believe the present education system does now encourage creativity, according to a new study by creative software vendor, Adobe.
The study, Barriers to Creativity in Education: Educators and Parents Grade the System , surveyed 4000 educators and parents across Australia, the US, UK and Germany and looked at the importance of creativity and the barriers to delivering it in the classroom.
It found that although 85 per cent of parents and 67 per cent of educators in Australia believe creativity in education will fuel economies in the future, 70 per cent of Australian educators believe they can do more to teach creativity and say they need to be given more tools and techniques to teach creativity.
Twenty-one per cent of parents and 23 per cent of educators believe the single most important step to promote and foster creativity in education is improving the curriculum.
Adobe Asia-Pacific education business manager, Wayne Weisse, said the importance of creativity in the classroom should not be underestimated.
“Delivering the curriculum is not just about testing milestones; education is also about engaging students and encouraging new ways of thinking. Having the tools and training available to enable educators to teach creativity is critical,” he said.
In Australia, parents and educators identified a range of barriers to teach creativity including the current curriculum, a lack of resources, as well as the misunderstanding of the importance of creativity in education.
Weisse added that technology should be integrated into their curriculum to encourage creativity.
“Students are already using technology in almost all facets of their lives and giving them access to the best creative tools, within the curriculum, expands their learning engagement,” he said.
Other findings from the study include:
- 82 per cent of parents and teachers in Australia said they believe the role of creativity has increased over the past 25 years; and 83 per cent said they believe it will continue to increase over the next 25 years.
- Parents in Australia (84 per cent) feel more strongly than educators (63 per cent) that creativity is integral to school curriculums today; parents (84 per cent) also felt more strongly than educators (66 per cent) that creativity is not something that can be assessed under the current education system.
