The author provides an account of launching a new branch at the Institute of Education at Reading University, a joint branch with the Mathematics Association. In the inaugural meeting, teachers had gathered to explore the theme of creativity in learning mathematics. The workshop provides some indication of the creative spirit these teachers…

Most people think of the arts in education as a way of teaching arts skills, and in times when the emphasis is on achieving literacy and numeracy (necessary, but not sufficient, educational goals) the arts can often be seen as "fringe." This article makes the case that study of artworks in the service of developing perceptive and…

Business schools frequently emphasize the importance of thinking "outside-the-box," and yet very few business students are actually challenged to do so in practice. This paper presents a pedagogical technique designed to foster creativity and imagination, while providing a deeper understanding of the concepts taught in a capstone business…

This article describes three creative arts exercises designed to promote belonging, connectedness, and wellness among adolescents with and without disabilities. The scenarios are multifaceted and based on utilization of creative visual and performing arts. Creative outlets may help groups be more effective and meaningful for participants,…

This article takes as its starting point the idea that policies of "personalising learning" and promoting "creativity" raise issues for assessment which the present framework for assessment and testing in schools in England and Wales does little to address. It explores the notion, also touched on elsewhere in this issue, of a…

This article is the second part of a two-part article on a learning project developed through the Independent Learning Centre (ILC) program at Concordia Lutheran College. The first part of this article can be found in the January 2009 issue of this journal and discusses how the applications of the "AASL Standards for the 21st-Century Learner"…

Spiritual nurturing includes the recognition that children have valuable ways of knowing, such as pondering, sacred listening, intuition, and dreams and visions. Children nurtured in spiritual ways of being are supported through the traits of creativity, compassion, love, gratitude, affirmation, contemplation, and silence. These attributes are…

Hands-on creative play is essential to children's health and well being, yet in the 21st century United States, nurturing such play has actually become countercultural. The dominant, marketing-driven, media-saturated culture dictates against it. In addition to depriving children of time spent in creative play, unlimited access to screens means…

The article traces some lines of connection between teachers' efforts to reshape the way that teaching and learning are done in local settings, and larger-scale shifts and tensions in education policy. The article begins with an account of opposition to the changes that European governments inspired by global policy orthodoxy seek to make in their…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of teaching a specific creative problem solving model to preservice teachers. The study included 74 participants, 67 females and 7 males enrolled in an undergraduate educational psychology course in a Mid-western university. In a 2 x 2 full factorial design, participants were randomly…

"Nurturing Creativity in the Classroom" is a groundbreaking collection of essays by leading scholars, who examine and respond to the tension that many educators face in valuing student creativity but believing that they cannot support it given the curricular constraints of the classroom. Is it possible for teachers to nurture creative…

The present study sought to compare and contrast educational policies on creativity education in four Asian Chinese societies, namely mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan. It establishes five criteria on creativity education policy, including policies regarding legislation on creativity education, definitions of creativity, standard…

Photosynthesis may be an unlikely topic to inspire an opera or ballet, but in a 2nd grade classroom in Pikesville, Maryland, the children were asked to use dance to help them learn about that process. Small groups of pupils in this class at Fort Garrison Elementary School brainstormed to come up with dance movements to convey elements of…

This commentary looks at the contributions and future research implications of the four articles in this Special Issue of "Thinking Skills and Creativity" to the fields of creativity and creativity education, both in culture-specific and culture-general terms. The articles included in this Special Issue draw attention to issues of…

In his book, "A Whole New Mind", Daniel Pink champions the benefits of right-brained thinking: creativity, flexibility, empathy, and meaning. He stresses the need to not only be logical, but also aware of emotion; to not only be sequential, but also conceptual; and to not only be calculating, but also recognize value. The project described in this…