Cultivating Talented Innovators for the Future: General Creativity and Creative Problem Solving in Inclusive Classrooms

This study extends prior research with younger children by examining the development of general creativity and creative problem solving in science among upper elementary students in Grades 3 through 6. Participants were 283 students in inclusive classrooms in a public elementary school in New South Wales, Australia, where teachers implemented the Real Engagement in Active Problem Solving approach, a talent development model that engages students in identifying and solving real-world problems through alternating divergent/productive and convergent/evaluative thinking. Using a pretest–posttest repeated-measures design, students completed the Test of Creative Thinking–Drawing Production and the Test of Creative Problem Solving in Science. Three-level linear mixed-effects models were used to examine changes over time across grades. Results showed significant growth in general creativity across grade levels. Creative problem solving in science also improved overall, with significant gains in Grades 3, 4, and 5, although Grade 6 showed a small non-significant decline. Growth was strongest for fluency and flexibility, whereas originality and elaboration showed more modest change. Among the component steps, identifying problems demonstrated the strongest growth. Findings suggest that creativity and creative problem solving can be cultivated in inclusive classrooms when talent development principles are embedded in the regular curriculum.