Classroom creativities: Insights from experienced secondary teachers of physics, history and English (poetry)

Abstract Creativity is a policy and practice objective for schools internationally. However, in recent OECD findings, students do not report a positive experience of creativity in their school learning, especially assessments. Similarly, research reports that teachers continue to struggle with making creativity part of the classroom experience. This article reports on the findings of a qualitative study into discipline specific approaches to creativity within three Australian (NSW) secondary curriculum subjects: physics, history, and English (poetry). The research explored experienced teachers’ conceptualisations and manifestations of creativity across the different domains. Incorporating systems theory and possibility thinking as theoretical lenses, the research sought to understand teacher experiences of creativity in the classroom. Our research findings reflect that, while positively disposed to creativity, teachers reported that student creativity was demonstrated differently across domains and classrooms. Teachers also reported they incorporated creative pedagogies to encourage students to express new perspectives and generate subject knowledge. The findings also suggested that teachers employed both subject specific and personally significant signature pedagogies to encourage and respond to student creativity. However, our research also suggests that, despite the policy goals, the presence of creativity in secondary schools continues to be problematic in the lived curriculum. Creative pedagogies diminish in the senior years as students and teachers respond to pressures of content coverage and exam success. We identify the need to resolve the reported disconnect between syllabus expectations and the goals of student creativity to remove the tension between preparing students for subject success and a fostering student creative capacity.