Creativity,+Imagination+and+Assessment

Creativity, Imagination and Assessment Assessment is key part of the learning and teaching cycle that takes place in the classroom. The role that assessment plays in the facilitation, teaching and learning of creativity and imagination needs to be analysed and defined. There is an importance in defining creativity and imagination and those observable aspects which can be assessed. If creativity and integration are going to be assessed in students then they each need to be defined. This will give the person conducting the assessment a clear understanding of what is actually is being assessed. Without a clear definition the assessor will not be able to assess the student and then decide the direction that the learning will go. Imagination involves the ‘generation of a novel outcome’ (Craft, p. 18) Creativity involves the ‘generating of novel ideas’ (Craft, p. 19) Ellis and Lawrence state that it has been found to be difficult to evidence the impact of creativity on achievement. (Ellis & Lawrence, p. 3) It is therefore essential to formulate and implement assessment structures and processes into the learning cycle that will inform teachers and students on the impact that creativity has on learning and the development of creativity itself. In many classrooms assessment has been a process involving the teacher assessing the students. This is a teacher-centred type of learning as the teacher is in control of the learning process. Ya-Hui Su advocates that learning should be a lifelong process and that creativity should be an integral part of this process. It is stated that ‘learners as constructors are literally creators in the sense that they are legislators of knowledge who adapt or integrate existing knowledge in response to life’s changes without any external or internalised prescription’ (Su, p.706) This understanding leads one to propose that for students to be creators they need to be in control of their learning. This is a shift from the traditional teacher-centred style of learning to a more student-centred style where the student is in control of their learning and the assessment of this learning.


 * Ellis, S., & Lawrence, B. (2009). The influence of the Creative Learning Assessment (CLA) on children’s learning and teachers’ teaching . Literacy, 43(1), 3-10.

Often assessment tasks are too narrow and don’t offer students the opportunities to explore and create new ideas and works. Self and peer evaluation is powerful way to assess students creativity and imagination as they can review how they have gone and discuss ways to deepen and improve their knowledge, thoughts, strategies and ideas. Portfolios of students’ works in art subjects can be collated and used as a part of the self-assessment and teacher judgement. In this way students can look at how they have progressed. E portfolios can be used to analyse progress in subjects such as drama, music and dance. Sampling students was found to be a effective and efficient way of analysing student’s learning, and gauging their approaches to learning and interests which can then be used to enhance learning activities and the scaffolding provided by the teacher. In the task children were placed on a 5-point scale at the beginning and ending of the year. This helped to display progress made by student and helped teachers understand how to further support their students.

It is important to define creativity and imagination and those observable aspects which can be assessed. This can be what we produce through speech, using our bodies, writing.... We can look at what is creativity and imagination in our students. For when these terms are defined then assessment structures can be implemented and used to assess.

Imagination involves the ‘generation of a novel outcome’ (Craft, p. 18) Creativity involves the ‘generating of novel ideas’ (Craft, p. 19) It is important to ‘analyse creative learning, creative teaching and teaching for creativity’ (Craft, p.23). Therefore it is not only important to think of ways to assess the creativity and imagination of students but that also of teachers. This may involve teachers ‘critically evaluating their own learning practices and teachers’ performance.’ Ya-Hui Su advocates that learning should be a lifelong process and that creativity should be an integral part of this process. ‘learners as constructors are literally creators in the sense that they are legislators of knowledge who adapt or integrate existing knowledge in response to life’s changes without any external or internalised prescription’ (Su, p.706) What does this mean for assessment? It means that teachers need to recognise that this learner centred approach where the learner is the ‘constructor’ requires assessment to be focused on the learner and their learning. Assessment needs to be focused on determining what works for each student and then deciding what needs to come next. The learner needs to be actively involved in this assessment process. This will make it more powerful for them and allows them to decide where to go next after they have worked out where they are now. ‘the most commonly accepted criteria for creativity are considered to be originality (novelty) and appropriateness’ (Su, p. 707) If these are the criteria for creativity then this is what should be assessed when determining the creativity of students in certain contexts and assisting students to then build upon this and become more creative. ‘process of self-organisation and self completion’ (Su, p707). This tells us that the whole process should be student-centred to the extent that they are in control of it. This includes assessment. The learner should be in control of the assessment. They should be the organiser. Purpose of students being creative is the realisation that ‘ordinary people who need to extend, adapt, replace or integrate existing knowledge to meet the challenges of uncertainty and change’ There is a need to assess existing knowledge. Need to have a purpose or goal to learning. Why are we learning this? ‘creativity is likely to manifest itself wherever one finds a new way of improving a situation related to some human activity’ (Su, p.710) ‘Learning to think’ in creative ways to meet challenges is the key to the development of effective lifelong learning practices. (Su, p710) The aim of learning is ‘to produce self-authoring and creative lifelong learners.’ (Su, p.711) ‘Integrative efforts the teacher makes for learners may ultimately serve to give them another fragmented area of knowledge’. (Su, p. 711) We need to be aware of this and may discover this with our assessment of learners. If our students are developing fragmented knowledge of certain areas then we need to evaluate our practices. ‘requires a view of knowledge not as a created subject, but as a subject waiting to be created’ (Su, p. 712) Before the learning process begins, the direction that process is going to go needs to be thought about and the current knowledge of students assessed. ‘The starting point for a concrete method of developing creativity in lifelong learning practices is recognising the need to emphasise learners’ engaged dwelling, in which one is not standing over against one’s situation, but is instead, in an interactive sense, considering the situation and doing something in it. Teaching for creativity requires a shift in focus from knowledge content to the learner’s engagement’ (Su, p. 712) Just as there is a shift in this way of teaching and learning there needs to be a shift in the assessment processes and strategies that accompany and are a part of the learning and teaching. The assessment should reflect the ‘interactive sense’ of learning. ‘engage in what is known to create what is wanted or needed.’ (Su, p. 713) ‘The teacher needs to know when the learner’s creative moment can be furthered’ (Su, p. 713). This can be discovered through the assessment of the student. ‘Which strategic activity is best for the development of creativity depends on what the teacher and learners together aim to accomplish during a particular phase.’ (Su, p. 713)
 * Craft, A., Chappell, K., & Twining, P. (2008).  Learners reconceptualising education: widening participation through creative engagement?  Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 45(3), 235-245.
 * Su, Y. (2009). Idea creation: the need to develop creativity in lifelong learning practice s. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 28(6), 705-717.

‘need to support and encourage learner control over the whole/entire learning process’ (McLoughlin, p. 28) ‘Self regulated learning refers to the ability of a learner to prepare for his/her learning, take the necessary steps to learn, manage and evaluate the learning and provide self feedback and judgment, while simultaneously maintaining a high level of motivation.’ (McLoughlin, p.28) ‘by using processes such as monitoring, reflection, testing, questioning and self evaluation’ (McLoughlin, p.28) ‘pedagogic change and greater personalisation of learning are both necessary for student centred, self regulated and independent learning.’ (McLoughlin, p.30) ‘include learner focused forms of feedback and assessment.’ (McLoughlin, p.30) ‘learners are envisaged as active participants and co-producers of learning resources rather than passive consumers of content.’ (McLoughlin, p. 31)
 * McLoughlin, C., & Lee, M. (2010). Personalised and self regulated learning in the Web 2.0 era: International exemplars of innovative pedagogy using social software . Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 26(1), 28-43.