1. Expecting the unexpected: a
conceptual and practical framework
for creativity in higher education
Orison Carlile and Anne Jordan

2. Creativity
National and international policy goal
“Rethinking our society is a major challenge, and we need to bring in
innovation and creativity to bring out people’s innate innovation and
creativity.” (European Policy Centre 2009)

3. Education
Expected to meet all societal demands
Rhetoric versus reality
Challenges conventional role
Education
required Daunting for learners and teachers
to teach
creativity Associated with ‘creative’ subjects
Associated with innovation

4. Conceptualising creativity
‘creativity is a messy and slippery
subject, embarrassing and hard to
pin down’ (Pope 2005 xviii)
Rob Pope Professor
of English at Oxford
Brookes University
Need for rigorous analysis

5. Product
Social Possession
Everyday Genius
Creativity
Constructs
Innovation
Attributes
Cognition
Process

6. Creativity in education
Creatively
Teaching
of Creativity
for Creativity
Failure to make these distinctions leads to
many conceptual and pedagogical problems

7. Teaching for creativity
Practical framework
Disciplinary Developmental
Range of disciplines Learner stages

8. Pedagogical Environment
Valued
Creativity
Recognised
Physical
Flexible structures Pedagogical
Managerial
Support for teachers
Psychological
and students
Practical
Product
Assessment Process

9. Creativity viewed as transferable skill
Assumes subject expertise
Generic skill
Creativity as
transferable Sequential process
skill
Teachable
Assessable

10. Stages of creative process
Divergence Exploration Convergence
Assumptions Creation Exploration of Evaluation
and attitudes Conceptualisation
of ideas ideas of ideas
Challenging Thinking with Generating Postponing Evaluating and
limiting diagrams and numerous premature selecting
assumptions metaphors novel ideas judgement options

11. Sample tool 1
Applying a random metaphor
Committing a murder Colonising a territory Camping in a wilderness
Building a house Sky-diving Prospecting for gold
Sailing a ship Playing politics Surfing the web
Cooking a fancy meal Running a marathon Starting a revolution
Going fishing Training an animal Fighting a disease
Going on a date Putting out a fire Doing stand-up comedy
Taking a photograph Dress-making Performing a magic trick
Going to a church service Going on a diet Planting a garden
Spreading propaganda Negotiating a contract Flower-arranging
Having a baby Conducting an orchestra Producing a TV programme

12. Sample tool 2
Morphological forced connections
Environment Teacher Pedagogy Assessment
Classroom Individual Lecture Terminal exam
Field No teacher Field trips Presentation
Aeroplanea
Typically, Typically, the
Team teaching Didactic the
Typically, Typically,
Self
classroom is teacher is an teacher delivers a assessment is
Cruise ship Computer AI Problem-based None
where teaching individual who lecture done using a
Workplace
takes place. Researcher
is in charge Self directed Peer
terminal exam.
Walking Self Experiential in this
You could list Portfolio
You could list in You could list in column, alternatives You could list
Gymnasium
this column, Guru Work-based Performance
this column, to the lecture in this column,
Authentic to
alternatives Coach
alternatives to Peer learning
format Formative to
alternatives
a classroom.
Retreat centre an individual
Peer Discovery learning a terminal
External
teacher exam.
Virtual Artist Distance learning Group
Walking Craftsman Case studies Viva
Cage Expert Project work Continuous

13. Conclusion
Demystify the rhetoric
Theoretical
Clear theoretical framework
Applicable to all subjects
Practical
Pedagogical Tools

14. For much more information see