Gems on the path - The perspectives and practices of 12 educator proponents of teaching for creativity

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Franzy

The purpose of this paper is to share initial outcomes of a doctoral study on teaching for creativity in primary schools. The investigation examines how and why educators teach for creativity and how they implement creative processes across music, performing arts, and generalist classrooms. Findings focus on the perspectives and practices of 12 interviewed participants from eleven State primary schools across Melbourne. Results show creativity fosters children’s life skills and individuality.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages6

Reading Time15 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Background

Teaching for creativity in Victoria

Study design and participants

Creative process frameworks in education

Gems on the path: The perspectivesand practices of 12 educator proponents of teaching for creativity Fiona King RMIT University a u s t r a l i a n a s o c i e t y s f o r m u s i c m e d u c a t i o n e i n c o r p o r a t e d Abstract The purpose of this paper is to share the initial outcomes of a doctoral study about teaching for creativity in primary schools. The investigation inquired into how and why educators teach for creativity and implement creative processes in music, performing arts and generalist classrooms. The key outcomes discussed in this paper refer specifically to the perspectives and practices of 12 interviewed participants. The study was mixed methods in approach and adopted a pragmatic worldview. Data collection consisted of a survey and semi-structured interviews. The 12 interviewed participants comprised five classroom music teachers, five performing arts teachers and two generalists, drawn from eleven State primary schools across Melbourne. The outcomes ofthe investigation demonstrate that the purposeful fostering of children’s creative development in the classroom environment is multi-faceted. The beliefs, actions, views and expectations of the educators contributed significantly to their teaching approaches. The 12 participants demonstrated a belief in the benefits of creativity for the development of children’s life skills and individuality. These aspects formed a steady undercurrent which influenced their practices. The teachers promoted self-directed learning by establishing high-level motivation driven by the musical interests ofthe children and by fostering child-led learning in performance-focused music tasks. The shared perspectives and practices ofthe teachers in the study provides insight into teaching for creativity in the primary school setting and highlights the benefits of creativity as the gems on the path of a lifelong journey in music. Keywords: teaching for creativity, creative process, music education, creativity, education. Background Teaching for creativity is about the ways in which educators foster children’s engagement in creative processes. Defined by Robinson (2011), as“facilitating other people’s creative work”(p. 269) and by Craft (2005) as“forms of teaching that are intended to develop young people’s own creative thinking or behaviour”(p. 22), teaching for creativity refers to specific teaching and learning practices. There has been minimal investigation into the ways in which educators in Victoria, Australia, approach teaching for creativity (Selrig & Keamy, 2017) and it is a topic that is generally under-researched (Thomas, 2016). It is a poignant and relevant field of study, particularly in the wake of the compulsory inclusion of the Critical and Creative Thinking capability in the Victorian Curriculum F-10 (VCAA, 2017). In Victorian State primary schools it is a requirement for teachers to include critical and creative thinking experiences for children in all key learning areas (Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership, 2011; VCAA, 2015a). Curriculum and policy expectations of teacher practice reflect the notion that creativity is a valued twenty-first century skill, important across disciplines in the education of young people (Harris & de Bruin, 2017; MCEECDYA, 2008). This paper draws on the research outcomes ofa recent doctoral study in which teaching for creativity was investigated. The 12 proponents of teaching for creativity were the interview participants in the Australian Journal of Music Education 27 study. The study was titled Teaching for creativity and creative processes for music educatorsin Victorian State primary schools. It was mixed methods in approach (Creswell, 2014) with a pragmatic worldview (Tashakkori & Teddlie, 1998) and underpinned by a social constructivist philosophy (Lincoln & Guba, 2013). The research design featured two data collection phases: a quantitative survey (Fowler, 2009) a

FAQs

What does the paper aim to do regarding teaching for creativity?

It shares initial outcomes from a doctoral study focused on how educators teach for creativity and implement creative processes in primary classrooms.

How many participants were interviewed, and who were they?

The paper discusses perspectives and practices of 12 interviewed participants: five classroom music teachers, five performing arts teachers, and two generalists.

What research methods were used in the study?

The study used a mixed-methods approach with a quantitative survey and semi-structured interviews under a pragmatic worldview.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Franzy