Abstract
The paper presents results of research related to perception of creativity in higher education made by the authors at the University of Mostar from Bosnia and Herzegovina. This research was based on a survey conducted among teachers and students at the University. The authors developed two types of questionnaires, one for teachers and the other for students in order to investigate the perception about creativity at the University. Namely, the idea that higher education has key role in development of knowledge-based society and economy has been in the very heart of Bologna process – the overall reform of the higher education in European Union. Also, many official European Union documents identified creativity as a major driving force towards knowledge creation and social and economic advancement through the development of a knowledge society. But, the complex questions of knowledge-based society and economy could not be solved without creative, forward-looking individuals and groups who are not afraid to question established ideas and who are able to cope with the insecurity and uncertainty this entails. If today's universities, including University of Mostar, would not succeed in strengthening creativity of teaching process and education of their teachers and students, development of knowledge society could be at stake. The University of Mostar has been started with implementation of the main postulates of Bologna process since 2005. Almost ten years later, the authors wanted to examine if teachers and students of the University of Mostar are aware of the importance of creativity in higher education for development of knowledge society. That was the main reason why the authors started with research related to perception of creativity at the University of Mostar. The aim of this research was to investigate the awareness of teachers and students of the University related to the necessity to enhance creativity within and by academic community.
Highlights
In the last decade creativity has become a mantra which is used by politicians, businessmen, employees, teachers, professors, students and others
The aim of the project was to contribute to the advancement of the European knowledge society by identifying good practices and providing higher education institutions and their major external stakeholders – governments, quality assurance agencies and other partners – with operational recommendations on how to foster creativity [13]
As noted in previous paragraph, the second part of questionnaire contained four groups of questions/statements about creativity, so results of research are presented in the same manner
Summary
In the last decade creativity has become a mantra which is used by politicians, businessmen, employees, teachers, professors, students and others. Pressures for status quo in the socio-economic structures, the training needs of the economy, the co-modification of learning and the learner and adherence to traditional teaching methods that retain the power of the teacher, all support the passive receptor model of the learner who can only learn that which is already known. This historical model of performance, though much loved by traditionalists, singularly fails to prepare learners to be creative in a life of change [2]. It is obvious that citizens of an increasingly complex community, country and globalized world need the skills, critically reflective processes and creative approaches in order to cope successfully
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