Scaffolding the development of creativity from the students’ perspective

Abstract

Global demands for creative contributions have raised interest in the conditions which encourage creative activity throughout an individual’s lifespan. The investigation of implicit theories of creativity is an attempt to learn more about its emergence and transformation in real life conditions. The paper deals with students’ beliefs related to creativity which were studied in order to gain a better understanding of the development of creativity in the educational setting. The survey was carried out among secondary school students (N = 337) who participated in out-of-school programs devoted to students with high motivation for activities in their field of interests and talents. The students completed a questionnaire about the way education supports creativity. The collected data were analyzed in the socio-cultural framework using the concept of scaffolding. A thematic analysis of the participants’ answers was conducted through a combination of deductive and inductive approaches. These analyses resulted in the definition of four types of scaffolding the development of creativity: cognitive, social, motivational and cultural scaffolding. Cognitive scaffolding was mostly related to building a knowledge base and the development of critical and divergent thinking. A dominant role in motivational scaffolding was played by the students’ interests and their freedom in the learning process. The most important social scaffolding strategy was associated with teachers’ facilitation of learning, while the subject area was the most relevant aspect of cultural scaffolding. The characteristics of creative teaching and learning that nurture the development of creativity are discussed. The concluding comments refer to the educational implications of the research.