Creativity and its discontents: Embedding creativity in the visual arts curriculum at the tertiary level
Article
Akenson, David and Scollen, Rebecca. 2025. "Creativity and its discontents: Embedding creativity in the visual arts curriculum at the tertiary level." Arts and Humanities in Higher Education: an international journal of theory, research and practice. https://doi.org/10.1177/14740222251388672
| Article Title | Creativity and its discontents: Embedding creativity in the visual arts curriculum at the tertiary level |
|---|---|
| ERA Journal ID | 10260 |
| Article Category | Article |
| Authors | Akenson, David and Scollen, Rebecca |
| Journal Title | Arts and Humanities in Higher Education: an international journal of theory, research and practice |
| Number of Pages | 21 |
| Year | 2025 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Ltd |
| Place of Publication | United Kingdom |
| ISSN | 1474-0222 |
| 1741-265X | |
| Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1177/14740222251388672 |
| Web Address (URL) | https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/14740222251388672 |
| Abstract | While the word ‘creativity’ is used liberally in contemporary discourse, some studies show that creativity has been in steady decline for decades, particularly within the education system. This paper addresses the reason for this decline, focussing specifically on the teaching and practice of creativity in the visual art studio setting at the tertiary level. A case is presented by way of a pedagogical structure – broadly informed by constructivist principles – and an assessment regime that can facilitate a different way of engaging artistic creativity in the classroom. The assessment regime is formalised through a schema designed to illustrate the ‘play with determinants’ delivered through the pedagogical design. This approach provides a space for ‘play’ between the assessment criteria, the pedagogical setting and course materials, institutional determinants and the developing creative interests of the student. Such an approach offers a new way to encourage and formally capture creativity in the tertiary visual art classroom. |
| Keywords | visual art; Creativity; tertiary education; Kant; play; determinate; pedagogy |
| Contains Sensitive Content | Does not contain sensitive content |
| ANZSRC Field of Research 2020 | 360103. Art theory |
| 390101. Creative arts, media and communication curriculum and pedagogy | |
| Byline Affiliations | University of Southern Queensland |
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