Novel and engaging versus boring and stagnating: how do pupils and teachers alike perceive the state of creativity in secondary schools?

Creativity is a term that can be interpreted and related to teaching in many ways: creative teaching, creative learning and teaching for creativity.1 However, defining creativity is complex and there are many suggestions to how it can be applied to teaching. A case study was undertaken to investigate how teachers in England interpret and deliver ‘creative teaching’ at Key Stage 3 (KS3) (11-14yrs) and how pupils respond to such teaching styles. Teachers completed a ‘Your Teaching Style’ questionnaire2, ten teachers were observed across a range of subjects at KS33 and pupils of all age groups (10-18years) participated in small group semi-structured interviews. Analysis showed that teachers perceived ‘creativity’ in their subject teaching differently. The highest frequency activities of any type during the lesson observations were: giving instructions, offering assistance, pupils independently working, giving praise and interesting tasks. The results from the questionnaires showed that the most common teaching styles were: integrating pupils, questioning and opportunities. Pupil interviews concluded that pupils find some subjects more creative than others and that creative teaching methods help them to learn.