Denise de Souza Fleith
Institute of Psychology
University of Brasília
It is important to provide informative feedback on the students’ work, detailing the positive aspects and those that deserve reformulation, rather than vague and generic evaluations.
Denise de Souza Fleith
Institute of Psychology
University of Brasília
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2025 | N°.4 | When schools allow students to immerse themselves in this world, they foster the development of cognitive skills and promote the expression of socio-emotional competencies
PHOTO: ADOBESTOCK
Creativity has been considered one of the most important skills to develop in the 21st century, given the challenges that arise in different spheres of human life. The World Economic Forum, for example, identifies creative thinking as one of the 10 most necessary skills in the world of work, associating it with an innovative, flexible, collaborative, and resilient professional profile. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), when discussing the future of education, highlights the need to invest in “transformative” skills. We can apply these reflections to the classroom. After all, to produce new knowledge and solve problems effectively, students need to learn to ask questions, think divergently, understand and respect the needs and interests of others. Furthermore, they need to deal with contradictory ideas, be open-minded, think reflectively, and strengthen an ethical stance. And creativity is essential throughout this process.
Recently, creative thinking has also become a focus of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). Interestingly, most countries that scored above average in creative thinking also scored similarly in math, reading, and science. The countries that performed best in the creativity assessment were Singapore, South Korea, Canada, and Australia. In Brazil, more than 50% of students did not reach the basic level of proficiency in creative thinking. This means they struggled to come up with appropriate and original ideas for a variety of tasks.
Given this scenario, this question arises: How can schools prepare students to value different perspectives, propose innovative solutions, interact respectfully and collaboratively with peers, persist in the face of obstacles, and take responsible actions to promote sustainability and individual and collective well-being?
Strategies for Developing Creativity in the Classroom
Stimulating creativity in the classroom not only fosters the development of students’ cognitive skills, such as identifying, defining, and solving problems, analyzing a situation from different perspectives, generating multiple hypotheses, organizing information in new configurations, and critically examining scenarios, but also promotes the expression of socio-emotional skills. These include defending ideas and recognizing one’s own strengths, contributing to a positive self-image, as well as a collaborative, empathetic, and persevering attitude, fostering leadership in the learning process.
It’s not about having or not having creativity. This isn’t a matter of either/or. On the contrary: creativity is a process of construction and development. Creativity also doesn’t consist of a flash of inspiration, an “eureka!” moment where ideas emerge spontaneously. Creativity involves preparation and hard work.
Knowledge is another necessary element for the emergence of original ideas. Creation isn’t created in a vacuum. Furthermore, creativity is associated with psychological well-being. Engaging in creative activities can bring benefits by promoting flow experiences (a psychological state of total immersion and enjoyment in an activity), increasing positive emotions, and helping individuals find meaning in conflicting situations.
Another relevant point is that the generation of creative ideas or products does not depend exclusively on the individual, but on the interactions established between the person and the environments in which they are inserted. Therefore, it is necessary to create conditions, in different contexts, including at school, that allow the individual to develop and express their creative abilities.
It is important to provide informative feedback on the students’ work, detailing the positive aspects and those that deserve reformulation, rather than vague and generic evaluations.
Teaching Practices
It is worth remembering that creativity is a multifaceted, dynamic, and interactive phenomenon that transforms the way an individual relates to the world, to others, and to themselves. Therefore, it is essential that schools intentionally plan and implement practices that allow students to immerse themselves in the world of creativity. Among the teaching practices, the following stand out:
- Give the student the opportunity to choose, considering their interests and abilities. Furthermore, it is important to provide informative feedback on the students’ work, detailing the positive aspects and those that deserve reformulation, rather than vague and generic evaluations.
- Create an environment of respect and acceptance, in which everyone can share their ideas without fear of criticism.
- Encourage students not to be satisfied with the first answer they come up with. They need to be encouraged to generate multiple ideas. Fluency, in fact, is one of the characteristics of creative thinking.
- Give students time to think and develop new ideas.
- Guide students to seek additional information on topics of interest.
- Offer opportunities for students to explore various materials and equipment.
- Encourage students to reflect on their own thought processes and strategies when solving a problem or generating an idea or product, and to share their ideas in class.
- Encourage students to identify gaps and contradictions in their knowledge.
- Encourage students to ask questions and evaluate their own work.
- Consider mistakes as a step in the learning process. This means avoiding to emphasize a single task or answer, providing opportunities for students to redo their work, and offering options for decision-making.
- Relate content objectives to student experiences. Make the learning process meaningful to them.
- Vary the methods of assessing content or provide students with assessment options.
- Encourage students to take different paths, breaking routines.
- Avoid comments that can undermine an idea: “That won’t work”; “It’s too radical a change”; “We don’t have time”; “Has anyone tried this before?”.
Teaching Practices
It is worth remembering that creativity is a multifaceted, dynamic, and interactive phenomenon that transforms the way an individual relates to the world, to others, and to themselves. Therefore, it is essential that schools intentionally plan and implement practices that allow students to immerse themselves in the world of creativity. Among the teaching practices, the following stand out:
- Give the student the opportunity to choose, considering their interests and abilities. Furthermore, it is important to provide informative feedback on the students’ work, detailing the positive aspects and those that deserve reformulation, rather than vague and generic evaluations.
- Create an environment of respect and acceptance, in which everyone can share their ideas without fear of criticism.
- Encourage students not to be satisfied with the first answer they come up with. They need to be encouraged to generate multiple ideas. Fluency, in fact, is one of the characteristics of creative thinking.
- Give students time to think and develop new ideas.
- Guide students to seek additional information on topics of interest.
- Offer opportunities for students to explore various materials and equipment.
- Encourage students to reflect on their own thought processes and strategies when solving a problem or generating an idea or product, and to share their ideas in class.
- Encourage students to identify gaps and contradictions in their knowledge.
- Encourage students to ask questions and evaluate their own work.
- Consider mistakes as a step in the learning process. This means avoiding to emphasize a single task or answer, providing opportunities for students to redo their work, and offering options for decision-making.
- Relate content objectives to student experiences. Make the learning process meaningful to them.
- Vary the methods of assessing content or provide students with assessment options.
- Encourage students to take different paths, breaking routines.
- Avoid comments that can undermine an idea: “That won’t work”; “It’s too radical a change”; “We don’t have time”; “Has anyone tried this before?”.
The Role of the School Curriculum
The school curriculum is also an important dimension to consider when discussing the role of schools in the development of creativity. How, then, could we characterize a curriculum conducive to fostering creative skills?
For example, it addresses current world problems, values the use of imagination, and is flexible enough to accommodate students’ intellectual and emotional needs. Other essential characteristics include the curriculum encouraging the development of socio-emotional skills such as self-esteem, leadership, empathy, frustration tolerance, and communication. It discusses ethics in creative production and values the arts as much as the sciences.
Finally, a school curriculum that fosters creativity also encourages the identification and discussion of unsolved problems in different areas of knowledge and integrates different languages and technologies.
Technology and Creativity
There is no doubt that technology is a tool that can offer a wide range of opportunities for new and varied forms of expression, learning, and innovation. It also fosters student autonomy, as they learn by doing, self-regulating. (Arte/ Loja Interativa: Aqui favor colocar link para o “Vale Nota” que será publicado na mesma edição, n.4 de Yvirá).
In other words, they feel in control of their own learning process and, therefore, protagonists of their own learning. But it all depends on how it is used.
The mere use of technology does not automatically increase creativity in the classroom. Educators must be prepared to use this tool intentionally and critically, in a way that aligns with the school curriculum. Otherwise, it will be used as a “conservative innovation”, meaning using technology to perform tasks that could be performed just as efficiently using traditional classroom tools.
Developing creativity in the classroom is not only possible but should be an educational goal to be pursued and achieved. In the 21st century, it is imperative to prepare students to deal with multiple realities, many marked by limited and disparate opportunities, to share and exchange knowledge, to embrace original ideas, to act positively and collaboratively, and to find innovative and transformative paths that contribute to a dignified and prosperous life. Creativity is a powerful and viable tool that can be fully implemented in schools.
