Can We Measure Creativity Like We Measure Maths?
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How do we test students’ creative thinking internationally, and reliably?
The OECD’s latest PISA results highlight how schools are measuring creative thinking alongside traditional (academic) subjects – I hate to use that phrase!
Every few years, the OECD conducts a PISA assessment with many participating countries. Politicians worldwide squeal with excitement when their policies (which have a bit of a loose connection) improve student outcomes.
I even got excited when my former school topped the leaderboard!
How do you test creativity?
These assessments have focused on literacy, maths, and science for many years. I became increasingly excited when the OECD first floated the idea of testing creativity – and now they have!
For the first time, published on June 20, 2024, PISA sought to measure the creative thinking skills of 15-year-old students in 64 countries.
The first thing we need to do is define ‘creativity. ‘ Why does such an important organisation use the lazy phrase ‘academic subjects’ and/or ‘traditional’?
I’m not entirely happy as a creative academic (with qualifications) with the current definition on the OECD site.
The OECD write:
Creative thinking is the way of thinking that leads to the generation of valuable and original ideas.
There is nothing about prior knowledge, working memory or creative processes used. PISA explains the rationale and shows the assessment frameworks and instruments used to measure student responses. This 56-page paper probably needs a closer inspection. However, I do not wish to digress. I want to report the findings.
The research findings
- Singapore led the rankings in creative thinking, outperforming all other participating countries.
- Countries like Korea, Canada, Australia, and Finland also scored above the OECD average.
- While high academic achievement in maths, reading, and science often correlated with strong creative thinking, it wasn’t a prerequisite.
- Many students excelled in creative thinking without excelling academically!
- This falls into the lazy concept that math and science are academic, whereas creative thinking or creative subjects are not.
- Girls consistently outperformed boys in creative thinking across all countries, likely due to better reading skills, stronger beliefs in their creative abilities, and traits like curiosity and imagination.
- Socio-economic disparities influenced performance, with wealthier students generally outperforming disadvantaged peers.
- However, the socio-economic gap was smaller in creative thinking than in academic domains.
- Creative thinking was measured through computer-based tasks across domains like written expression, visual arts, and problem-solving.
- Students excelled in generating and evaluating ideas but struggled with more complex, imaginative tasks.
Images: OECD/PISA, 2022
The research concludes:
… that academic excellence is not a pre-requisite for excellence in creative thinking, and equipping students with the creative thinking skills they will need throughout their life requires a comprehensive set of policies and changes in everyday schooling practices.
I would probably remove the phrase “creative thinking” and replace it with “critical thinking.” This way, we can ensure that all our students succeed, regardless of their chosen subjects.
Download the research paper.
