The data collected from a new test of creative thinking was one of the “most interesting” aspects of the 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa), according to boss Andreas Schleicher - but, like England, the Scottish government decided not to participate.
Today, the international education survey Pisa reports for the first time on teenagers’ creative thinking abilities.
The report, Pisa 2022 Results (Volume III): Creative Minds, Creative Schools, assesses the creative thinking capabilities of students in 64 countries and economies worldwide.
In his foreword, Mr Schleicher says it is “crucial for students to be innovative, enterprising and to use critical and creative thinking purposefully” - not least because many jobs, especially those in highly skilled fields, place a premium on creative thinking.
Scotland opts out of ‘one of most interesting parts’
However - while Scotland participated in the Pisa assessment, with the country’s disappointing scores in maths, science and reading hitting the headlines last year - Mr Schleicher confirmed yesterday at an online event for journalists that Scotland had opted out of the creative thinking test conducted at the same time, despite it being, in his view, “one of the most interesting parts of the assessment”.
This decision was also taken despite one of the key aims of the Scottish curriculum being to prepare young people for life in the 21st century, as well as the ongoing debate about whether the changes are making a positive impact.
Mr Schleicher said that Scotland and England both frequently highlighted “the importance of the creative industries and creative thinking”, yet both had opted out of this aspect of Pisa 2022.
A Scottish government spokesperson stressed that Wales and Northern Ireland had also opted out.
That was “a choice every country makes”, but Mr Schleicher believed that the results on creative thinking added “a lot of value” to the traditional topics covered by Pisa, which is run by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Nevertheless, there are some Scottish results contained in today’s report.
Scottish students did not sit the hour-long creative thinking tests - but they did respond to questions about their teachers, their own attitudes and their experiences in school.
Some of the results are heartening:
- 70.6 per cent of Scottish students agreed teachers gave them enough time to come up with creative solutions on assignments (compared with 60.9 per cent in England and the OECD average of 62.5 per cent).
- 75.2 per cent agreed that their teachers valued students’ creativity (compared with 65.1 per cent in England and the OECD average of 70.1 per cent).
- 72.8 per cent agreed their teachers encouraged them to come up with original answers (compared with 70.2 per cent in England and the OECD average of 63.7 per cent).
- 73.9 per cent agreed that they were given the chance to express their ideas (compared with 66 per cent in England and the OECD average of 69.3 per cent).
The report states: “Classroom pedagogies can make a difference. Across OECD countries, between 60-70 per cent of students reported that their teachers value their creativity, that they encourage them to come up with original answers, and that they are given a chance to express their ideas in school.
“These students scored slightly higher than their peers in creative thinking, even after accounting for students and school characteristics and their mathematics and reading performance.”
Scots less likely to take part in creative activities
Scottish students, however, were less likely to report participation in creative activities in school at least once a week.
The report states: “Participating in school activities such as art, drama, creative writing or programming classes regularly (once a week) is associated with better performance in creative thinking than doing so infrequently or every day.”
Only 8.2 per cent reported taking part at least once a week in art activities and classes, like painting and drawing (OECD average: 27 per cent).
When it came to music activities and classes, such as being in bands or a choir, 10.4 per cent said they took part at least once a week (OECD average: 22 per cent) and for drama, the figure was 5.5 per cent (OECD average: 11 per cent).
Meanwhile, for activities such as debating club or school newspapers, the proportion doing this at least once a week dropped to 3.2 per cent and 1.9 per cent respectively (OECD averages: 9 per cent and 8 per cent).
Singapore top for creative thinking
Overall, Singapore was deemed “the top-performing education system in creative thinking”, with today’s Pisa report noting the country is a high performer “in terms of both creative thinking and performance in mathematics, reading and science”.
However, the report also says “academic excellence is not a pre-requisite for excellence in creative thinking”.
Mr Schleicher said: “The bottom line is creative thinking is not just a by-product of high performance in subject areas. There is something special, something that probably requires dedication, effort and maybe also a different learning environment to foster creative thinking skills.
“So, yes, there is some relationship but lots of really, really interesting exceptions.”
But as to whether or not Scotland is one of those “interesting exceptions”? We simply cannot see the full picture.
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