Creativity is not an “extra” or something confined to the arts. It is a way of thinking and engaging with challenges that enables learners to go further with their problem-solving, think more deeply and critically, and connect more meaningfully with content. When schools teach for creativity, embedding creative dispositions into everyday learning, students not only encounter knowledge, but they also actively experience curiosity, questioning, persistence, experimentation, connection-making, reflection, and resilience.
Creativity as the Foundation of Problem-Solving and Critical Thinking
At its heart, problem-solving requires learners to imagine alternatives and test possibilities. Creative dispositions like playfully experimenting with ideas, reframing situations, and persisting despite setbacks expand the realm of possible solutions.
Similarly, critical thinking requires discernment, judgment, and openness to evidence. Creativity fuels this by embedding curiosity and the courage to question assumptions, consider diverse perspectives, and manage the uncertainty of incomplete information.
In short, creativity is not separate from problem-solving and critical thinking, it is the engine that animates both.
Teaching for Creativity: A Catalyst for Innovation
When educators deliberately teach for creativity, teaching practice itself becomes more innovative. Lessons shift from transmission of knowledge to experiences that:
- Spark curiosity and wonder to engage learners from the outset.
- Encourage questioning and investigation, shifting ownership to students.
- Value experimentation and risk-taking, so engagement is joyful and adaptive.
- Foster connection-making across disciplines and contexts, deepening relevance.
- Sustain persistence and resilience, so challenges become opportunities for growth.
- Enable reflection and self-awareness, so learners evolve their thinking over time.
Embedding these dispositions does not mean abandoning rigour. Rather, it redefines engagement: students are not just doing the work, they are absorbed in the work because it matters.
The Vivedus Learning Activation Model: Making Creativity Practical
The challenge for schools is often not recognising the value of creativity but knowing how to embed it consistently. This is where the Vivedus Learning Activation Model provides a practical pathway. Its Five Phases of Learning make creative dispositions visible and actionable in every lesson:
- What is this? – Building foundational knowledge while linking to prior learning, supported by curiosity and openness.
- What can it do? – Applying and testing knowledge, perceiving patterns, and posing questions, sustained by experimentation and play.
- What if? – Expanding possibilities through imaginative thinking, divergent problem-solving, and critical questioning.
- As if – Immersive, role-based learning that builds perspective-taking, improvisation, and innovative application.
- What can I do with this? – Stepping into agency, transferring knowledge, generating ideas, and taking meaningful action, driven by persistence and ownership.
Through these phases, engagement is not left to chance, it is intentionally activated and sustained.
Learn more about how the Vivedus Learning Activation model works.
Engagement, Innovation, and an Education Worth Having
For educators, the Vivedus model provides both tools and time to innovate. Teachers are supported to design lessons that are dynamic and purposeful without adding to their workload.
For students, it delivers an education that is not only academically rigorous but also personally meaningful. They are equipped to navigate uncertainty, connect across domains, generate original solutions, and act with agency.
When schools place creativity at the centre, they do more than improve problem-solving and critical thinking. They redefine student engagement and ensure that learners experience an education worth having.
