Creativity and Arts Education

In legitimacy discourse on arts education, researchers have been hard pressed to deliver empirical evidence on the cognitive benefits of arts education. Research on arts education and cognitive skills such as those used for mathematics and language have been unable to provide convincing evidence. However, previous research on arts education and the cognitive skill known as creativity – now believed to be akin to divergent thinking – is sparse and for the most part inconclusive. This research focuses on the question of whether visual arts education can be shown to increase levels of creativity in primary school children from low socioeconomic backgrounds. The research used a multi-method approach. The operationalization of creativity was based on its definition as a cognitive skill but took two different perspectives: one of creativity as a product and the other of creativity as a process. The methods used to research the problem were quantitative research in the form of standardized creativity testing, combined with qualitative research in the form of ethnographical participatory observation and a semi-structured interview. The use of these different methodologies contributes to scientific validity. Findings show a positive correlation between the visual arts program at the center of this research and the advancement of the cognitive skill creativity. However, quantitative results left some questions on validity and reliability. Also, although results of qualitative research were able to account for some of these questions, the difference in operationalization made complete alignment (and therefore absolute substantiation) of the findings between the three research methods difficult. Creativity did prove to be more scientifically sound when examined in the context of the creative process. Quantitative testing could serve as a useful supplement in this case. In addition, qualitative research led to numerous discussion points and recommendation for future research.