Mapping the Creative Process in Arts Education: From Task to Theory

Abstract Creativity stands as a cornerstone of contemporary education, fostering innovation, problem-solving, and dynamic thinking in today’s learners. However, how creativity is defined can vary significantly across different creative fields, contributing to complexity about its nature and role in education. This article explores the definition and application of creativity across various creative arts domains—music, visual art, dance, and drama. This article looks at creativity in these domains at the level of the curriculum, and in examples of classroom tasks. Curriculum analysis showcases alignment among domains with the creative process through its sequential strands—Explore, Develop, Perform, and Explain, specifically in the content relating to Explore—reflecting educational standards that promote structured creativity. Task level analysis reveals how students engage with specific activities mirroring creative stages, fostering meta-awareness of the creative process during learning tasks in drama and music, and evaluating existing artworks’ ability to communicate meaning as in visual art. Theoretical perspectives reveal broad similarities in the creative process across the levels, with nuances such as collaborative processes being more pronounced in dance and drama. Despite limitations such as focussing on a small number of curriculum and task examples, this article provides insight into the commonalities of the creative process across artistic domains and educational levels.