St Paul’s School in Brisbane recognised that creativity was an increasingly important element of modern education and a requirement in the modern workforce. The school therefore created a program – Realms of Thinking – to develop creativity among its students by identifying a range of dispositions that are related to creativity and incorporating them into its teaching and learning.
The school also recognised that valid assessment and reporting of this learning would be essential if the learners’ achievements in creative thinking were to be recognised beyond the school environment. St Paul’s identified Melbourne Metrics’ approach to assessing and credentialing complex competencies as its preferred method for assessing and reporting this learning. Melbourne Metrics was therefore commissioned to work with St Paul’s to co-design assessment frameworks to measure performance in the Realms of Thinking dispositions and to develop associated credentials.
An important feature of this work was its focus on learning across all year levels, from Prep to Year 12. Some experts, e.g., Sir Ken Robinson, have argued that modern education systematically reduces creativity. There is also a commonly held view that some learners are naturally creative while others are not. With its focus on developing creativity from Prep to Year 12, St Paul’s School aimed to demonstrate that education can increase creativity and that all learners can develop it. Their goal was to produce imaginative, innovative, entrepreneurial graduates who would flourish in the unpredictable, flexible and dynamic workforce of the 21st century.
Impact
The work conducted for the Realms of Thinking program helped to develop Melbourne Metrics’ understanding of the assessment and credentialing of creative thinking skills. That understanding is now being applied across a range of projects and sectors where those skills are being assessed and reported. This is providing Melbourne Metrics with the opportunity to have a major impact on the recognition and reporting of a competency that will be increasingly valued in learning institutions and the workforce in the decades ahead.