Creativity in educational context: analysis of periodical publications and graduate works in the field of psychology

Abstract

Currently, the number of studies on creativity implemented in the educational context is increasing, as more and more its importance is highlighted for both the advancements intended for education and for the student's development. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the scientific production on creativity in the educational context along the last fifteen years (1995-2009), by analyzing periodical publications and graduate works in the field of psychology. After consulting four databases, 82 works were analyzed in relation to their year of publication, the area of Brazil the researchers is located in, the level of the work, the subject it deals with and the type of research, sample and tools utilized. The results showed that, in general, the number of publications increased after 2000. Most works have been developed by researchers in the Southeast and Center-West regions; most of them if of empirical nature, with an investigation focus firstly on adult population and, secondly, on the infantile population, involving mainly high-school teachers and their students. Among the tools that have been employed for assessment of creativity in the educational context, the following are the highlights: Inventory of barriers to personal creativity, Creating Thinking Tests by Torrance and the Checklist of barriers to the promotion of creativity in the classroom. The analysis has shown that, although an increase can be noticed in the number of works implemented in the school environment, gaps still exist in relation to studies investigating this characteristic in minority samples (disabled students, students with high skills, the elderly in universities for senior citizens, non formal learning spaces).