How Ghanaian secondary visual arts teachers perceive the role of creativity in their teaching

Abstract

Globally, creativity is viewed as a twenty-first-century education competency that is acknowledged by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the Ghanaian Ministry of Education (MOE) pre-tertiary curriculum framework. Ghanaian teachers are required to inspire, teach and develop creativity in secondary visual arts students using a social constructivist pedagogy. This necessitates exploring how teachers value creativity and its role in learning. The article investigated sixteen Ghanaian secondary visual arts teachers’ perceived role of creativity in their teaching and the challenges they faced developing creativity in students, using a qualitative case study approach. Interviews and participant observations were used to gather data across eight secondary schools. Interviews with teachers produced insights into how they are enacting creativity through pedagogy and the challenges they currently face, including attitudinal, administrative, resource deficits and external factors. Implications for policy and practice in Ghanaian secondary education that benefit the Ghana Education Service (GES) are discussed.