Teaching for creativity and creative processes for music educators in Victorian State primary schools

The engagement of children in creative processes in music enhances their skills, experience and understanding of the artform, and provides avenues for the development of critical and creative thinking. In classrooms of the twenty-first century, creativity is a recognised and valued skill, which has echoes for teachers in curriculum, teaching expectations and practice. Yet little is known about the ways in which teachers in primary schools in Victoria teach for creativity. <br><br> This study investigates teaching for creativity and creative processes in Victorian State primary schools focusing on the approaches of three categories of teachers in the primary school: generalist teachers (across all learning areas), music specialist teachers and performing arts specialist teachers (across music, dance and drama). Using a mixed methods research design informed by a pragmatic worldview and underpinned by a social constructivist philosophy, a framework and model for engaging children in creative processes is developed. The emerging framework and model aim to be user-friendly and representative of current teacher practice, for primary school teachers to find practical ways to engage children in creative processes in music and other learning areas.<br><br> The research design comprised two data collection phases: an online survey and semi-structured, face-to-face interviews, with specific sample populations in each phase. Ninety-two educators from State primary schools across most regions of Victoria and Melbourne completed the survey. The survey respondents comprised 42 generalists, 25 performing arts specialists and 25 music specialists. The survey served the dual purpose to purposefully sample for interview participants. The interviewees comprised twelve teachers from 11 schools. The location of the 11 schools represented a relatively even geographical distribution across Melbourne. Most of the interview participants had dual teaching experience as generalists and specialists, referred to in this study as a two-fold teaching background, which provides a combination of educator's voices. The findings culminated in a framework for supporting creative processes in the classroom and a model of creative process practice in the classroom. The framework and the model incorporate five teaching strategies. These are 1: Nurture children's creative processes, 2: Inspire imagination and experience, 3: Facilitate creative processes in the classroom, 4: Maximise the outcomes of creative processes and 5: Foster self-directed learning.