Creative Pedagogies

: Redesigning Strategy Through Learner Perspectives

Abstract

This thesis is an in-depth analysis of creative pedagogies among business students in an Irish college. Specifically, the research investigates student perspectives on creativity and how student insights can inform and shape change. This research adopts a qualitative approach and provides a nuanced account of creative pedagogies through the lens of the student using existing literature and primary data collection. Qualitative data was collected from sixty-two groups of students via the world café as the data collection method. The data was rigorously analysed using inductive thematic analysis using three large student cohorts of five-hundred and seventy-two students, in total. This research uncovered the coexisting creativity structures between the educator and the student. This interdependence based on confidence, cultural background, and social cohesion, supporting Vygotsky’s theory of social constructivism.

These conclusions indicate that creativity at the higher level of education has multiple student-specific levels and factors and is premised on complex data collection and results, including motivation, risk, and reward. These have a crucial role in redesigning how higher educational institutions can promote creativity in the teaching, learning, and assessment environments. In doing so, this research manifests the need for future research to illustrate the pluralistic nature of creativity. Whilst students gravitate towards the educator to lead and manage the environment, students also want to play a part in developing the content and breaking down barriers for better inclusivity and student involvement in the transformational educational landscape.

This emancipatory research adopted a partially online approach for the world café, overcoming the difficulty of capturing large-scale analysis in the qualitative paradigm. This is a unique and original contribution to educational research focusing on the learner rather than the educator as the underpinning of the research. It has changed the trajectory for a further exploratory investigation into the student perception on shaping future education.

Date of Award	13 Jul 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Winchester
Supervisor	Caroline Stockman (Supervisor) & Craig Johnston (Supervisor)