Culture and creative learning: a literature review

Author: Ken Jones

Institution: Keele University

Full reference: Jones, K. (2009) Culture and creative learning: a literature review. Newcastle: Creativity, Culture and Education

Summary of key findings

This report offers an historical and theoretical overview of the idea of culture as it has permeated policy-making, public debate, practices in schools and in more academic writing by scholars and cultural commentators. The author explains that the idea of culture in education is not a simple one; it encompasses a range of beliefs about heritage, modernity, the role of schools in mediating national and formal cultures and the cultural experiences of the young themselves. The review examines changes in the political landscape and shows how deep changes in English society since the Second World War have re-fashioned notions of public, elite and popular cultures in contested and complex ways.

The report considers relationships between pedagogy, curriculum design and creative learning and offers useful insights for those interested in better understanding what culture can mean to different stakeholders and what expectations and demands it lays on schools. Key messages are that education not only needs to understand better the diversity and reach of young people’s cultural experiences but also have a more reflective and intelligent understanding of its own past and to look closely at what works in practice with young people in the context of the unreasonably high aspirations that are often over-loaded into this area of the education system. The review presents a serious and sophisticated analysis of key concepts and a comprehensive and original review of how we can make creative use of culture at practical and theoretical levels.

Research Questions & Methodology

Literature Review

Read the report.