Arts in Education and Creativity: A literature review

Author: Mike Fleming

Institution: Durham University

Full reference: Fleming, M. (2010) Arts in Education and Creativity: A literature review. 2nd ed. London: Creativity, Culture and Education.

Summary of key findings

This literature review offers an historical and theoretical overview of arts education, its place in the English curriculum, and its relationship with creative learning and creativity education. It centres on official policy discourse and attempts to outline key moments and movements in the history of arts education over the last 120 years. One of the author’s key messages is that we should not lump all the arts together, short synopses of four discrete arts disciplines make this argument very clearly.

The review discusses the concept of creativity in arts, looking at how the term has been used and interpreted and what this signals about the arts in education. The author concludes that ‘a vibrant and successful future for the arts in education must lie partly in effective support from politicians and policy makers but also in developing understanding and practice through continued debate and dialogue.’

Methodology

Literature Review

Read the review.