Leadership of creativity in teaching and learning: Perception, motivation and implementation

In the current fast-changing landscape dominated by technological advances and education reforms, there has been an increasing emphasis on the importance of creativity in education and its positive impact on student engagement and outcomes (Rinkevich, 2011). However, with the focus on high-stakes examinations and the prevalence of accountability culture leading to a perceived lack of agency among teachers, the risk of creativity being stifled has become a topic that resonates with many (Appel, 2020). Whilst developing students’ creativity has been a popular area of research, creativity in teaching and learning from the teacher’s perspective has received notably less attention (Cremin and Chappell, 2021). Amid growing concerns about prescriptive practices and their impact on professional autonomy (Narayanan et al., 2024), teachers’ ability to adapt in response to their context and students’ needs could be at stake.

This research aims to understand the role leadership plays in creating the environment school communities require to promote creativity and reap the benefits it can bring to practitioners and students. A case study featuring a multi-methods design was utilised to explore how creativity in teaching and learning practices is led at various levels within an English secondary school. Two original frameworks developed for this research were deployed to analyse and evaluate qualitative data from documentary analysis, semi-structured interviews and observations. Findings indicated that contextual factors, particularly exam-driven pressures, emerged as a significant force, shaping the leadership of creativity and creating tensions between creative practices and monitoring structures. Nevertheless, clear examples of creativity existed across the school. Leadership at whole-school level fostered a pro-creativity culture through trust, autonomy and collaboration, while middle leaders proved pivotal in determining whether creativity flourished at departmental level.

This thesis makes three original contributions to creative education and educational leadership: an enhanced social perspective of creativity model extending Csikszentmihalyi’s (1999) systems framework; a reconceptualisation of leadership as influences, configurations and implementation actions; and a creative pedagogy typology identifying three motivation-based types: ideological, pragmatic, and attitude-oriented. Together, these frameworks offer practical tools for leaders and inform policy conditions that can strengthen teacher autonomy and motivation.