Can students think outside the box? That’s the question that OECD’s PISA test on creative thinking attempts to answer. This week, IEN shares a scan that pulls together the headlines from those countries where we found reports on the test results. IEN’s previous PISA scans include: Scores Plummet Around the World: Scanning the Headlines on the Release of the 2022 PISA Results; Headlines Around the World PISA 2015 Edition; Headlines around the world: PISA (2015) Collaborative Problem Solving; and Headlines around the world: PISA (2015) Well-Being Report
Despite attempting to assess an entirely different set of skills, the results of OECD’s 2022 test of creativity shows that the top scorers – Singapore, Korea, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Estonia, and Finland – are many of the same countries that score highest on the PISA tests of reading, math, and science.
Other results highlighted in OECD’s report include:
- Roughly half of the students who excelled in creative thinking did not excel in academic domains.
- Girls performed much better than boys; in terms of average performance, boys did not outperform girls on the creativity assessment in any participating system.
- Socio-economically advantaged students performed better than less advantaged peers, but the association between socio-economic status and performance is not as strong as it is in mathematics, reading and science.
OECD bases the test on a definition of creative thinking as “the competence to engage productively in the generation, evaluation, and improvement of ideas that can result in original and effective solutions, advances in knowledge, and impactful expressions of imagination.” OECD’s description of the assessment also notes that this definition focuses on “little c’ creativity” that “15-year-old students can reasonably demonstrate, and underlines that students need to learn how to engage productively in generating ideas, reflecting upon ideas by valuing their relevance and novelty, and iterating upon ideas until they reach a satisfactory outcome.”
Australia
Australian teenagers strong creative thinkers, ACER Discover
Oz students rank amongst world’s leading creative thinkers – but what does that mean?, EducationHQ
Belgium
Flemish pupils score well for creative thinking, VRT NWS News
England
“Secondary school students in England feel less able to express ideas at school and are less likely to report being able to take part in creative activities compared with their peers in many other countries, according to a major international assessment. And they are less likely to say that their teachers value creativity, according to the latest report from the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) on creative thinking, from research carried out in 2022.”
Students in England less likely to say creativity is valued, TES
Finland
Finnish students excel in PISA creativity rankings, Yle News
Germany
“For 27% of students tested in Germany, the levels correspond to creative thinking skills that are strongly indicative of future success in the career world. Meanwhile, 22% were barely able to generate ideas for simple visual designs and written descriptions or find solutions to problems.”
Study finds German students rank middle of the pack in creative thinking, phys
German Youth Occupy Median Position in Global Assessment of Creative Thinking Based on Pisa Study, Aussiedlerbote
Hong Kong
Hong Kong students score behind first-place Singapore in global study on creative thinking, South China Morning Post
Latest Pisa results show Hong Kong education stuck inside the box, South China Morning Post
Korea
“Korea scored above the OECD average in creative thinking in school environment and participation in creative school activities. The ministry said “We were able to confirm school efforts to improve the creative thinking skills of students.” On the nation’s low score in the creative thinking self-efficacy index, the ministry quoted the OECD as saying countries with higher scores in creative thinking tend to have lower indexes in self-efficacy.”
15-year-old students’ creative thinking ranked 2nd by OECD, korea.net
New Zealand
“Compared to other countries/economies, a relatively large proportion (39 percent) of Aotearoa New Zealand students were ‘top’ creative thinkers and most (86 percent) performed at or above baseline proficiency. “Expressing creativity through writing and social problem solving was a strength of Aotearoa New Zealand students, as was generating diverse and creative ideas. They did less well in scientific problem solving, visual expression and evaluating and improving ideas.”
NZ teens score highly for creative thinking, RNZ News
Philippines
PH students second to last in creative thinking —PISA, GMA News
“The Philippines’ score may be concerning, but some may have seen the writing on the wall long before the PISA results came out. Our educational system tends to emphasize creativity only at the preschool level, dramatically shifting to more traditional methods of education such as rote memorization and ‘right versus wrong’ approaches from First Grade onwards.”
The Philippines ranked at the bottom of a global creative thinking test. How do we fix this?, adobo
Poland
Polish pupils outperform OECD average in creative thinking study, TVP World
Scotland
“New data suggests Scottish teachers are doing a good job of encouraging creative thinking – but the government’s decision to opt out of new Pisa test means evidence is limited”
Scotland absent from first Pisa report on creative thinking, TES Magazine
Serbia
Serbian students achieve substandard results on PISA’s creative thinking tests, Serbian Monitor
Singapore
Singapore’s 15-year-old students score top marks in OECD’s creative thinking test, The Straits Times
United States
“The OECD had difficulty reviewing U.S. schools’ instructional practices for creativity and innovation, because practices differ significantly among states and districts, and did not release U.S. results.”
What Schools Can Learn From a Global Assessment on Creative Thinking, Education Week
International Education News 