Introduction

Most people accept that early years education should aim to develop children’s creativity but this raises a number of questions; namely what is creativity? How does it relate to imagination, self expression and intelligence? What ways can creativity be taught and assessed and why is it valuable? Fostering children’s creativity involves more than the creative corner in the classroom it involves recognising their creative engagement manifested by young learners. According to Wilson (20.10.05) ‘It is important that we foster creativity at an early stage so that children are more prepared to lead an active role in their own learning, develop better self-esteem and are more willing to take chances.’

‘Possibility thinking’ is at the heart of all creativity in young children. (Craft 2002) Possibilities are generated by children in all areas of learning e.g. play, music and scientific enquiry. It allows children to explore imaginative ways to produce a variety of outcomes e.g. is a banana a fruit or is it a telephone? The possibilities to develop children’s creative thinking are endless.

‘Possibility thinking’ has been acknowledged in some educational literature on creativity but it has not been fully accepted by some educationalists (Craft 2001). Jeffrey (2005) believes it is at the core to creative learning and represents the ‘being imaginative’ part of the current policy framework for creativity in England. Craft and Jeffrey (2004) believe that possibility thinking involves enabling children to find and refine problems as well as solve them.

The aim of this research is to investigate whether possibility thinking is at the heart of creativity in young children. I hypothesise that:

1. Possibility thinking is at the heart of creativity in young children
2. Creativity and imagination allows young children to learn and develop
3. Possibility thinking will only take place if adults give children time and space
4. The resources, environment and available tasks affect the possibilities for creative thinking

Literature Review

Creativity has been described as ‘a voyage of discovery’ (Craft 2008). When it comes to creativity in schools the second half of the 20th century can be first seen as a drought following the introduction of the National Curriculum in 1989 which rejected children centred curriculum practices. After 1999 there were numerous opportunities for creativity in terms of curriculum and learning due to a shift in values in educational provision and the landscape of the classroom.

During the end of the 20th and the start of the 21st century creativity has become significant in education due to the advice of the National Advisory Committee on creative and culture education (NACCCE 1999) led by Sir Ken Robinson and researchers such as Woods and Craft (1997) and Harland et al (1998). The key findings from their work was that ‘creative learning’ involves children experiencing innovation in the classroom, control over activities, together with a sense of ownership in their learning. These features are characteristic of creative teaching (Jeffery and Woods 2003).

The NACCCE saw creativity as ‘imaginative activity, fashioned so as to produce outcomes that are original and of value’ (NACCCE 1999 pg 29). The approach together with linking creativity with culture saw a shift away from the view that creativity was only attainable by the gifted and a view of ‘learning as empowerment in and beyond the classroom’ (Jeffrey and Craft 2001, Sefton-Green 2008).