*2.1.1. Process-oriented approaches*

and practices [4]. In this context, digital and creative skills have gained the attention of

Nevertheless, a gap remains between policies and practices, as education often fails to keep pace with creative and digital economies [4, 6]. This is mainly because teachers are not prepared for adopting pedagogical strategies that foster creativity or for fully exploiting the

Beghetto [2] identified a series of obstacles to the integration of creativity in the classroom, including convergent teaching practices and teachers' negative beliefs towards creativity. Furthermore, educators are not prepared to apply creative teaching strategies which match

Regarding digital technologies, the 'EC report on initial teacher education in Europe' [8] states that only half of European countries integrate digital education in teacher education. Furthermore, most teachers use digital technologies mainly to prepare their teaching, rather than to work with students during lessons. As a result, between 50 and 80% of students in

This chapter proposes an innovative framework aiming to prepare educators for applying creative teaching practices mediated by digital technologies. We first attempt to conceptualise educational creativity, i.e. we present the seminal theories and definitions of creativity and the main characteristics of creative education, as well as a series of creative pedagogies. Afterwards, we propose a framework for digital creativity in education, including a definition, a series of pedagogical theories and digital tools which are particularly suitable to the emergence of creativity. We finally establish a set of characteristic components of digital creative pedagogies (DCP), that is, teaching practices which contribute to the development of

Creativity constitutes a complex and elusive concept which remains difficult to explore. It has been studied through the lens of different paradigms, for example, pragmatic, psychodynamic, psychometric, cognitive and evolutionary approaches [9]. Some of those have brought valuable contributions to the understanding of creativity; nevertheless they do not allow for a holistic approach of the phenomenon. Hence, several theories attempted to explore its differ-

For instance, Csikszentmihalyi [10] described creativity as the result of a system composed of three distinct elements: (a) the *domain*, which contains a specific set of rules and practices; (b) the *individual,* who produces a novel variation in the content of the domain through cognitive processes, personality traits and motivation; this variation is evaluated by (c) the *field* for its

Europe never use digital textbooks, exercise software, simulations or learning games.

worldwide policies and have become important educational objectives [5].

educational potential of digital technologies.

108 Active Learning - Beyond the Future

their institutional and curricular requirements [7].

students' creativity.

**2. Creativity in education**

inclusion in the domain.

**2.1. Different approaches to the study of creativity**

ent dimensions in a comprehensive manner.

Those theories mostly explore and describe the creative process through an iterative sequence of stages [12], which commonly consist of the identification of the task, a phase of preparation and an evaluation of the obtained outcome. Nevertheless, process models present some discrepancies: some researchers view the emergence of ideas as a sudden and intuitive process characterised by an illumination or insight (e.g. [10]); on the contrary, other theories describe a mindful process of idea generation [12]. For instance, the well-known componential model of Amabile [13] proposes a system of five phases: (a) problem or task identification (conscious recognition of the task or problem), (b) preparation (building or reactivation of the information which is useful to the completion of the task), (c) response generation (creation of possible solutions or responses), (d) response validation (evaluation of the possible responses or solutions) and (e) outcome (evaluation and diffusion of the outcome).

#### *2.1.2. Person-oriented approaches*

Here researchers use biographical and historiometric methodologies to explore the individual characteristics and personality traits of creative persons. Such theories result in a series of creative individual components which include thinking styles, personality attributes (e.g. a positive disposition towards overcoming obstacles, taking risks and tolerating ambiguity) and intellectual abilities [14], as well as concentration, playfulness, discipline, passion and objectivity [10]. Amabile [13] brings a classification which differentiates domain-relevant skills (knowledge and skills in the domain), task motivation (extrinsic and/or intrinsic) and creativity-relevant skills (personality characteristics, like flexibility and a persistent work style).
