The performance of Portuguese students in terms of creativity is higher than the OECD average (although the difference is only one point) and the emphasis is on visual expression tasks, but also on solving social and scientific problems. creatively and efficiently. The data is contained in the PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) report, developed by the OECD. It is the first time that this domain has been analyzed and the main conclusions show that girls have more creative thinking, as well as students who come from more disadvantaged socioeconomic contexts. Most students in OECD countries say that teachers encourage them to be original and creative.

In Portugal, performance in terms of creative thinking was 34 points, one more than the OECD average. According to the report, several education systems successfully ensure that most students have “a basic level of competence in creative thinking.” Portugal, however, recorded a “high performance” compared to the averagein a group that also includes South Korea, Estonia, Finland, Belgium, Poland and Singapore.

The data appears in volume III of the PISA 2022 report, titled “Creative minds, creative schools.” For the first time, the creative thinking skills of 15-year-old students (the age corresponding to the end of compulsory education in many of the participating countries) were assessed, analyzing their ability to participate in the creation, evaluation and improvement of ideas. The first volumes of the 2022 report have already been published, but now comes the time for the data corresponding to creative thinking. In 2022, the study included the participation of 81 countries (and a universe of 690 thousand students) representing 29 million students. However, in this new domain 66 countries participated. In Portugal, in 2022, 6,793 students from 224 schools participated.

According to the nearly 300-page report, the Portuguese students stood out in performing visual expression tasks: 41.4% of students were successful (compared to the average of 32.2% in other countries). Portugal was, in fact, the country that recorded the highest percentage of success in this component. With regards to the written expression, the success of Portuguese students in terms of creative thinking was 49.8%. Although the value exceeds the visual expression, it is below the OECD medical figure, which is 50.3%. At the top of the table in this category is Singapore, with 66.2% of students passing this assessment.

When it comes to tasks solving social and scientific problems, Portuguese students once again exceed the average. Of the students evaluated, 41.5% managed to solve the first questions and 36.7% managed to solve the second questions. The OECD average is 39% and 32.2%, respectively.

Portugal: teachers encourage originality and there is time to be creative

According to the PISA report, 76.1% of the Portuguese students who participated in the study say that teachers encourage them to be original in the responses (a value that falls to 63.7% when we focus on the OECD average). Besides, 79% of students consider that school gives them the opportunity to express themselves their ideas (9.7 percentage points more than the average).

Further: 70.9% of Portuguese students say they have time to present creative solutions to solve the problems that arise in the tasks and even 79.6% recognize that teachers value creativity. These two values ​​once again exceed the OECD average, by 8.4 and 9.5 points respectively.

The values ​​in this area are not discouraging. According to the report, Most students report that teachers encourage and encourage creative thinking.. The lowest values ​​are recorded in Austria and Poland, where less than 50% of students who participated in the study say that teachers encourage them to present original solutions.

The first three of Main challenges for the integration of creative thinking. in education are the fact that the program is too heavy, the fact that there is no creativity-focused assessment, and the fact that teachers are not trained (nor do they have the necessary resources) to develop students’ creativity.

According to the report, Female teachers attach more importance to the integration of creative activities. in the projects that are developed: 76% of the teachers who participated in the study, in contrast to 64% of the teachers. Some of the methods most used by teachers are educational games, brainstorm propose new ideas together and work in groups. Students also showed interest in this type of more creative approach, whether through brainstorming or group work, as well as brainstorming.

The report also states that students who said teachers encouraged them to develop creative thinking and original responses performed better on the assessment. The same happened with students who, in the future, want to work in the cultural and creative sector.

PISA: The dedication of families and teachers is essential for student success

Portuguese students engage little in creative activities.

In OECD countries, 27.4% of students participate, on average, at least once a week in artistic activities. But this the value falls to 10.4% if we focus only on Portuguese students (a difference of 17 pp).

The same drop occurs in the rest of the activities. Only 7% of the Portuguese students who participated in the study attend music classes at least once a week (compared to 21.7% in the OECD average); 7.4% participate in programming classes (compared to 17.2%); 7.3% in creative writing classes (compared to an average of 16.3%); 6% in science clubs and 6% in theater-related activities (compared to an OECD average of 11%); 7% in debate clubs (compared to 9%) and 5% participate in the preparation of the school newspaper (compared to an OECD average of 8%).

According to PISA, In addition to Portugal, the countries where students participate the least in artistic activities at school are the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Poland and France.. The United Kingdom stands out for having a wide range of activities but little interest on the part of students (which contrasts with the trend observed in other countries, where the greater the offer, the greater the participation).

The report also highlights a trend: Students with more socioeconomic difficulties participate more in school activities.. Although schools with more resources guarantee access to more activities, according to school directors, it is students from more disadvantaged backgrounds who approve of these opportunities more, on average. TO The only exception refers to musical activities.that continue to have the participation of more students from favored socioeconomic backgrounds.

And there is also a contrast between genders, with boys participating more frequently in school activities than girls. The former tend to invest in science clubs and computer programming activities and the latter in art classes.

Girls perform more creatively

According to the report, the Girls have always outperformed boys when it comes to performance in terms of creative thinking.. However, in Chile, Mexico and Peru the differences were almost insignificant. The country where there was the smallest difference between the performances of both genders was Mexico: less than 1 point. On the contrary, it is in Jordan where this difference is greatest: 6 points.

“Empirical studies show that girls tend to outperform boys in specific creative tasks,” reads document0, which explains that differences between the creative thinking of the two genders can be influenced, for example, by different experiences and socialization practices. As well as by the cognitive processes of each person, that is, the problem-solving strategies that they use and the way in which they process information.

The report details that the Boys “tend to adopt analytical and systematic approaches to creative thinking tasks, while girls prefer more intuitive processing.”

Poorest performing immigrants and disadvantaged students

The PISA report also states that, on average, students with better socioeconomic conditions obtained better results in terms of creative thinking, with a difference of 9.5 points. In countries like Hungary, for example, this difference exceeds 12 points. In Portugal, for example, this difference was 8 points.

Despite this, on average, the relationship between socioeconomic conditions and student performance is weaker when we talk about creative thinking than in areas such as mathematics or reading. According to the document, student performance is influenced by economic factors, but also cultural factors and the experiences lived by each student. This can be easily verified, for example, by comparing the different realities experienced in each neighborhood. “Socioeconomic segregation between neighborhoods can lead to unequal access to quality education” and school environments that are more or less “conducive to learning,” the report reads.

oh The family context in which the student lives also influences their performance. An example of this is the level of education of the parents, read the report. The higher it is, the greater the probability of accessing a better-paid job, which simplifies access to resources such as private classes and computers, but also to a richer vocabulary.

In addition to the socioeconomic context, the Immigrant students register lower levels of creative thinking.. The greatest difference in performance between immigrant and non-immigrant students is recorded in Brazil, Bulgaria, El Salvador, Finland, Jamaica, Mexico, Morocco, North Macedonia and Poland. According to the report, this difference in performance is easily explained: it originates from the linguistic and socioeconomic barriers that immigrant students cross.