Cultivating Aesthetic and Creative Expression: An Arts-Based Professional Development Project for Migrant Education

A Review of Articles Using Observation Methods to Study Creativity in Education (1980–2018)

“…Problematically, Robson and Rowe () used a standard creative thinking framework that conflated “imagination” with “creativity,” which they then proceeded to explain in terms such as originality and novelty, and even critical thinking. In arts and music education studies, there was a shift in creativity focus from cognitive components to more expressive qualities such as collaboration (Biasutti, ), teaching method, modeling, and employment of art materials (Budge, ; Geist & Hohn, ; Guay, ; James, ; Kandemir & Gur, ; Lorimer, ; Mars, ; Thomas, ; Walker, ), creative “encounters” (Petsch, ), esthetic or flow experience (Vuk, Tacol, & Vogrinc, ) and transformation (Walker, ).…”

“…Most studies, though, did not disclose which of the four types of observer role were used (e.g., Walker, ). Of those articles that did include a description of the observer role, most chose participant (Budge, ; Guay, ; Katz‐Buonincontro, , ; Mars, ; Petsch, ), or were intricately involved in understanding student work in the classroom (Donovan, Green, & Mason, ; James, ; Lorimer, ; Pitri, ; Thomas, ).…”

“…Several articles omitted a citation on the process for collecting observation data (e.g., Budge, ; Geist & Hohn, ; Godart & Mears, ; Kandemir & Gur, ; Lorimer, ; Mars, ; Pitri, ; Robson & Rowe, ; Sullivan, ; Vuk et al., ; Walker, ; Walmsley, ). In those cases, it was difficult to determine how researchers made decisions about data saturation, or when the researcher's understanding of the enactment of creative processes was relatively complete with no further, new data emerging.…”

“…While some articles described the research focus, such as teaching method (Walker, ), professional development (Lorimer, ), and student art activities (Pitri, ; Thomas, ), the larger research design remained obscure. Designs included case study (James, ; Karademir, ; Katz‐Buonincontro, , ) and ethnography (Guay, ; Mars, ; Petsch, ), which is frequently associated with the method of observation as defined in the APA standards for reporting qualitative research (Levitt et al., ).…”

“…Thick description (Geertz, ; Rile, 1949) of the creativity process was evident in the following 11 articles: modeling in art instruction (Budge, ) and online music collaboration (Biasutti, ) and student‐teacher interactions (James, ; Thomas, ). Videos and photographs of student drawings and creative projects (Karademir, ; Katz‐Buonincontro, , ; Lorimer, ; Pitri, ; Vuk et al., ; Walker, ) strengthened observation descriptions.…”