Recent Trends in Creativity Research and Theory in Western Europe

Different Models in Describing, Exploring, Explaining and Nurturing Creativity in Society

“…This is comparable to what is called "the principle of dichotomy in the creative process" by Jeffmar (1980), or the "balance of opposites" by Vaughan (1985) and others (Urban, 1990).…”

“…and finally which may through communication be grasped directly via the senses or via symbolic representation and experienced by others as meaningful and significant (Urban, 1990).…”

“…The preference for different approaches, as becomes obvious in the literature, does not seem to be independent of cultural and historic influences in the respective countries. For example, as a review of the literature has shown, in Italy, France, and Switzerland creativity is mostly discussed in the context of psychoanalytic theories and/or therapeutic and/or arts specific aspects, but not in Austria (Urban, 1990).…”

Accessing the Curriculum Through the Arts for Pupils with Special Educational Needs

“…'Ability,' however, needs to be viewed in a multidimensional way (Eyre 1997) -not just aptitude in terms of skill: task commitment (motivation) and opportunity and support from school, home and peers will be influential factors in converting potential into achievement. It is acknowledged, too, that creativity is an essential aspect of giftedness (Guilford 1950, Sternberg 1985, Urban 1990, Cropley 1995, and the component that can differentiate between those who do well and those who do brilliantly. Herein lies the potential of the arts to unleash abilities in pupils, whether or not they ultimately have exceptional talent in a particular area -in the arts or across the curriculum.…”

English Model of Gifted and Talented Education: Policy, Context and Challenges

“…First, they enabled the English model to justify the adoption of a broad conception of ability, so as to include not only cognitive ability but also 'creativity' and 'talent' in dance, drama, music and sport, and perhaps more controversially in Renzulli's (1997) and Urban's (1990) models, task effort and motivation. Second, this conception of ability provided the justification of multi-modal assessment of student ability rather than a uni-dimensional measurement of it.…”