Irish students ‘significantly less likely’ to engage with complex information

Secondary school students in Ireland are “significantly less likely” to be open to engaging with abstract or complex information than their peers in the OECD, according to the findings of a new report.

The Educational Research Centre, which is an internationally-recognised centre of excellence in research, assessment and evaluation, published its Cultivating Creativity report, in collaboration with the OECD and the Department of Education, on Thursday.

The report is based on research in which 5,569 students from 170 Irish schools participated between mid-October and early December 2022. The aim was to analyse secondary school students’ attitudes and beliefs regarding creativity, creative activities and creative thinking processes.

On average, students in Ireland reported levels of creative self-efficacy, openness to art and experience, and imagination that were comparable to those of their OECD peers.

However, Irish students reported lower levels of “openness to intellect”, defined as “an individual’s receptivity to engage with abstract and complex information”, compared to the OECD average.

On the openness to intellect index, students in Ireland expressed higher rates of agreement on statements that linked creativity with a sense of satisfaction or novelty.

However, they expressed lower than average rates of agreement when it came to statements that linked creativity to challenge- or problem-solving, when compared to the OECD average.

Students in Ireland were, on average, “significantly less likely to report being open to intellect, indicating that they are not as open as their OECD peers to engaging with abstract or complex information”, the report said.

The highest scores among Irish students on the creative self-efficacy index were related to confidence in interpersonal situations. They also expressed higher enjoyment in creating art and engaging in artistic activities.

Gender differences were evident, with female students more likely than their male peers to report higher levels of creative self-efficacy, more openness to art and experience, and higher levels of imagination and adventurousness both in Ireland and at the OECD level.

In Ireland, female students reported significantly greater levels of participation in creative activities in school on average than their male counterparts. This contrasts with the wider pattern across the OECD, where male students report greater levels of participation.

Female students in Ireland also generally report higher levels of confidence in their creativity, more openness to art and experience, and higher levels of imagination and adventurousness than male students.

The female students in Ireland also reported greater levels of support from family and peers with regard to creative thinking, and engaged more frequently in creative activities inside and outside of school.

“Given the gendered patterns observed in terms of male students’ attitudes to, participation in, and support for engagement in creative activities, more targeted interventions to encourage male students’ participation in creative activities inside and outside school could be considered,” the report said.

Socioeconomic status significantly affected students’ creative self-efficacy and openness to intellect, with higher socioeconomic backgrounds linked with higher scores in both areas.

Students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds in Ireland reported less confidence in their creative ability and lower levels of openness to intellect.

The most advantaged students tended to report higher levels of self-belief in their capacity to engage with creativity, and higher levels of receptivity to abstract or complex information.

Students attending DEIS schools reported lower levels of creative self-efficacy, openness to intellect and imagination and adventurousness.

However, no significant differences were found between DEIS and non-DEIS schools regarding support for creative teaching methods and access to creative activities inside or outside of school.