INTRODUCTION: CREATIVITY IN THE ENGLISH CLASSROOM

Since the latter years of the twentieth century, creativity has been recognized by policy makers as increasingly important in the education process. At a global level, it has been argued that such policies, whether focused on the youngest learners or those engaged in higher education, are imbued with a “universalized” perspective (Jeffrey & Craft, 2001), which implies that creativity is involved in almost all activities and that all human beings are to some degree capable of creative engagement. In England, Banaji, Burn, and Buckingham (2006) identified nine distinct rhetorics that underpin distinct yet overlapping approaches to creativity in the English classroom. Some are more prevalent than others and each has an age focus, but all are visible in both policy and practice:

• Creative genius rhetoric – With its roots in the European Enlightenment, this post-Romantic perspective emphasizes the fostering of extraordinary creativity in a range of domains.

• Democratic and political rhetoric – With its roots in the Romantic era, this perspective views creativity as offering empowerment.

• The notion of creativity as ubiquitous – This idea views creativity as pervasive.

• Creativity as a social good – This concept emphasizes social and individual regeneration, with a focus on inclusion and multiculturalism.

• Emphasis on the economic imperative – This rhetoric emphasizes the neoliberal discourse regarding the economic program thus developing a rationale for fostering creativity in the classroom as necessary to developing economic competitiveness.

• Approaches that emphasize play – With roots again in Romantic thought, this perspective sees childhood play as the origin of adult creative thought.

• […]