Creativity potential management in a higher education context

Abstract

Purpose

Considering the urgency of creativity development in the higher education system, this article justifies an effective model of creativity management for students and teachers at universities. The model is based on an empirical assessment of the difference between the creativity potential and its actual level. The data was taken from the managing factors playing an important role in the development of creative potential. The study was carried out in Kazakhstan.

Design/methodology/approach

The method of surveying 872 teachers and 944 students in Kazakhstan quantified the levels of actual creativity of students and their potential, as well as the gap between the two parameters. The authors identified the nature of the influence of the creativity development factors, contributing to the achievement of the creativity potential of teachers/students.

Findings

The gap between the levels of actual and potential creativity at universities for both teachers and students was found to be one of the main factors governing the creativity management in the education system. The main problems hindering the efficient management of actual and potential creativity at education institutions are personal and institutional factors.

Research limitations/implications

The results are based on a limited sample of respondents, taking into account the higher education system in Kazakhstan.

Practical implications

Assessment and justification can be useful in determining the unused creative abilities of students and teachers in the process of developing creativity within the educational process.

Originality/value

The value of this study lies in an empirical assessment of the difference between actual creativity and creativity potential in the higher education system as an object of pedagogical management, as well as a deterministic hierarchy of causal factors of this gap. These results are valuable in the aspect that, when developing an effective management strategy, influencing these factors, in particular the institutional factor of the educational process, it is possible to increase the potential for the development of creativity of students and professors of higher educational establishments. Besides, a very useful scientific result in the framework of the development of this topic is the establishment of the primacy of ensuring the development of the creativity potential of teachers in the process of managing the development of students' creativity.

Citation

Burayeva, Z., Berkimbayev, K., Kerimbayeva, B., Semiz, K. and Atikol, B.U. (2020), "Creativity potential management in a higher education context", International Journal of Educational Management, Vol. 34 No. 9, pp. 1439-1456. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEM-09-2019-0352