Key Findings

• Aotearoa New Zealand is one of four countries that are most successful in developing students’ capacity to engage in creative thinking. The average creative thinking score of Aotearoa New Zealand students was higher than the OECD average and all but four participating countries/economics (Singapore, Korea, Canada and Australia)
• Compared to other countries/economies, a relatively large proportion (39%) of Aotearoa New Zealand students were ‘top’ creative thinkers and most (86%) performed at or above baseline proficiency.
• Expressing creativity through writing and social problem solving was a strength of Aotearoa New Zealand students, as was generating diverse and creative ideas. They did less well in scientific problem solving, visual expression and evaluating and improving ideas.
• Like almost all other participating countries/economies, girls outperformed boys in creative thinking.
• In Aotearoa New Zealand, there was a relatively high level of socio-economic disparity in creative thinking performance and 17% of the variation observed in creative thinking was explained by a student’s socio-economic background (OECD average was 12%).
• A smaller proportion of Aotearoa New Zealand students have a growth mindset towards creativity than intelligence. Half think that their creativity is something they cannot change very much.
• Aotearoa New Zealand students’ creative self-efficacy and openness to intellect was slightly lower than the OECD average, and their openness to art and reflection was higher.
• Aotearoa New Zealand students reported relatively high levels of pedagogy which promote creativity, but they also reported relatively low participation in creative activities at school such as drama, debate club and school publications.
• Access and use of technology is positively related to students’ creativity. Students who spend more than an hour a day using digital resources (laptops, tablets, etc.) for both learning and leisure performed better on the creative thinking assessment even after accounting for students’ socio-economic background.