Evaluating Creative Thinking In Finnish Art Education: A Process-Oriented Perspective

Creativity is increasingly recognized as a critical 21st-century skill, yet its assessment remains a challenge within standardized educational frameworks. Evaluations like PISA 2022 struggle to capture the interdisciplinary, process-driven nature of creative thinking. This study explores how arts-based, holistic assessment models—aligned with Finland’s national curriculum and transversal competencies—offer a more contextual understanding of creativity in education. By emphasizing creative processes over final outputs, the research contributes to the broader discourse on creativity assessment. Finland’s transversal competencies, including thinking and learning to learn, multiliteracy, ICT competence, and cultural interaction, provide a foundation for integrating creativity assessment into broader educational objectives. Drawing on constructivist and experiential learning theories, this study highlights active participation, reflection, and interdisciplinary engagement as key factors in fostering creative competencies. Arts-based research methodologies offer an alternative to traditional academic metrics, aligning with prior studies on the role of visual and performative arts in cognitive development and innovation. The five-month study, conducted in Rovaniemi across primary, secondary, and high school levels, employed participatory methodologies focusing on visual expression, problem-solving, and interdisciplinary learning. Data collection included classroom observations, student reflections, teacher interviews, and analysis of student-created artifacts. The assessment approach prioritized process documentation, iterative feedback cycles, and self-evaluation tools to capture creative growth comprehensively. Findings indicate that process-oriented evaluation—emphasizing iteration, self-reflection, and collaboration—provides a more comprehensive measure of creativity than traditional outcome-based assessments. A key discovery was the underutilization of portfolio assessment, despite its potential for tracking creative development. While students engaged in self-assessment and iterative refinement, the absence of a structured portfolio framework limited comparative evaluation. The study suggests integrating structured portfolio criteria, combining qualitative reflections with quantitative rubrics, to enhance assessment validity and alignment with Finland’s transversal competencies and international evaluation standards. This research underscores the need for flexible, student-centered, and interdisciplinary evaluation methodologies that capture the complexity of creative thinking. Moving beyond rigid, standardized metrics, process-oriented assessment fosters a more dynamic, participatory, and context-sensitive framework. The Finnish Creative Thinking pilot exemplifies how arts-based education can drive innovation in teaching, learning, and assessment, contributing to a more holistic understanding of creativity in education.