Creative Chances, Spaces, and Values Across Secondary Schools in Trinidad and Tobago

• In Event: Creative Solutions in Education, Transition, and Research

Abstract

Trinidad and Tobago’s ambition to produce 21st century human capital demands creativity as an educational outcome. Policies, however, are often silent on the underlying theories of change, and simply adopting popular global North creativity theories may prove useless in this global South context. Trinidad and Tobago’s postcolonial system unfairly segregates students by factors including socioeconomic status and gender, across four secondary school models that vary in quality. Such streaming results in variegated school contexts which in turn has implications for the creative ecology or climate of a school. In the absence of indigenous theory, we investigate how creativity is understood, expressed, facilitated and hindered in each context. We present an integrated, culturally relevant model of creativity to guide future interventions.

Authors

• Tracey Michelle Lucas, University of the West Indies

• Jerome De Lisle, The University of the West Indies - St. Augustine