To learn more about creative problem-solving in the classroom, Adobe conducted a study to understand how UK educators and policymakers perceive creative problem-solving capabilities, including how critical these skills are to future jobs, and how they are being nurtured in schools today.

While creative problem-solving can be defined as using creativity to develop new ideas and solutions to problems, there are a multitude of individual skills that can fall under this umbrella. Our research identified independent learning, learning through success and failure and taking risks as three of the most valuable creative problem-solving skills for students to be taught in schools.

More than three quarters of the educators surveyed believed that students need to develop these skills to protect their futures, as the professions that require creative problem-solving are less likely to be impacted by automation. “90% of educators believe that creative problem-solving will lead to higher-earning job opportunities.”However, it isn’t just job protection where creative problem-solving makes a difference. Nine in 10 educators believe that students who excel at creative problem-solving will have higher-earning job opportunities in the future; 90 percent agreed that these same skills are in high demand by today’s employers for senior-level and higher-paying careers.

Knowing that 92 percent of educators believe creative problem-solving should be integrated across all curricula, and that policymakers are in vehement agreement, it’s reasonable to assume that schools are already providing opportunities for students to develop these skills. Alarmingly though, this critical skill-set is not emphasised enough in schools today due to the barriers educators face - from tight budgets and lack of resources, to outdated testing requirements. Coupled with the fact that more than half of educators believe that they do not have the training or knowledge to help students develop creative problem-solving skills, it’s easy to perceive that the challenge faced by educators and students is vast.

At Adobe, we believe that we should support educators who are teaching creative problem-solving, by getting the right technology into the hands of schools and students. We aim to inspire young people to create. While technology alone is not the answer, it plays a key role. That is why Adobe is working to update its licensing models so students can access Creative Cloud both in the classroom and at home using their school ID to log in.

Adobe Spark

Adobe is also constantly developing new storytelling tools like Spark, and recently made the resource free to all educational institutions. This means that students can easily create high-quality, visually compelling reports, research papers, posters, writing assignments, presentations and so much more.

Regardless of what age students are, it is crucial that we do all we can to nurture these important skills, helping to equip students with the tools they need to succeed and thrive in later life.

Want to know more? Visit cps.adobeeducate.com to bring your school’s problem-solving skills up-to-date.

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