DECHADOS. Inclusive creativity in secondary school through the relationship between educational centers and museums

Proyecto PID2021-123007OB-I00, financiado por MCIUN/AEI/10.13039/ 501100011033 y por FEDER Una manera de hacer Europa. This project recognizes the relevance and need to value and promote creative thinking in adolescents. We propose a boost in the creative level of our adolescent students who attend secondary school, incorporating for this a highly relevant resource such as museums, powerful informal education environments that can help us improve the secondary educational scenario, generating synergies with educational centers. For this we propose to promote the encounter with the educational potential that museums offer us, activating mediation efforts between secondary schools and museums. Facing and approaching the challenge in advance will help to better understand the situation, emphasize the strengths that our students have and detect the points that can be improved around creative thinking.

Acronym

DECHADOS

Reference code

PID2021-123007OB-I00

Description

R&D project "DECHADOS. Inclusive creativity in secondary school through the relationship between schools and museums," with reference number PID2021-123007OB-I00, funded by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities of the Government of Spain (MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033) and the European Union's ERDF funds. A way of making Europe.

As proposed by the OECD, creativity in adolescents will be evaluated following domain-specific criteria, and attending to two thematic areas (creative expression and creation of knowledge with problem solving) attending to domains such as visual expression, problem solving social problems and the solution of scientific problems, all with a gender and sociocultural diversity perspective. In a complementary way, transversal skills such as problem identification, problem redefinition or analogical thinking will be evaluated. In archeology, ethnology or history museums, the concepts of historical thought are incorporated for analysis: historical significance (use of sources and primary evidence), continuity and change, cause and consequence, historical perspective (empathy), ethical dimension. During the last decade, proposals for activities have begun to be developed in museums and secondary schools that incorporate archaeological and historical research hypotheses, object-based learning and the gender perspective, as well as the inclusion of diversity. The analysis will allow the design of a pilot intervention program and the preparation of an action plan for the promotion of creativity, involving both secondary schools and the educational departments of museums. The starting point of the project is to carry out an evaluation of the level of thought and creative performance of adolescent students who participate in the educational proposals of museums in different environments of the Spanish geography and of the characteristics of the proposals made by museums. . A triangular scenario is established where we unite secondary schools, museums and universities. We articulate this scenario with professionals from these fields. We thus want to open a space for reflection and interaction between strategic actors (teachers and students, university researchers, educational centers and museums), exchanging concerns and perspectives with the aim of executing initiatives supporting actions aimed at common developments.

The DECHADOS project allows us to delve deeper into our understanding of adolescent creativity competencies, offering a detailed snapshot of both the individual and environmental components related to our students' creative performance. Within each of these components, it also provides a better understanding of which cognitive, attitudinal, and personality aspects are facilitating or hindering this performance at the individual level (in adolescents and teachers) and which organizational, structural, and training aspects are promoting or undermining the possibilities for developing creativity in educational centres. The program, aimed at secondary education teachers, has been informed by the results of this snapshot, taking as a starting point the consolidation of the facilitators found and, from there, addressing the deactivation of the inhibitors identified in the previous phase.

Among the key areas of progress and scientific and technical contributions of the DECHADOS project, we can highlight: 1) Leadership in research on creativity training, evaluating the quality of creativity education programs in their design, implementation, short- and medium-term effects, as well as the nature of the learning they generate, their acquisition process, and the awareness of what has been learned among the agents involved. 2) Development of diagnostic research by organizing, analysing, systematizing, and developing quality standards for creativity education in educational centres and museums. 3) Development of strategies and identification of models (models, examples, samples) that allow for the organization of creativity education programs. 4) Increasing the participation and leadership of Spanish scientific production of global impact on creativity and its education.

The research of the DECHADOS project allows for a substantial increase in the training of the adolescent population, as well as that of museum teachers and educators. The development of creativity (personal in the case of students and teachers and environmental in the case of educational centers) is naturally associated with an increase in productivity (a greater number of ideas, greater variety, a greater level of innovation, and a greater degree of applicability of those ideas). Creativity therefore becomes the best formula for competitiveness in a dynamic, ever-changing environment where the main element that provides added value is knowledge. Creativity generates applicable knowledge and drives technological development.

The situation of inequality in the social consideration of the contributions of men and women is a serious and urgent problem. Society continues to be especially sensitive to the creative products of men and ignores or fails to provide the same avenues and opportunities for expression for women. We believe that adolescence and secondary education are key elements in this process of discrimination, and the analysis of the organizational forms and dynamics of educational centres, as well as the attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions of their staff, provide clues about the differential expectations that may be projected onto students and the social mechanisms, not all of them attributable to secondary education, that may be contributing to this discriminatory view. A society biased and prejudiced regarding the gender of the person contributing creative ideas is not only socially unjust and scientifically lacking, but also a society that limits its own development potential. The results of the DECHADOS project help us understand that, despite the lack of differences in the creative performance of boys and girls, interventions are necessary, including broadening and reinforcing young people's expectations. Improving the effectiveness of the education system in promoting adolescents' creative and empathic thinking has a direct impact on the solutions our society is capable of generating to social problems, such as training and job creation, gender inequality, environmental problems, such as climate change, scientific problems, and the solution to human and social health problems.

The project "DECHADOS Inclusive Creativity in Secondary Education through the Relationship between Schools and Museums" (PID2021-123007OB-I00) has achieved almost all of its initial objectives, keeping the research team closely united throughout all phases of its implementation, given the origin of the researchers from six autonomous communities (Canary Islands, Castilla-La Mancha, Catalonia, Valencia, Murcia, and the Basque Country). This has been possible thanks to the team's constant meetings, which in most cases have been face-to-face, some of them in Meeting format, organizing the research team's travel and accommodation. This consolidation of the team has been very positive for making adequate progress at all times, especially in the initial phase, in which we aimed to define the field of research and the steps to follow in data collection. Thanks to the participation of our team of creativity experts, we were able to determine how we would detect signs of increased creativity among secondary school students during museum visits. This was made possible by developing questionnaires, which were also translated into the corresponding co-official languages. Data collection, which included observations of each visit in addition to the forms and the creation of a mural by each visiting group, was carried out at the planned museums, collaborating with teachers and students from 17 secondary schools. Both the museums and educational centres involved remain connected to the project, so that, while obtaining results in the form of conferences, articles, books, and book chapters, they continue to be informed and supported, reinforcing the involvement of all the individuals, institutions, and organizations that have been supporting the DECHADOS project.

A highlight for the project was the holding of the "Dechados Museos Educación Creatividad" International Conference, which took place in person in Valencia on October 17 and 18, 2024, shortly before the disastrous effects of Hurricane Irma on October 29. We were able to share sessions with leading international experts in creativity, museums, and education. During 2025, international seminars were organized with specialists from Italy and Portugal, completing the internationalization of the project with a series of conferences at universities and institutions in Chile. Meetings with both national and international figures have given DECHADOS a significant presence, as have the publication of articles, books, and chapters, given the numerous studies already published (and others pending publication). In addition to all this, team members have participated in conferences and scientific meetings. The final assessment of the project is positive, and we encourage you to check out the two volumes published specifically with results from the DECHADOS project:

Huerta, R. & Jardón, P. (eds.) (2025). Museos en modo creativo. Graó. ISBN 979-13-87670-03-0.

Jardón, P. & Huerta, R. (eds.) (2025). Dechados de creatividad en museos para Secundaria. Octaedro. ISBN 978-84-1079-075-9.

Project category

R+D Projects

Principal investigators: