On two metaphors for pedagogy and creativity in the digital era: liquid and solid learning

Abstract

As part of a belief in higher education (HE) aiding ‘creative capital’, McWilliam and Dawson argue for a shift in pedagogic attention towards ‘Small C’ creativity, which emphasises group endeavour over individual. Their radical ‘liquid-learning’ prescription, based on swarm intelligence, gives rise to the pedagogy of metagroups and modes of teacher engagement aligned to the post digital native ‘gamer generation’. This article aims to review relevant creativity literature and research and its relatedness to technology in the learning context and examine ‘liquid learning’ using a ‘Big C’ understanding of creativity via a Csikszentmihalyian sociocultural framework (the individual, domain knowledge and society or ‘field’). The article argues that liquid learning, while important, is not a panacea for creativity in HE, suggesting a mixed ‘liquid’ and ‘solid’ approach to creativity that is socially valuable.

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