TITLE:
An Evaluation of the Dinaledi Schools: Project Using a Framework of Enablers of Creativity
AUTHORS:
Michael Kainose Mhlolo, Maleshoane Jeanette Ntoatsabone
KEYWORDS:
Creativity, Giftedness, Dinaledi, Cognitive Demand, Knowledge Economy, Mathematics
JOURNAL NAME:
Creative Education,
Vol.13 No.6,
June
28,
2022
ABSTRACT: Creativity is an essential skill for the 21st century knowledge-based economy. Mathematically gifted individuals are often seen as“the hope of the future”especially in STEM fields because of the special creative attributes that they possess. The way schools and teachers interact with gifted learners has important implications for whether opportunities for nurturing their creativity will be supported or missed. For two decades now South Africa has been trying to cater for the needs of gifted learners in mathematics through the Dinaledi School project but without much success. Despite the initiative’s“shortcomings”, reports are unanimous that consideration should be given to expanding it. This paper aimed at understanding the shortcomings over the two decades of implementation. We used a framework of enablers of creativity to analyse the cognitive demand of the curriculum, the cognitive preparedness of the learners and the way they were assessed in the Dinaledi Schools. Results show that the cognitive demand of the curriculum objectives is very high suggesting that it had potential to support the creative potential of gifted learners. However, the way learners were selected and assessed suggests that the domain readiness of the learners was not considered. Yet this is one of the most important factors to be considered when nurturing the creative potential of gifted learners. In reconceptualizing the Dinaledi Schools project our recommendation is that issues of selecting learners with the potential to deliver as well as how they are assessed should be prioritized.