Creativity: Exploring and extending ideas leading to an original or interpretive product or performance

Creativity in CAS provides you with the opportunity to explore their own sense of original thinking and expression. Creativity will come from the your talents, interests, passions, emotional responses, and imagination; the form of expression is limitless. This may include visual and performing arts, digital design, writing, film, culinary arts, crafts and composition. You are encouraged to engage in creative endeavors that move them beyond the familiar, broadening their scope from conventional to unconventional thinking.

If you are accomplished in a particular creative form, for example, music, painting or acting, you may choose to extend your involvement and deepen you skill level. Within your field, you can define new challenges and objectives to fulfill creativity in CAS. For example, a musician may compose and perform a guitar solo; an artist may create a new sculpture or photographic series; an actor may present an original dramatic piece. By striving for new possibilities, you may discover ways to meet challenges and identify strengths that carry them forward with curiosity and continued innovation. When demonstrating creative expression, you may showcase your product or performance in a variety of ways, for example, through a recording, a presentation, an exhibition, social media or shared discussion. Creativity in CAS is not met by the appreciation of the creative efforts of others, such as attending a concert or art exhibition.

Creativity can be inspired and informed by the your Diploma courses. For example, you can meet new challenges and objectives in creativity using the skills developed in the visual arts course, or find new ways of expression utilizing elements in the design technology course. However, creativity experiences must be distinct from, and may not be included or used in, the your Diploma course requirements.

As with all CAS experiences, you reflect meaningfully on their engagement with creativity, and may be guided to look for moments of personal significance or inspiration as a call for reflection. Creativity may provide inspiration for the ways in which you will reflect. For example, you may reflect through art, music, a brief narrative, a blog posting, photos, a skit, or other methods.

Approaches to creativity

There are many approaches to creativity, such as:

• Ongoing creativity: You may already be engaged in creativity as part of a school group or club, or through some other form of sustained creativity. You may continue in this as part of their creativity; however, you may also be encouraged to further extend and develop their participation if appropriate. 
• School-based creativity: You are encouraged to participate in meaningful creativity and to explore your own sense of original thinking and expression. In school, there may well be appropriate creativity opportunities in which the you can engage. These creativity experiences can be part of the school’s service CAS projects, a school club, timetabled creativity sessions, or other opportunities. 
• Community-based creativity: Participating in creativity within the local community advances your awareness and understanding of interpersonal relationships with others, particularly if the creativity experience involves the local community. Creativity experiences best occur with a regularity that builds and sustains relationships while allowing the growth of your talents, interests, passions, emotional responses, and imagination. For example, you could join a community-based theatre group, contribute towards a community art gallery, create a sculpture for the community park, take cooking classes, or other opportunities. 
• Individual creativity: You may decide that you wish to engage in solitary creativity experiences such as composing music, developing a website, writing a compilation of short fiction stories, designing furniture, creating arts and crafts, or painting a series of portraits. Such creativity experiences are of most benefit when they take place over an extended duration of time. You are encouraged to set personal goals and work towards these in a sustained manner.