Academic Enhancement Framework (AEF)<\/a>.\u00a0 The AEF provides the structure through which Future Facing Learning is embedded within academic practice and aligned with other strategic priorities to ensure our students are developing the skills, knowledge, and \u2018knowhow\u2019 to thrive in increasingly complex and uncertain futures. Integral to this knowhow is the capacity to think and work creatively; to generate and connect new ideas and working frameworks; and to apply judgement as to the worth of potential solutions to real-life problems and scenarios.<\/p>\nCreativity is not a new concept in higher education. Nor is it something to be bolted on to curriculum practices. Creativity is core to realising authentic future facing learning and the context for many of the wider capabilities and complex learning we seek to develop through our courses and modules.<\/p>\n
It is how, through the curriculum, we empower our students and graduates to develop the self-awareness and wide-ranging qualities, abilities, and behaviours to prepare for the future and sustain rewarding professional lives.<\/p>\n
While different disciplines in higher education may recognise and value different forms of creativity, the ability to think and work creatively is widely recognised as a catalyst for innovation, adaption, and resilience in modern professional contexts. It is for us as educators to decide the role creativity plays within our courses and modules in preparing our students for increasingly uncertain future professional lives. But how do we do this? What kinds of pedagogic practices and environments are best suited to nurturing creative learners? This guide provides the means to engage meaningfully with such questions, providing actionable insight into the ways academic colleagues might embed and nurture creativity through curriculum and learning design.<\/p>\n