Facets of creative potential in selected occupational fields

Today, creativity is considered a success factor in many occupational fields and a core competence of the 21st century. In vocational education and training (VET), creativity is defined as problem-solving ability and ascribed to the transversal competences. Creativity is always context-dependent in terms of the work environment and specific demands of an occupation. To implement creativity didactically in the classroom and in the workplace, it is important to understand what creativity entails in the context of different occupations. Accordingly, the aim of this interview study was to conduct an initial investigation into the facets of creative potential in different occupations. Since a suitable instrument for measuring creativity does not exist in VET at time of writing, this study was based on theories and instruments used in psychology. The findings of this study show that in the four occupations studied (commercial clerk, specialist in care, IT specialist, and design engineer), different facets of creativity were relevant to successfully coping with creative situations. Overall, divergent and convergent thinking were identified as the most important facets of creativity in the professional creative situations examined.