Neoliberalism, curriculum development and manifestations of ‘creativity’

There is a manifest tendency for national education policy to follow global economic trends. In many western industrialized countries this relationship has intensified or strengthened within the last decades. The strengthening of this relationship has been seen, among other things, as evidence of the growing power of neoliberal ideology. The background reference for this article is the emergence of a neoliberal education policy ideology in the two creativity related strategies implemented by the Finnish government during the first decade of the 21st century. The main focus of the study was the concept of creativity, for it has appeared to be the prevailing trend within the Finnish basic education renovation program from 2010 to 2014. The sample (n=1163) of research was composed of expert teachers, artists and university level educated engineers. The results from the study revealed the demanding influence of the concept of creativity on curriculum planning. Perspectives on the significance or importance of creativity and creative education vary a lot, and, for instance, are influenced by the respondent’s professional background. The results obtained from the study also provide the basis to reflect on the functionality of national democracy within the context of the educational policy decision making process.