Communication studies: Why we need to design environments that cultivate creative competency

The response by Australian universities to rapid technological change and industry dissatisfaction with graduate competencies has been to identify transferable skills that support lifelong learning. Creativity is a core competency in higher education policy and curriculum frameworks, but it is rarely made explicit at the level of learning outcomes, activities and assessment. This article argues that creative competency is central to the needs of Communication Studies graduates. We demonstrate why we need to shift creative thinking from the margins to the core of learning outcomes, activities and assessment. We explain the significance of an environment that is connectivist, that raises students’ awareness about creative processes, encourages them to focus on explicit learning goals, find strategies to tolerate uncertainty, take intellectual risks and to learn through experimental play. Finally, we argue that such an environment cultivates creative competency by fostering intellectual risk-taking, a tolerance for uncertainty and an agility to move between knowledge systems and to make connections between existing ideas and skills. Such an environment will enable students to develop the intellectual independence as well as the range and depth of skills required of Communications graduates in the twenty-first century