The Role of Educators, Environment, and Curriculum in Fostering Creativity: A Study of Art and Design Programmes in UAE Higher Education

Abstract

This interpretive, qualitative thesis examines how educators, learning environments, and curricula foster creativity among students in art and design programmes at two Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). These include a federal, government-funded university for Emirati students and a private, multicultural university. In line with the UAE’s vision of a knowledge-based creative economy, three interrelated questions guided the inquiry: (1) How do art and design educators cultivate creativity? (2) In what ways does the HEI environment support creative engagement? and (3) How do programme structures and curricula influence the creative development of students? To ensure vigorous triangulation, five forms of data were collected to answer the research questions. Data collection comprised semi-structured interviews with five educators and thirteen students, five focus-group discussions (n=33), four classroom observations, surveys of thirty-five students and five educators, and document analysis of curricula and institutional policies. Thematic analysis of the extensive body of data that was collected, following Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six-phase approach, revealed that educators play four key roles: offering autonomy balanced with developmental scaffolding; providing ongoing feedback on conceptual development; modelling professional practice; and nurturing students’ experimental mindset. The findings show that generously proportioned studios, communal zones, and flexible workstations facilitate collaboration and creative endeavours. At the same time, a psychologically safe climate that encourages experimentation and tolerates mistakes underpins risk-taking. At the curricular level, phased programme designs, in which technical proficiency is established before students embark on open-ended capstone projects, build creative confidence. However, they can also create tension between creative freedom and assessment rigour. Similarly, embedding industry-aligned project briefs supports the development of transferable creative skills, even as standardised assessment frameworks risk constraining exploratory practice. By examining the interplay between educator strategies, learning environments, and curriculum design in UAE art and design HEIs, this study offers evidence-based recommendations for policy and practice: embedding creativity both as a process and an outcome; designing studio spaces that reflect cultural diversity; and aligning assessment practices with iterative, student-centred creative journeys. These insights contribute to the development of pedagogical models capable of preparing future creative professionals to thrive in the UAE’s evolving creative industries.