Development of creativity, agency and digital competence in the author’s kreativ studio methodology

Abstract

The article provides a theoretical and methodological substantiation of the author’s Kreativ Studio methodology as a holistic pedagogical system for developing creativity, agency, and digital competence in children and adolescents within non-formal and partnership-based educational environments. The relevanceof the study is determined by the need for educational approaches that combine the development of creative potential, personal authorship, and the responsible use of digital technologies, while also supporting a balance between conscious real and virtual agency in the context of a turbulent world, social crises, and the challenges of digitalisation. The aim of the article is to define the conceptual foundations, principles, age-related logic, implementation formats, and educational potential of the author’s Kreativ Studio methodology. The study has a qualitative theoretical-methodological character and is based on theoretical analysis, retrospective generalisation of long-term pedagogical practice, secondary interpretation of the author’s previous empirical findings, and the description of an illustrative case. The empirical basis for the conceptualisation includes the results of a previous comparative study of the creativity of 56 adolescents, a subsequent longitudinal qualitative analysis of the educational environment, and practical experience in implementing the methodology since 2008. As a result, the stages of the methodology’s evolution in interaction with the broader socio-technological context were outlined, and its invariant features, pedagogical logic, age sensitivity, and step-by-step integration of analogue and digital means were identified. The study shows that the methodology emerged as a pedagogical transformation of the structural factors of a creativity supportive educational environment that had been empirically identified in previous studies, while at the same time being supplemented by age-sensitive digital integration. It was found that digital competence within this methodology develops not in isolation, but in unity with creative experience, authorial position, collaboration, reflection, and socio-cultural interaction. The practical significance of the study lies in the possibility of applying the methodology in the work of creative studios, non-formal educational institutions, schools, and partnership-based socio-cultural projects.