Creative Workforce

Book excerpt: Creativity has become the economic engine of the 21st century. No longer the preserve of creative industries, 'creative capital' in the form of novel thinking, navigation, interactivity and border-crossing has become crucial to success and productivity. But are young people being equipped for a work future in which creativity is the defining feature of economic life? In this important book, Erica McWilliam argues that young peoples creative capacities are not being properly developed and that education, particularly in Australia, demands a massive pedagogical shift. Using both Australian and overseas examples, McWilliam describes what creative capacities are, why they've become important to our work futures, and what can be done to optimise the creative capacities of young people.