Growing Creative Agency: What Helps, What Hinders, and What AI Changes with Dr. Maceij Karwowski

What helps students believe they can shape the world with their ideas? And what might quietly discourage them from trying?

In this episode of the Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast, Dr. Matthew Worwood and Dr. Cyndi Burnett speak with creativity researcher Dr. Maciej Karwowski, Professor of Psychology at the University of Warsaw and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Creative Behavior.

Together, they explore creative agency and why students need more than creative ability to turn ideas into action.

In this episode, we discuss:

• What a creative agency is and why it matters for student creativity

• The four key elements of creative agency: confidence, creative identity, risk-taking, and self-regulation

• Why many teachers and students underestimate their own creativity

• How beliefs about creativity influence whether students act on their ideas

• Whether schools actually suppress creativity or help it develop

• The role of knowledge in supporting creative thinking and learning

• How students’ creative confidence can shift as they gain expertise

• The opportunities and concerns surrounding AI and creativity in education

• How AI might support creativity through feedback rather than idea generation

About Our Guest

Dr. Maciej Karwowski is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Warsaw and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Creative Behavior. His research focuses on the educational psychology of creativity, particularly creative agency and how classroom environments influence students’ creative development.

This episode invites educators to reconsider how creativity develops in schools and how teachers can nurture the confidence, identity, and motivation students need to act on their ideas.

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