교육을 통한 창의적 인재 양성이 국가적 차원의 교육목표가 되면서 학문적인 차원에서 창의성에 대한 관심과 연구가 더욱 활발해지고 있다. 2010년 5월에 서울에서 개최된 제2차 유네스코 세계문화예술교육대회의 개막식 기조연설에서 로버트와 미셀 루트번스타인(Root-Bernstein, R. & Root-Bernstein, M, 2010: 17-22)은 노벨상 수상자들의 예술적 재능과 과학적 성취 사이의 밀접한 관계를 주장하였다. 이들의 주장은 창의성이 천재와 같이 특정 인물만이 갖는 능력이라거나 예술분야에서만 논의될 수 있는 문제가 아니라 인간이라면 누구에게나 잠재된 능력이라는 창의성 개념과 맞물리며, 인간의 창의성 육성에 있어서 예술교육이 어떠한 역할을 담당할 수 있는지에 대한 관심을 촉발시켰다.
This paper examines the meaning of life-history research, which has become a significant method in the educational field, and its implications as a method in art education. A life-history is a history of one's experiences and is categorized as a personal document: autobiography, biography, diary, letter and so on, for it reveals one's perspective, circumstances, and perspective. On the other hand, life-history research is differentiated from the life-history itself by the reinterpretation and reorganization of a researcher based on the personal documents. In addition, life-history research simultaneously deals with the subjective aspect of one's life experience and the objective aspect of the society through the person's life. Therefore, a life-history is a method utilized not only to study one's life, but to analyze society based on one's point of view. First, this study investigates the development of the concept of creativity, and diverse research methodologies of creativity. Second, this study examines the relation between creativity and life-history research. Third, the previous study of life-history research and its research methods and processes are discussed in order to study the process of creativity development. Fourth, this study investigates the creativity system model by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, focusing on the importance of cultural context, social context, and the individual in the creative process. Finally, this study maintains that life-history research allows a reinterpretation of social phenomena through the shift in perspective from that of the subject to that of the researcher. The life-history research method can be a new research method in art education, and the results of life-history research can suggest a new counterplan for other art education researches.