How teachers perceive factors that influence creativity development: Applying a Social Cognitive Theory perspective

This mixed methods study examined teachers' perceptions of creativity using Social Cognitive Theory factors (e.g., personal, behavioral, and environmental). When describing hindrances to creativity, teachers often discussed macro-environmental factors, yet when explaining or defining creativity, teachers often used personal and behavioral characteristics. Teachers did not seem to hold limited views on who can be creative or that creativity always results in products; however, some teachers' conceptions were too vague to guide the explicit facilitating of creativity. Compared to in-service teachers, pre-service teachers expressed more optimism in their future environmental support and lower self-efficacy for developing creative thinking.     

In-service and prospective teachers’ conceptions of creativity

Teachers play a crucial role in the development of primary school students’ creative potential in either a positive or a negative way. This paper aims to draw attention to in-service and prospective teachers’ conceptions of creativity and answer three main research questions: “What are the teachers’ conceptions and implicit theories of creativity in general?”, “What are the teachers’ conceptions and implicit theories of creativity in the context of primary education?”, and “How well-trained and equipped do teachers feel to play their key role in the development of students’ creative potential?” A self-report questionnaire was used as an instrument to gather qualitative and quantitative data from 132 Greek in-service and prospective teachers. According to the selected quantitative data we present in this study, the majority of the participants reported that the facilitation of students’ creativity is included in the teachers’ role, but they (teachers themselves) do not feel well-trained and confident enough to realise this particular expectation. The authors conclude that further research is needed in order to: (i) reveal more on teachers’ conceptions on creativity and (ii) understand and classify teachers’ particular needs to facilitate the creative potential of primary school students.     

Primary Teachers' beliefs about Scientific Creativity in the Classroom Context

While a number of studies have investigated people's perceptions or conceptions of creativity, there is a lack of studies looking into science teachers' views. The study aimed to explore the meanings of scientific creativity in the classroom context as perceived by a selective group of upper primary (Grades 3–6; student ages 8–12) science teachers (n?=?16) in Taiwan. Using a self-report, open-ended questionnaire and follow-up interviews, the participants responded to questions as to (1) what quality, behaviours and abilities characterise a creative learner in their science classrooms, (2) what a science classroom should be like if it is to facilitate scientific creativity, and (3) whether and what particular elements of the inquiry approach are incorporated in such a classroom. The analyses revealed that the teachers captured the central features of creativity and proposed diverse ideas about how to foster creativity in school science, but seemed to overlook some aspects, such as convergent thinking, problem-finding, and linking the arts and science. These missing features are regarded as important for scientific creativity in contemporary research. The findings were discussed along with their implications for teacher education and future research.     

Pre-service teachers’ conceptions of creativity in elementary school English

Widely thought to be something worth encouraging in young learners, creativity has popularly been associated more with music and art than with other areas of the curriculum. There have been many studies of creativity but few that focus explicitly on what counts as creative thinking in specific subject areas. The aim of the research reported here was to determine pre-service teachers’ conceptions of creativity within the curriculum for English. The study involved analyses of primary school trainee teachers’ responses to questionnaires and follow-up focus group discussion to identify their conceptions. A group of 48 trainees in the final year of an undergraduate degree in primary education leading to qualified teacher status in England completed the questionnaire. Of these, eight volunteered to participate in a follow-up focus group discussion to further explore ideas. Responses were analysed quantitatively and qualitatively. Conceptions of creativity in English were found to be limited, focused mainly on naïve views of story writing and dramatic activity. Responses indicated that they were often unable to distinguish clearly between the concept of creativity, an example of its occurrence in the classroom, and what feature of that example made it creative. Consequently, their limited constructions of creativity were confused. It is important that teachers in schools as well as those responsible for training teachers in universities are advised that trainees’ conceptions of creativity in English may be inadequate in several respects and that they may not recognise opportunities for creativity. Pre-service training programmes could well benefit from structured courses on the forms and applications of creativity.     

关于小学教师创造力培养观的研究

作者用有条件筛选和随机抽样相结合的方式,选取了2002年山东省第六届创造教育年会参与交流的小学教师的论文100篇,用内容分析法对它们进行分析,结果发现:小学教师的创造力培养观主要表现在三个方面,即创造力的构成要素、培养创造力的教学方法、培养创造力的环境条件。教师对以上三方面的认识有如下特点:教师基本认同创造力是认知和人格的统一,但在认知因素中多强调创造性思维,相对忽视其他认知因素;教师多运用教师中心的教学方法,倾向于支持学生独立学习的教学方法,忽视学生的合作学习;教师比较重视创设心理安全和心理自由的教学心理环境。根据这些特点,教师培训中应注意:全面、科学地认识创造力;运用并实施创造性教学,实现教学方法创新;扩展认识视野,创设创造教育大环境。     

A look at creativity in public and private schools

This research study investigated the perspectives of teachers on student creativity. A group of 15 teachers from public schools and 24 teachers from private schools completed an Early Childhood Creativity Rating Scale (ECCRS) on four of their students. A total of 156 students were rated on this ECCRS. The major question asked in this study was: How do teacher perspectives of student creativity differ in public and private schools, between kindergarten and grade 3, and are these perspectives influenced by teacher characteristics. Results found that private school teachers rated their students higher on creativity, third grade students were rated lowest on creativity, and teachers who perceived themselves as most creative also rated their students as most creative.     

Study of Turkish Preschool Teachers’ Attitudes toward Science Teaching

This study aims to explore preschool teachers’ attitudes toward science teaching and its impact on classroom practices through the frequency of science activities provided in the classroom. In addition, the study investigates if their attitudes are related to factors such as educational level, years of teaching experience, and the school type they work in. The present research was conducted with 292 preschool teachers who work in public and private schools in different districts of Ankara, Turkey. The data were collected by administering the Early Childhood Teachers’ Attitudes toward Science Teaching Scale. Our analyses indicate that there is a significant but weak link between preschool teachers’ attitudes toward science teaching and the frequency of science activities that they provide in the classroom. Further, while teachers’ characteristics such as educational level and experience are found to play an insignificant role on the overall measures of the scale, type of school appears to be a major factor in explaining the attitudes toward science teaching.     

Is there creativity in design? From a perspective of school design and technology in Hong Kong

As creativity is likely to become a crucial aspect of living in the future, it is important for educators to teach students to think creatively when solving constantly evolving and increasingly complex problems. Supported by the idea that creativity can be taught and learnt, elements of creativity are now embedded in secondary school education. Among all school subjects, design and technology (D&T) is one of the best examples for fostering and cultivating students?? creativity, as the subject offers creative activities that enable students to realize their ideas in the context of the real world. This paper analyzes the creative elements in the D&T curriculum in Hong Kong as seen in the exemplar projects on the Education Bureau website. Some problems and difficulties encountered in fostering creativity in the context of Hong Kong are identified, based on the current teaching environment. The paper also draws attention to East Asian beliefs and implicit theories, which greatly influence teachers?? underlying assumptions about learning and teaching, and at the same time notes that these beliefs may be detrimental to the development of creativity among students. The paper then identifies the problems and inadequacies in fostering creativity in design at the secondary school level and expects to raise awareness of the importance of creativity in D&T.     

SOUTH KOREAN AND THE US SECONDARY SCHOOL SCIENCE TEACHERS’ CONCEPTIONS OF CREATIVITY AND TEACHING FOR CREATIVITY

This study examined science teachers’ conceptions of creativity in science education, pedagogical ideas, and contextual factors perceived as constraints on teaching for creativity and any differences in the conceptions of teachers from South Korea and the United States. Participants in the study consisted of 44 South Korean and 21 US secondary science teachers. Data was collected from open-ended and Likert-type questionnaires. Results indicated that each individual teacher’s conception was considerably limited, but the teachers’ conceptions of creativity as a whole group were consistent with the literature. In terms of teaching methods for creativity, the teachers commonly emphasized problem-based or project-based inquiry which was consistent with the literature. The South Korean teachers tended to consider ethics as a more important criterion for judging creativity than the US teachers and emphasized providing thinking opportunity for fostering creativity, while the US teachers emphasized environmental or emotional support. Possible sources of these differences were discussed. The commonly mentioned constraints included pressure of content coverage for high-stakes tests, difficulties in assessing creativity, and class size. Suggestions for professional development of teachers and further research questions were made based on the findings.     

Creative pedagogy: a case for teachers’ creative learning being at the centre

While educators in many parts of the world grapple with what creativity means in practice, discussions about creative pedagogy usually include the elements of creative teaching, teaching for creativity and creative learning. This article stems from a research project that occurred at a Preparatory to Year 9 school in Australia where we worked with staff to explore their understandings of creativity and creative learning in the Arts. We found that while students’ creative learning is a fundamental element in a creative pedagogy framework, the notion of creative learning of teachers is largely overlooked in discourses of teachers’ professional learning. Given the important role teachers play in student learning, we argue that teachers need to be informed not only about how to teach creatively and for creativity, but also how to consider possibilities and understand things in new ways, thereby making a case that a teacher’s own creative learning is crucial.     

Student teachers’ conceptions of creativity in the secondary music classroom

This study aims to explore the meaning of the concept of creativity from the perspective of student teachers pursuing a one year teacher training course following their first degree. Seventeen student teachers following a specialist music teaching route in secondary education were selected as the sample for this study to offer their understanding on creativity in the secondary music classroom. Data were collected through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews and were subject to in-depth qualitative analysis using Atlas.ti software. All student teachers seemed eager to teach for creativity as they thought it was a vital component of their pupils’ musical engagement and development. However, some held richer conceptions than others or tended to overlook significant areas of musical involvement, such as improvisation, group work and engagement in evaluating and refining the creative musical product. Creativity was generally expected but it would emerge on an intuitive level as a by-product of a learning objective rather than being explicitly considered in the planning process. These narrow conceptions of the meaning of creativity in the music classroom need to be taken seriously and explicitly addressed in music education programs in order to maximize the expression of pupils’ creative potential in the music classroom and beyond.     

Closing the Gap: Inquiry in Research and the Secondary Science Classroom

Teaching students how to conduct authentic scientific inquiry is an essential aspect of recent science education reform efforts. Our National Science Foundation-funded GK-12 program paired science graduate students—fellows—with secondary science teachers in order to enhance inquiry-based instruction. This research examined the roles of the fellows, teachers, and school culture in the implementation of inquiry and the fellows’ conceptions of classroom inquiry versus that in their own research. Qualitative data were collected for two academic years. Overall, the classrooms shifted toward a more inquiry-oriented approach over the academic year. Several aspects of school culture influenced inquiry implementation. Fellows described their research as similar in overall structure but less constrained by known concepts, less guided by mentors, and more in-depth than that of secondary school students. The teacher-fellow scientist partnership is a potentially effective professional development model to create positive and lasting change within the science classroom.     

Examining Teachers' Hurdles to ‘Science for All’

The goal of this research is to identify science teachers' beliefs and conceptions that play an important role in shaping their understandings of and attempts to enact inclusive science teaching practices. We examined the work products, both informal (online discussions, email exchanges) and formal (papers, unit plans, peer reviews), of 14 teachers enrolled in a master's degree course focused on diversity in science teaching and learning. These emerging understandings were member-checked via a series of interviews with a subset of these teachers. Our analysis was conducted in two stages: (1) describing the difficulties the teachers identified for themselves in their attempts to teach science to a wide range of students in their classes and (2) analyzing these self-identified barriers for underlying beliefs and conceptions that serve to prohibit or allow for the teachers' understanding and enactment of equitable science instruction. The teachers' self-identified barriers were grouped into three categories: students, broader social infrastructure, and self. The more fundamental barriers identified included teacher beliefs about the ethnocentrism of the mainstream, essentialism/individualism, and beliefs about the meritocracy of schooling. The implications of these hurdles for science teacher education are discussed.     

The Relationship between Students' Connections to Out‐of‐School Experiences and Factors Associated with Science Learning

This study examined the relationship between students' out‐of‐school experiences and various factors associated with science learning. Participants were 1,014 students from two urban high schools (secondary schools). They completed a survey questionnaire and science assessment describing their science learning experiences across contexts and science understanding. Using multilevel statistical modelling, accounting for the multilevel structure of the data with students (Level 1) assigned to teachers (Level 2), the results indicated that controlling for student and classroom factors, students' ability to make connections between in‐school and out‐of‐school science experiences was associated with positive learning outcomes such as achievement, interest in science, careers in science, self‐efficacy, perseverance, and effort in learning science. Teacher practice connecting to students' out‐of‐school experiences was negatively associated with student achievement but has no association with other outcome measures. The mixed results found in this study alert us to issues and opportunities concerning the integration of students' out‐of‐school experiences to classroom instruction, and ultimately improving our understanding of science learning across contexts.     

TRAINING TEACHERS TO TEACH FOR CREATIVITY

One of the misconceptions about creativity which prevail among teachers is the belief that it is present only in a small proportion of children. This leads to underestimation of the influence of school and society on the creative process. The creativity training program described here was designed with the main purpose of arousing teachers’ awareness of their own creative abilities and introducing basic concepts about creativity and how to nurture it into the school setting. Several studies were conducted to investigate the effects of this program on teachers’ creative thinking abilities and behaviour in the classroom. The results obtained indicated that the program was successful in developing teachers’ creative thinking and in helping them to learn the skills which are related to creative thinking and how to further it in the classroom.     

小学数学情境教育发展儿童创造性思维

数学情境教育能激发儿童的想象和创造,有利于儿童创造性思维水平的提升;教师的创造性思维能促进儿童创造性思维的发展;儿童创造性思维存在着性别差异,教师可以通过不同的数学情境教育进行平衡和优化。     

The Paradox of Inform@tion Technology in Primary Schools: E‐learning is new but gender patterns are old!

This paper seeks to explore the impact of IT on school and teacher cultures. It reports on Swedish teachers' use of IT in different school subjects by means of a case study comprising one school, four teachers (2 men and 2 women), and their pupils aged 9–12. The methods of data collection used were interviews and observations. The aim of the study was to investigate how the teachers experience IT as a “solution” and/or “frustration” in developing their professional knowledge and in providing new learning situations for pupils. The case study suggests that, at least in this school, IT is experienced as a creative and helpful tool, which enhances teaching and learning even if the transformation of IT pedagogies demands much effort and time from the teachers. However, the women have found it more difficult than the men to incorporate information technology into their practice. Thus, two themes have emerged from the case study: IT as a valuable tool for changing the form and content of teaching and learning, and IT as strongly gendered, that is, having male attributes.     

自主探索式教学与中学生创新心理发展探析

自主探索式教学是指学生在教师的指导下,通过自己参与多种形式的开放性探究式学习活动,启发学生发现规律,培养学生团队精神,开发学生创新潜能,提高学生创新能力的一种教学方式.创新实践活动和创新课堂教学,是促进中学生创新心理发展的两条重要途径.