Abstract
This study explored teachers’ implicit theories of creativity and how it is fostered in the classroom. There were two studies, the preliminary study and the main study. The preliminary study included one questionnaire to study teachers’ views of creativity and some classroom strategies they used. There were 19 participants. The questionnaire was analysed to establish its usefulness for the main study. The questionnaire provided some unreported information on the participants. The main study included an intervention to determine the effect of short-term professional development on teachers’ views and practice. The participants were 55 practicing primary teachers in the south of New Zealand, comprising an intervention group (28 teachers) and a comparison group (27 teachers). Each group filled out two questionnaires. The first questionnaire was filled out pre- and post-intervention, two weeks apart. Data on demographics were collected, as well as personal definitions, beliefs about identifying and fostering creativity and strategies used in the classroom. The intervention consisted of a one-off short-term professional development session of one and a half to two hours, which covered many of these aspects of creativity. One month later, the second questionnaire was filled out and explored the extent to which awareness and practices shifted. The results were consistent with those overseas. New Zealand teachers received little or no professional development on creativity and tended to hold vague definitions about creativity, which they described in terms of children’s characteristics. The idea of ‘originality’ was the predominant feature associated with creativity. There was a significant positive correlation between the level of professional development and acknowledging creativity, and between the level of professional development and identifying creativity. The correlation between the level of professional development and fostering creativity did not attain significance. All teachers in the study reported using some strategies to develop creativity. Chi-squared tests showed that the intervention group reported reading more material about creativity. Most participants indicated that they would like further professional development on creativity. The results have implications for education in that they highlight the lack of emphasis on creativity in our education system and the need for more professional development training for our teachers.