Exploring Creative Abilities of Primary School Teachers in the Post-Pandemic Era
Mahaliza Mansor1*, Goh Kok Ming1
1 Faculty of Management and Economics, Sultan Idris Education University, Tanjong Malim, Malaysia
*Corresponding Author: [email protected]
Received: 27 May 2023 | Accepted: 10 July 2023 | Published: 30 July 2023
DOI:https://doi.org/10.55057/ijares.2023.5.2.16
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Abstract: This study aims to identify the level of teacher creative ability in one of the district of Perak. A total of 92 teachers who were selected based on random cluster sampling technique in this study. The instrument of this study is a questionnaire adapted to examine the creative ability of teachers which consists of three skills, namely analytical skills, synthetical skills, and practical skills. All findings in this study were analyzed and processed by computer using SPSS version 27.0 by descriptive statistics. The findings of this study indicate that the level of creative ability of teachers is high (mean = 3.68). Interestingly, the level of practical skills (mean=3.96) is found to be slightly higher than analytical and synthetical skills of teacher creative ability (mean=3.94). As such, teachers were more prefer to emphasize their lessons on hands-on activities with students and investigate creative and practical alternatives to problem-solving in varied contexts. The findings of this study provide new information and facts about the level of creative ability of teachers in Perak that can help schools in supporting the development of creative ability for teachers in the future.
Keywords: Creative ability, Triarchic Theory of Intelligence Sternberg, school teachers ___________________________________________________________________________
1. Introduction
The rapid transformation of education has received the inclusion of mainstream technology as a contemporary medium in the academic world in this modern age. The world of teaching and learning at every level, from pre-school to the highest level, has changed drastically. Most high- performing schools in the world have promoted student-centered or personalized learning and skill-based instructional practices to equip students to face the needs of the future job market by improving students' innovation and creativity skills (Stehle, 2019). The concept of creativity is gaining more and more attention among educators and academic practitioners (Sawyer, 2006;
Patston, Kaufman, Cropley & Marrone, 2021). There are many previous studies showing that on the relationship between creativity and learning (Narayanan, 2017; Manaf, Dewanti, Mam, Susetyawati & Ernawati, 2022), and creativity is seen as a solution for individuals, society, economy and education (Vincent-Lancrin, S., et al., 2019; Weng, Chiu, & Tsang, 2022). While teachers and education policy makers consider creativity as important learning goals, it is still unclear to many what it means to develop these skills in a school setting. In prior to develop these skills, teachers’ creativity ability is the key element. Despite of creativity has an increasingly important place in education (Kaufman & Beghetto, 2016) and the call of OECD for creativity to be included in school education for nearly ten years (Lucas, Claxton, &
Spencer, 2013), most past studies related to creativity that have been conducted are mostly focused on individual creativity, or psychological, psychometric or personality approaches.
There are a few studies that focused on teacher creative ability were conducted (Kasirer &
Shnitzer-Meirovich, 2021). Therefore, this study aims to explore the teacher creative ability in primary school based on Triarchic Theory Sternberg and Lubart (1995).
2. Teacher Creativity
Creativity has become one of the essential talents recognised by proponents of 21st century education, as it equips students with the ability to cope with an unpredictable future (Trilling
& Fadel, 2009). According to Sternberg (2017), creativity is the capacity to present fresh viewpoints, develop ideas that are both original (new, unusual, novel, unexpected) and valuable (useful, good, adaptive, appropriate), raise new questions, and find answers to ill-defined problems. Today, teachers are expected to foster creativity in their classes as it is viewed as a crucial component of the learning process (Kasirer & Shnitzer-Meirovich, 2021). Thus, a change in the teaching and learning process that is needed to be more creative. Teachers should not be bound by only one method in teaching and learning. However, teachers on the other hand need to always think creatively to find more effective methods (Sawyer, 2006). Creativity is a conscious strategy towards creating something new, based on the outpouring of genuine thoughts followed by proactive action.
Many current studies have expanded our understanding and knowledge about creativity in education such as Yong's study (1992), Lim and Plucker's study (2001) and others, but most done based on the student's point of view. Therefore, Talib (2009) has proposed a change in the focus of the study from the aspect of student creativity to the aspect of teacher creativity in education. With this change, Manurung (2012), Ayob et al. (2013), Rashmi (2012) and Palaniappan (2009) have conducted a study on teacher creativity. Teacher creativity refers to three interrelated components, namely creative teaching, teaching for creativity and teaching creatively. Operationally, teacher creativity refers to how teachers utilize the three components in the teaching environment. Creative teaching can be defined as educational activities managed by teachers in a unique, creative and meaningful way (Rinkevich, 2011) and focuses on student's actions or actions (Lin, 2011). Next, Ayob et al. (2013) defined that teaching for creativity as a form of teaching that aims to improve a person's creative behavior or thinking.
Whereas, teaching creatively refers to the use of imaginative approaches to make learning more interesting and effective (Jeffrey & Craft, 2004). However, teachers' creative teaching should be separated from teaching for creativity in order to explore the educational environment in a new way as teachers need to foster students' desire to learn something and focuses on the fun aspect of the learning process in the environment created by them.
3. Teacher Creative Ability
In this study, teacher creative ability is based on Triarchic Theory of Intelligence (Sternberg &
Lubart, 1995). Sternberg (2017) states that the intersection of creative, analytical, and practical skills is where creative ability exists. Creative ability is conjunctive where all three must occur together (Sternberg, 2017) and is different from intelligence in that it is far more domain- specific (Baer, 2016). There are three properties of creativity most researchers refer to as Sternberg (2017) pointed out: the creative (property of originality), analytical (property of quality or soundness), and practical (property of effectiveness) aspects of creativity, as the same aspects in the triarchic theory of successful intelligence.
Figure 1: Teacher Creative ability based on Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory (1985)
Sternberg (2017) states that analytical skills encourage a person to analyze the information given. An analytical person can make comparisons between situations or problems by dividing the problem into smaller parts. Next, creative skills refer to teaching and learning activities that enable learning through simulation to explore alternatives to problem solving. When looking for a solution to a problem, a creative person can do something unique and different from others. Practical skills refer to the skills to apply the knowledge received into daily activities (Sternberg & Lubart, 1995) or according to current needs and different contexts. The relationship between the three skills is very important. For example, analytical skills are used in the absence of synthetic skills and practical-contextual skills where these analytical skills can provide critical but not creative thinking. Whereas, in the absence of analytical skills and practical-contextual skills, synthetic skills can be used to produce new ideas but do not focus on the research required to improve these ideas. In fact, these practical-contextual skills can lead to the acceptance of ideas in the community. In that regard, teachers' creative ability should includes these three types of skills as shown in Figure 1.
4. Research Design
The research design used in this study is a quantitative method and the research data is collected through structured questionnaires. This quantitative method was used because the data analyse process only requires a short period of time to obtain the results as the process can be assisted with statistical software such as SPSS (Sekaran & Bougie, 2016). Additionally, this method can also cover a wide field and the identity of the respondent will be kept confidential (Hair et al., 2010; Sekaran & Bougie, 2016). Therefore, data can be collected quickly and continued by performing data analyse. In this study, data was analyzed with descriptive statistics in the form of percentage, mean and standard deviation to evaluate teacher creative ability.
5. Population and Sampling
A total of 92 teachers (29 male 63 female), out of 165 questionnaires sent out, participated and responded with a return rate of 55.8%. According to Kerlinger & Lee (2000), a questionnaire return rate of 40% to 50% is acceptable. Thus, the rate of return in this study has exceeded the minimum requirements for statistical analysis. The teachers were sampled from twenty-four schools in Perak by using cluster random sampling method. The selection of the location is due
to the sample meeting all the demands, needs and requirements of the study where it describes the population that coincides with the purpose of the study and is able to answer the research questions (Chua, 2006).
6. Research Instrument
This study uses a questionnaire as the main research instrument to obtain data. The choice of questionnaire in this study is a closed question type that uses a Five Point Likert Scale. In this study, respondents were asked to circle the number that corresponds to the given statement. In this research questionnaire, scores are given in a Likert scale starting from "Strongly Disagree"
to "Strongly Agree" by assigning a numbered value to each answer starting from 1 to 5. This five value scale is easy to use because the questionnaire items are easy to understand and answer by the study respondents (Chua, 2006). In this study, there are two parts in the set of questionnaires, which are Part A and Part B. In Table 1, Part A consists of a total of 6 demographic items consisting of the respondent's background such as age and gender. For Part B, there are 15 items about teacher creative ability: analytical skills (5 items), synthetic skills (5 items), and practical skills (5 items). The total number of items in the questionnaire is 17 items which are positive in nature.
7. Findings
7.1 Demographic Data of Respondents
Based on Table 1, it was found that the majority of the respondents in this study were women, namely 63 female teachers (68.5%) and 29 male teachers (31.5%). The background of the study respondents in terms of age has been displayed in Table 1. There are a total of 54 people (58.7%) respondents in the age range of 21 to 30 years. Next, there are a total of 29 people (31.5%) respondents in the age range of 31 to 40 years. Respondents who are in the age range between 41 to 50 years old are as many as 6 people (6.5%) respondents while respondents who are aged around 50 years and above are as many as 3 people (3.3%) respondents in this study.
Therefore, the number of respondents aged between 21 and 30 years old is the highest age category of respondents while respondents aged 50 years and above are the lowest category in this study.
Table 1: Demographic data of respondents
Demographic Data Overall
f Percent (%)
Gender
Male 29 31.5
Female 63 68.5
Total 92 100.0
Age
21-30 54 58.7
31-40 29 31.5
41-50 6 6.5
51 above 3 3.3
Total 92 100.0
7.2 Teacher Creative Ability
Table 2 reveals the teacher's creative ability and its skills. The findings of descriptive statistics show that teacher creative ability, overally, is at a high level with mean 3.68 based on the level of measurement defined in this study. The analytical skills and synthetical skills of teachers shared the same mean value with 3.94 and practical skills of teachers recorded highest mean value (3.96). As such, the findings of this study also indicates that teachers prefer to focus their teaching and learning process on practical activities with students and explore new ways to solve problems in various situations creatively. Nevertheless, the results provide a picture where teachers are found to be less encouraged to imagine different situations and how to overcome the problems at school among teachers.
Table 2: Descriptive statistics findings of teacher creative ability and its skills
Mean Interpretation
Teacher Creative Ability 3.68 High
Analytical Skills 3.94 High
Synthetical Skills 3.94 High
Practical Skills 3.96 High
8. Discussions
The results of the study indicate that teachers demonstrate a high level of creative ability, which aligns with the findings of Rina (2016) who also observed a prevalence of creative behavior among teachers. However, these results contradict the findings of Raja Abdullah and Daud (2018) and Noriyani and Meor (2012), where they reported a moderate level of creativity among in-service teachers or student teachers. This discrepancy underscores the need for further investigation to understand the varying levels of creativity among different teacher populations.
Given the current demands for creative ability, teachers have been urged to respond and adapt their practices accordingly (Cayirdag, 2017; IBM, 2010). In the digital era, teachers are expected to transform their instructional approaches by leveraging their creative abilities to meet the diverse learning needs of students (Mohamed Amin, 2016). This study reveals that teachers tend to prioritize practical activities and actively explore creative problem-solving methods in various contexts. It is worth noting that problem-solving with creative ideas is considered a crucial skill, as reported by many professionals who struggle to find applicants with strong soft skills (McKinsey Quarterly, 2021). Thus, it becomes essential to harness and foster the creative abilities of teachers to address this growing demand.
Organizations that foster an environment conducive to creative ideas tend to thrive, as they create cultures that inspire and engage employees, leading to innovation and productivity (OECD, 2021). Conversely, large organizations that stifle creativity through excessive regulations and limited opportunities for change are more likely to fail. In line with this study's findings, teachers often face barriers in exploring alternative possibilities and resolving issues at school. Therefore, school principals play a crucial role in enhancing teacher creative ability by providing support, encouragement, and creating a conducive space for teachers to utilize their creative talents.
In short, this study underscores the high level of creative ability among teachers, which aligns with previous research. However, there is a need for further exploration of creativity levels among different teacher populations. As teachers are urged to respond to the increasing demand
for creativity, they should focus on practical activities and innovative problem-solving approaches. To fully harness teachers' creative potential, it is necessary to create organizational cultures that encourage and support creative ideas. Additionally, school principals should provide the necessary support and create an environment that fosters teacher creativity, enabling them to explore alternative possibilities and effectively address challenges within the school context.
9. Limitations and Suggestions
It is necessary to take into consideration in this study's limitations. Teachers' self-reported ratings were used to gather all of the data on how creativity is perceived. Tools for self- reporting could be biassed. Future research may look at several angles to assess teachers' perceptions of creativity and explore at how a teacher's personal variables such as gender and age affect their creative ability. Furthermore, thie study adopted a cross-sectional design, it only captures a snapshot of the teachers' creative abilities at a specific point in time. This design may not account for potential changes or fluctuations in creativity over time. In line with that, a longitudinal study can be conducted to investigate the changes in teachers' creative ability over time. This can provide insights into the effectiveness of professional development programmes or interventions aimed at enhancing teacher creativity.
In addition, this study may have focused solely on teachers' creative abilities without considering other potential factors that could influence creativity, such as personal characteristics, teaching experience, or classroom environment. Neglecting these variables may limit the understanding of the complex factors contributing to teacher creativity. Future research may investigate the factors that influence teacher creativity, such as organisational support, leadership styles, professional development opportunities, and school culture in order to identify the key factors that foster or hinder teacher creativity.
10. Conclusion
This study was carried out with a total of 92 teachers. To measure the teacher creative ability level in this study, descriptive statistical approaches were employed. As a result, statistical analysis reveals that teacherrs have a high level of creative ability. Although teacher creative ability is at high level, researchers may look into ways of using this creative ability in transforming schools or organisations in future.
References
Çayırdağ, Nur. (2017). Creativity Fostering Teaching: Impact of Creative Self-efficacy and Teacher Efficacy. Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice. 17.
10.12738/estp.2017.6.0437.
Daud, I. (2012). Membudayakan Pemikiran Kreatif dan Inovatif melalui Kepelbagaian Kaedah Pengajaran Bahasa. In A. R. A. Rahman & M. S. Rahamad (Eds.), Inovasi dan Kreativiti Menjana Tranformasi Pendidikan, Idea P&P Guru Cemerlang (1st ed., pp.
115–128). Penerbitan MGCM.
Hair, J.F., Black, W.C., Babin, B.J. and Anderson, R.E. (2010). Multivariate Data Analysis.
7th Edition, Pearson, New York.
Harrington, A. (2005). Modern Social Theory. 1-13.
Jeffrey, B., & Craft, A. (2004). Teaching creatively and teaching for creativity: distinction and relationships, Educational Studies, 30(1), 77-87, DOI:
10.1080/0305569032000159750
Kasirer, Anat & Shnitzer-Meirovich, Shlomit. (2021). The perception of creativity and creative abilities among general education and special education teachers. Thinking Skills and Creativity. 40. 100820. 10.1016/j.tsc.2021.100820.
Kaufman, J. C., Beghetto, R. A., & Dilley, A. (2016). Understanding creativity in the schools.
In A. A. Lipnevich, F. Preckel, & R. D. Roberts (Eds.), Psychosocial skills and school systems in the 21st century: Theory, research, and practice (pp. 133–153). Springer International Publishing/Springer Nature.
Kerlinger, F. N., & Lee, H. B. (Eds.). (2000). Foundations of Behavioral Research. Orlando, FL: Harcourt College Publishers.
Lucas, B., Claxton, G., & Spencer, E. (2013), “Progression in Student Creativity in School:
First Steps Towards New Forms of Formative Assessments”, OECD Education
Working Papers, No. 86, OECD Publishing.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/5k4dp59msdwk-en.
Manaf, A., Dewanti, S., Mam, S., Susetyawati, E., & Ernawati, I. (2022). Is there correlation between creativity and learning achievement? A meta-analysis study. REID (Research
and Evaluation in Education), 8(1), 78-89.
doi:https://doi.org/10.21831/reid.v8i1.51493.
McKinsey Quarterly. (2021). Soft skills for hard world. https://www.mckinsey.com/featured- insights/future-of-work/five-fifty-soft-skills-for-a-hard-world.
Narayanan, Selvi. (2017). A Study on the Relationship between Creativity and Innovation in Teaching and Learning Methods towards Students Academic Performance at Private Higher Education Institution, Malaysia. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences. 7. 1-10. 10.6007/IJARBSS/v7-i14/3647.
Patston, T. J., Kaufman, J. C., Cropley, A. J., & Marrone, R. (2021). What Is Creativity in Education? A Qualitative Study of International Curricula. Journal of Advanced Academics, 32(2), 207–230. https://doi.org/10.1177/1932202X20978356.
Rina Abdallah Naser. (2016). Level of Creative Behavior among Teachers of Public Schools within the Green Line from their Perspective. Journal of Education and Practice, 7(18), 109-119.
Sawyer, R. K. (2006). Explaining creativity: The science of human innovation. New York:
Oxford University Press.
Sekaran, U. and Bougie, R. (2016). Research Methods for Business: A Skill-Building Approach. 7th Edition, Wiley & Sons, West Sussex.
Stehle, S.M., Peters-Burton, E.E. (2019). Developing student 21st Century skills in selected exemplary inclusive STEM high schools. IJ STEM Ed, 6 (39).
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-019-0192-1.
Sternberg, R. J., & Lubart, T. I. (1995). Defying the crowd: Cultivating creativity in a culture of conformity. Free Press.
Sternberg, R. J. (2017). Intelligence and competence in theory and practice. In A. J. Elliot, C.
S. Dweck, & D. S. Yeager (Eds.), Handbook of competence and motivation: Theory and application (pp. 9–24). The Guilford Press.
Weng, Xiaojing & Chiu, Thomas K.F. & Tsang, Cheung. (2022). Promoting student creativity and entrepreneurship through real-world problem-based maker education. Thinking Skills and Creativity. 45. 101046. 10.1016/j.tsc.2022.101046.
Vincent-Lancrin, S. et al. (2019), Fostering Students' Creativity and Critical Thinking: What it Means in School, Educational Research and Innovation, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/62212c37-en.
Yong, L. M., & Biraimah, K. L. (1996). Guru Kreatif: Isu-isu Teoritikal & Aplikasi Praktikal.
Kuala Lumpur: Arenabuku Sdn. Bhd.
