THE STUDY AIMED TO EXAMINE the relationship between early childhood teachers' beliefs about good creative practices and their actual instructional practices; namely, characteristics of a creative teacher, environmental settings important for developing creativity, teaching strategies used for developing creativity, and criteria for judging creativity in children. The participants were 15 early childhood teachers from five early childhood settings in Hong Kong. Individual structured interviews and classroom observations were used to collect data. Results showed that most teachers held similar beliefs about good creative practice and these beliefs generally aligned with those suggested in the literature. Findings from the classroom observation revealed both congruity and inconsistencies between teachers' stated beliefs and their classroom practice. Their actual practices were a function of many influences rather than just their beliefs. The findings have implications for professional development programs and the implementation of creativity reform.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AmabileT. M., & GryskiewiczN. D. (1989). The creative environment scales: Work environment inventory. Creativity Research Journal, 2, 231–253.
2.
ChanD. W. (2007). Creative teaching in Hong Kong schools: Constraints and challenges. Educational Research Journal, 22(1), 1–12.
3.
ChanD. W., & ChanL. K. (1999). Implicit theories of creativity: Teachers' perception of student characteristics in Hong Kong. Creativity Research Journal, 12(3), 185–195.
4.
ChanL., & ChanL. (2003). Early childhood education in Hong Kong and its challenges. Early Child Development & Care, 173(1), 7–17.
5.
ChengM. Y. V. (2010). Tensions and dilemmas of teachers in creativity reform in a Chinese context. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 5(3), 120–137.
6.
ChengM. Y. V. (2004). Progress from traditional to creativity education in Chinese societies. In LauS. (Ed), Creativity: When east meets west.Singapore: The World Scientific Publishing Ltd.
7.
ChienC. Y., & HuiA. A. (2010). Creativity in early childhood education: Teachers' perceptions in three Chinese societies. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 5(2), 40–98.
8.
CraftA. (2000). Creativity across the primary curriculum: Framing and developing practice.London: Routledge.
9.
CropleyA. J. (2001). Creativity in education and learning.London: Kogan Page.
10.
Curriculum Development Council (2001). Learning to learn: Life-long learning and whole-person development.Hong Kong: Curriculum Development Council.
11.
DustK. (1999). Motive, means and opportunity. Creativity Research Review for the National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts (NESTA).
ForresterV., & HuiA. (2007) Creativity in the Hong Kong classroom: What is the contextual practice. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 2, 30–38.
14.
FullanM. (2001). The new meaning of educational change (3rd edn). New York: Teachers College Press.
15.
HaneyJ. J., & McArthurJ., (2002). Four case studies of prospective science teachers' beliefs concerning constructivist teaching practices. Science Education, 86, 783–802.
16.
Hong Kong Design Centre and the Asia Case Research Centre (2007). From creative industries to creative economy: The role of education.Hong Kong: Hong Kong Design Centre and the Asia Case Research Centre. Retrieved 10 May 2010, from www.innofoco.com/images/CreativeEconomypaper.pdf.
17.
HutchinsonL. M., & BeadleM. E. (1992). Professors' communication styles: How they influence male and female seminar participants. Teaching and Teacher Education, 8(4), 405–418.
18.
JeffreyB. (2005). Final Report of the Creative Learning and Students Perspectives Research Project (CLASP). http://clasp.open.ac.uk.
19.
JohnP. D. (1991). A qualitative study of British student teachers' lesson planning perspectives. Journal of Education for Teaching, 71(3), 310–320.
20.
LeungW. L. A. (2008). Teacher concerns about curriculum reform: The case of project learning. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 17, 75–97.
21.
LiY. L. (2003). What makes a good kindergarten teacher? A pilot interview study in Hong Kong. Early Child Development & Care, 173(1), 19–31.
22.
LiH., & WongN. C. M. (2008). Implementing performance indicators in early childhood settings: A Chinese model. International Journal of Early Years Education, 16(2), 115–131.
23.
LucasB. (2001). Creative teaching, teaching creativity and creative learning. In CraftA., JeffreyB. & LeiblingM. (Eds), Creativity in Education.London: Continuum.
24.
MansourN. (2009). Science teachers' beliefs and practices: Issues, implications and research agenda. International Journal of Environmental & Science Education, 4(1), 25–48.
25.
MeadorK. S. (1992). Emerging rainbows: a review of the literature on creativity. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 15(2), 163–181.
26.
McMullenM. B. (1999). Characteristics of teachers who talk the DAP talk and walk the DAP walk. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 13(2), 216–230.
27.
MellouE. (1996). Can creativity be nurtured in young children?Early Child Development and Care, 119, 119–130.
28.
MerriamS. B. (1998). Qualitative research and case studies applications in education.San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publications.
29.
Ministry of Education (2002). The White Paper on creative education.Taipei: Taiwan Ministry of Education.
30.
MohamedN. (2006). An exploratory study of the interplay between the teachers' beliefs, instructional practices, and professional development. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Retrieved 15 March 2011, from http://www.asian-efl-journal.com/Thesis_Naashia.pdf.
31.
National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education (1999). All our futures: Creativity, culture and education.London: Department for Education and Employment.
32.
OdenaO. (2001). Developing a framework for the study of teachers' views of creativity in music education. Goldsmiths Journal of Education, 4(1), 59–67.
33.
PajaresM. F. (1992). Teachers' beliefs and educational research: Cleaning up a messy construct. Review of Educational Research, 62(3), 307–332.
34.
PrenticeR. (2000). Creativity: A reaffirmation of its place in early childhood education. The Curriculum Journal, 11(2), 145–158.
35.
Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (2004). The National Curriculum.London: Department for Education and Skills & QCA.
36.
RaoN., & LiH. (2009). Quality matters: Early childhood education policy in Hong Kong. Early Child Development & Care, 179(3), 233–245.
37.
RichardsonV. (1996). The role of attitudes and beliefs in learning to teach. In SikulaJ. & ButteryT. J. & GuytonE. (Eds), Handbook of research on teacher education (pp. 102–119). New York: Macmillan.
38.
RudowiczE., & HuiA. (1998). Hong Kong Chinese people's view of creativity. Gifted Education International, 13, 159–174.
39.
RudowiczE. & YueX.D. (2001). Concepts of creativity: Similarities and differences among Hong Kong, Mainland and Taiwanese Chinese. Journal of Creative Behavior.34(3), 175–192.
40.
SimmonsP. E., EmoryA., CarterT., CokerT., FinneganB., & CrockettD., (1999). Beginning teachers: Beliefs and classroom actions. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 36(8), 930–954.
41.
SpodekB. (1988). The implicit theories of early childhood teachers. Early Child Development and Care, 38, 13–32.
42.
SternbergR. J., & LubartT. I. (1999). The concept of creativity: Prospects and paradigms. In SternbergR. J. (Ed), Handbook of creativity (pp. 3–15). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
43.
TsaiC. C. (2006). Teachers' scientific epistemological views: The coherence with instruction and students' views. Science Education, 91, 222–243.
44.
VartuliS. (1999). How early childhood teacher beliefs vary across grade level. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 14(4), 489–514.
45.
WuS. W., & TsimW. K. (2004). Developing creativity and innovative teaching, Conference Proceedings of the International Conference on creative teaching.Hong Kong: Hong Kong Creative Teaching Association. (In Chinese)
