The creative student in the eyes of a teacher: A cross-cultural study

• Published in: Thinking skills and creativity Vol. 35; no. March 2020; p. 100636
• Main Authors: Karwowski, Maciej, Gralewski, Jacek, Patston, Timothy, Cropley, David H., Kaufman, James C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01-03-2020
• Subjects: Adaptiveness; Creative development; Creative students; Creativity; Cross cultural studies; Implicit theories of creativity; Nonconformity; Personality traits; Student characteristics; Teacher attitudes; Teacher opinions; Teachers’ perception; Poland; Italy; United Kingdom; Australia; Implicit theories of creativity; Creative students; Adaptiveness; Teachers’ perception; Nonconformity
• ISSN: 1871-1871; 1878-0423
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tsc.2020.100636

•Teachers implicit theories of creative student were investigated.•Teachers Australia, Poland, Italy and the United Kingdom were surveyed.•Teachers’ perceptions synthesized into three broad groups: Cognitive characteristics, nonconformism and adaptiveness.
How teachers perceive creative students, and what are the commonalities and specificities of such perception among teachers from different countries? To explore this question, we asked teachers from Australia, Italy, Poland, and the United Kingdom (total N = 933) to answer a set of items describing different traits of their students. Network and factor analyses revealed that teachers’ perception of creative students synthesized into three broad groups: (1) Cognitive traits typically associated with creativity; (2) Nonconformist and impulsive behaviors; and (3) Adaptiveness. While the first two factors were found to be largely equivalent across countries, perceiving creative students in terms of adaptive behaviors varied significantly between countries. Cognitive characteristics were the most dominant in creative students’ perception, followed by Adaptiveness and Nonconformism. Findings are discussed in light of potential opportunities and limitations to support creativity in school settings.