Date of Award

1-1-2019

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Organizational Unit

Morgridge College of Education, Teaching and Learning Sciences, Curriculum and Instruction

First Advisor

Bruce P. Uhrmacher, Ph.D.

Keywords

Classroom, Creativity, Teachers

Abstract

Fostering creativity within the classroom can have numerous positive and lasting effects that support students in becoming adults who are inquisitive, curious, critical thinkers, as well as risk takers (Amabile & Kramer, 2012; Beghetto, 2015; Craft, 2003; Csikszentmihalyi, 2013; Hennessy, 2017; Piirto, 2004; Starko, 2018). Sternberg (2007) argues that, since the world is changing at a faster pace than ever before, students will need to continuously deal with new and unusual tasks and situations. Although the research identifies the importance of creativity in the classroom, the research also finds a trend in teachers' limited understanding of what creativity is and includes (Cho et al., 2017; Kamphlis et al., 2009; Colley, 2015; Hosseini & Watt, 2010; Al-Nouh et al., 2014). As a result of the discrepancies between research that identifies the benefits of creativity, and research that identifies teachers' limited understanding of creativity, this study aimed to investigate how teachers in today's classrooms are cultivating creativity in meaningful ways through their instruction, curriculum, and classroom environments.

To gain an in-depth understanding of how creativity is cultivated in the classroom, this study conducted a case study of five teachers. Data collected included interviews, observations, journals kept by teachers, and photographs of classroom environments. Through data analysis, the findings revealed that teachers did understand creativity and how to cultivate in their classrooms through their instruction, curriculum, and environments. Additionally, significant findings emerged that included emotional connections, professional autonomy, teacher training, intrinsic motivation, and creativity stigmas. These findings can have important implications on how teachers might approach and/or embrace creativity in the classroom.

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

Krystal Dawn Flanders

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Format

application/pdf

Language

en

File Size

239 p.

Discipline

Education

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