How Do Education Professionals Understand Creativity? A Study of The Implicit Theories On Creativity In A Sample Of Educators

Abstract

This study explores implicit theories on creativity in a group of educators, and some associated myths and beliefs, such as: "The school can do nothing to develop creativity", "childhood is the golden age of creativity", and "school kills creativity". The sample was composed by educators graduated from the undergraduated program of Early Chile Education and the graduated students from the Masters Education of the School of Education at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana of Bogota (Colombia). The analysis of the 110 answers, found that to define creativity, educators utilize the concepts of transformation, expertise, innovation, and problem solving. Most participants indicate that the most creative age is childhood, which confirms the "golden age" myth. Regarding the relation between creativity and schools, educators believe that schools can and must develop creativity, but they need specific conditions to achieve this. Based on these results it is important to stress the importance to develop pre-service and in-service teaching programs that allow educators to overcome these false beliefs and to understand how to foster creativity in educational settings.