Japanese school teachers’ beliefs about creativity

Abstract

Teachers’ beliefs about creativity can influence students’ creativity education. Since these beliefs themselves are largely influenced by sociocultural backgrounds, both international studies and country-specific data are needed to comprehensively understand them. This study conducted a cross-sectional survey (N = 517, mean age = 46.11 ± 12.14 years, 178 women and 339 men, mean years of teaching experience = 22.09 ± 12.60 years) and examined the characteristics of Japanese school teachers’ beliefs about creativity, such as implicit theories about creativity and creative self. In addition, we examined the relationships between these beliefs and perceived creativity, supportive behavior for students’ creativity development, and creative school climate to gain insight into the impact of these beliefs on creativity education. The results revealed that Japanese teachers tended to disbelieve creativity myths and had a creative self, compared to the general adult population. Japanese teachers’ creative self-efficacy for teaching was positively correlated with perception of students’ creativity, supportive behavior, and creative climate in schools. Additionally, the exploratory results indicated that elementary school teachers reported higher supportive behavior than middle and high school teachers. Our results suggest that teachers’ beliefs about creativity play an important role in creativity education in Japan. Additionally, this study makes practical suggestions to promising interventional studies for modifying teachers’ false beliefs about creativity and increasing creative self-efficacy by revealing the characteristics of Japanese teachers’ belief about creativity.