Understanding creative pedagogy of Saudi high school STEM teacher: A case study of Mawhiba and public science classes

Abstract

Saudi educational documents have recently emphasized creativity and considered it a fundamental skill in K-12 education. Accordingly, this study assumed that Saudi teachers encourage and teach creativity in science classrooms. However, it remains unclear how STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) teachers develop students' creativity. Thus, the current study utilized Lin's (2009) creative pedagogy model, including creative teaching, teaching for creativity, and creative learning to describe and compare the creative pedagogy of a Saudi high school STEM educator in two learning contexts: 1) a Mawhiba classroom (a customized classroom for creative and gifted students) and 2) a public classroom (for average students) within a single case study. The study focused on how a teacher of gifted students plans, implements, and evaluates creative pedagogy within these two science classrooms. The study used a descriptive qualitative approach by triangulating data from multiple sources (observations, interviews, and documents). The analysis approach was a priori coding. The study's findings indicate that planning for creative pedagogy is identical in both classrooms. However, there are several differences between the learning contexts. Firstly, the participating teacher lacks confidence in the creative abilities of average students in the public classroom compared to those of gifted students in the Mawhiba classroom. Secondly, average students in the public classroom experience passive learning, while gifted students in the Mawhiba classroom engage more actively. Thirdly, the participating teacher faced more challenges in the public classroom. Finally, the study's results suggest further interpretations and recommendations to enrich creative pedagogy in STEM education.