How to Measure Adaptive and Innovative Cognitive Styles: Adaptation of the M. Kirton Questionnaire for Education

As the research focus shifts from the technical to the human side of education, the relevance of measuring socio-psychological traits is growing. Despite proven validity and demand for the Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory, or KAI, in international and Russian studies, the scale has not previously been adapted for the Russian-speaking audience. The article describes the results of scale adaptation aimed at estimating the cognitive style of Russian teachers and school administrators. The proposed version of the translation considers the specifics of the Russian language and the context of the educational sphere, simultaneously being equivalent in meaning to the original scale. The readability check indicated that the question wordings fit the education level of the target audience. An iterative process of development and empirical testing of the psychometric properties (N1 = 137, N2 = 1236, N3 = 204) led to satisfactory scores for the three scales, items, and response categories. The analysis relies on the classical test theory and the IRT-RSM model. The final questionnaire includes 26 items and allows us to evaluate the three factors: «Originality and independence», «Thoroughness and self-organization», and «Inertia and request for instructions». Besides, the article demonstrates that the adapted version of the questionnaire does not show increased social desirability. The proposed tool is potentially useful for research and practical purposes to study the cognitive styles of teachers and school administrators, as well as groups close to them, including workers at other levels of education and the social sphere in general. The article provides a full version of the final methodology and practical recommendations for managing innovators and adaptors within an educational organization.