What can we know about the creative potentials of teachers and students? What can we hope for in terms of the cultivation of creativity?

Wan-chi WONG, Huanu XU, Yin LI, Jing Mavis HE WU

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlespeer-review

Abstract

Two Kantian questions “What can we know?” and “For what may we hope?” were raised in the domain of creativity. We started with assessing the creative potentials of Chinese teachers (N = 618) and students (N = 631) using the Test for Creative Thinking – Drawing Production (TCT-DP). TCT-DP scores revealed that the performances of the teachers were less satisfactory than those of the students, which naturally raises concerns about the teachers’ role in fostering creative potential in the school context. A hermeneutical examination of the drawing products, accompanied by a closer look into individual scoring profiles, identified a basis for increased optimism regarding the cultivation of creativity among students and teachers while also raising new issues about the validity of creativity measures. These findings provoke deeper reflections upon the nature of creativity. They also highlight the need to continue searching for a conceptually sound and valid assessment tool and to explore the possibilities of creativity education. Copyright © 2014 International Journal of Creativity and Problem Solving.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)23-42
JournalInternational Journal of Creativity and Problem Solving
Volume24
Issue number2
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2014

Citation

Wong, W.-c., Xu, H., Li, Y., & He Wu, M. J. (2014). What can we know about the creative potentials of teachers and students? What can we hope for in terms of the cultivation of creativity?. International Journal of Creativity and Problem Solving, 24(2), 23-42.

Keywords

  • Creative potentials of teachers and students
  • Conceptualization of creativity
  • Assessment of creativity
  • Creativity education

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