Level of expression of teachers’ wrong attitudes towards creativity

Abstract

Due to research conducted within the realm of implicit theories on creativity over the past few decades, we have gained an insight into the perception of the phenomenon both by laypersons and experts. For that reason, the authors deal not only with the attitudes of respondents but also with the issue whether they display wrong attitudes towards the subject matter and, if so, to what extent. The research is conducted on 106 respondents (79.25% female, 20.75% male) featuring the population of high and elementary school teachers and junior grade teachers in the city of Niksic (Montenegro). The data is collected by means of a socio-demographic variables questionnaire and a survey designed specifically for the purpose of this research, containing sixteen (16) claims about the most common wrong attitudes towards creativity, where the level of agreement with the respective claim can be expressed by circling one item on a five-degree Likert scale. The data is processed using t-tests per sample, and the results show the following wrong attitudes towards creativity in respondents: children are more creative than adults (t=6,884, p < ,001, d = 0,669), many creative products remain unrecognised at the time of their conception and are only discovered and credited for years later (t = 8,743, p < ,001, d = 1,076), creativity represents a unique expression of internal soul of an individual (t = 11,078, p < ,001, d = 1,076), and creativity is a spontaneous act of inspiration that is not planned or organised (t = 5,336, p < ,001, d = 0,518). In conclusion, the results gained suggest that the research should be continued, with a view to constructing a scale for questioning the level of expression of attitudes towards creativity.