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Stephanie Heidorn, University of Minnesota, United StatesAbstract
Around the world, academics, business leaders, and policy makers have stressed the importance of developing creativity in students in order to prepare future generations of leaders and employees. However, despite an increased demand for creative thinking skills and a consistent demonstration that creativity can be taught, most educational settings do not pay attention to developing students’ creative thinking skills. This qualitative study explored how primary teachers currently teach creative thinking skills and how they can be better supported in doing so. Research was guided by grounded theory which informed the inductive coding process and development of themes. Nine third and fourth grade teachers in Minnesota were interviewed to learn about how creativity is currently taught in primary classrooms. The main themes that emerged from the discussions centered around teachers’ current views of what creativity is, identification of strategies that are currently used in classrooms, and an understanding of the lack of professional development and resources in this area. While teachers generally found developing creative thinking skills in students to be important to future student success, they concurrently expressed frustration in their lack of understanding of how to nurture such skills in their students. Key findings from this study provide opportunities to better develop curriculum and teacher trainings that promote the development of creative thinking skills in primary classrooms.
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