The Meaning of Creativity: A Phenomenological Study of Secondary School Teachers' Perspectives in Rural Western Canada

• In Event: International Perspectives on the Lives of Teachers

Abstract

In this conceptual age, employers identified creativity as an essential skill for the workforce. Ministries of Education have tasked schools with workforce training as such creative thinking has been embedded into policy and curriculum. As secondary school teachers are responsible for teaching for creativity, it is important to understand what it means to teach for creativity from their perspective. A series of phenomenological interviews were conducted with teachers from various disciplines in a rural Western Canadian school board. Data, once member checked, were then analysed using Giorgio’s phenomenological approach. Preliminary results indicate that creativity from an educator’s perspective is considered “a different way to perceive a problem or content.” More professional development opportunities to learn teaching for creativity is warranted.

Authors

• Kym Caldwell, University of North Dakota

• Woei Hung, University of North Dakota