The Role of Implicit Theories in Predicting Creativity Fostering Teacher Behavior

• In Event: Understanding the Multifaceted Dynamics of Educational Environments: From Climate to Culture, and Collaboration

Abstract

Drawing on implicit leadership theories (ILTs) and implicit followership theories (IFTs), we examined how perceptions of ideal (effective) principals and ideal students predict teachers’ tendency to endorse creative behaviors in their classrooms (creativity fostering teacher behavior -CFTB), and whether teacher gender moderates the relationship between implicit ILTs, IFTs, and CFTB. Four hundred sixty-one Israeli Arab teachers from 43 public schools completed an online questionnaire. Regression analysis showed their implicit beliefs predicted behaviors to foster student creativity; teachers’ perceptions of students and principals in terms of ideal prototypes were positively correlated with CFTB, and their perceptions of principals’ and students’ anti-prototypes were negatively correlated. Further, the relationships between principal and student prototype perceptions and CFTB were stronger for female teachers.

Authors

• Alexander Zibenberg, Tel-Hai College

• Rima'a Da'as, Hebrew University of Jerusalem