This study examines the relationship between child-care teachers' instructional creativity and creative personality and playfulness, as well as their impacts on instructional creativity. A survey is conducted among 180 homeroom teachers currently work...
This study examines the relationship between child-care teachers' instructional creativity and creative personality and playfulness, as well as their impacts on instructional creativity. A survey is conducted among 180 homeroom teachers currently working at child-care centers located in provinces S, D, F, and C in South Korea.
The instructional creativity scale is based on a tool that Baek and Kim (2008) have validated, modified, and supplemented based on Urban’s (1997) creativity element model and Cropley’s (2004) teacher's creative teaching test questions, and the creative personality scale uses a tool revised and supplemented by Cho (2010) based on the creative personality test developed by Kim (1999). To measure playfulness, the Korean version of the adult playfulness tool is employed, as adapted by Jung (2017), and item and factor analyses of Proyer's (2017) Other-directed, Lighthearted, Intellectual, Whimsical (OLIW) scale are performed.
The data analysis is carried out using the SPSS 26.0 program. First, frequencies and percentages are calculated to observe the general characteristics of the chid-care teachers in the study, and Cronbach's α is calculated to determine the reliability level of the research instrument. Second, the mean and standard deviation are calculated to examine the general tendency of chid-care teachers' instructional creativity, personality, and playfulness. Third, a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) is performed to examine the differences between the instructional creativity, creative personality, and playfulness of chid-care teachers, and the post hoc test is verified via Scheffe’s method. Fourth, Pearson's correlation analysis is carried out to examine the correlation between chid-care teachers' instructional creativity, creative personality, and playfulness. Lastly, a hierarchical multiple regression analysis is performed to understand the relative influence of chid-care teachers' creative personality and playfulness on instructional creativity.
Based on the above-stated analyses, the following conclusions are reached.
First, the divergent thinking and behavior of instructional creativity are higher than the overall mean of instructional creativity, while similar levels are identified in motivation and arousing motivation, general knowledge and thinking, and focused task performance, as well as in knowledge and skill-specific domains, and openness and ambiguity. High levels in the sub-variables of instructional creativity—divergent thinking and behavior—indicate that the teachers are able to identify problems sensitively and appropriately exercise divergent thinking and behavior.
Second, there are significantly positive correlations between teachers' instructional creativity, creative personality, and playfulness. There is also a significantly positive correlation between creative personality and playfulness of teachers.
Third, teachers’creative personality significantly and positively affected their instructional creativity, and their creative personality and playfulness also significantly positively impacted instructional creativity.
These findings indicate not only that chid-care teachers' creative personality and playfulness are variables that influence instructional creativity but also that heightened creative personality and playfulness in teachers positively affect instructional creativity.