Primary school EFL Teachers' attitudes towards creativity and their perceptions of practice

Abstract

Teachers perform an important job by encouraging creativity in their lessons and among their pupils. Thus, the present study aims to examine primary school EFL teachers' attitudes towards creative thinking and their perceptions of what goes on in the classroom. Participants were 434 female primary school EFL teachers, chosen randomly, teaching all grade levels from six educational zones in Kuwait, namely Al-Asema, Hawalli. Al-Farwaniyah, Mubarak Al-Kabeer, Al-Ahmadi and Al-Jahra for the year 2014-2015. The study used a descriptive survey research design using Likert's five-point scale distributed into three categories: demographic information, teachers' attitudes towards creative thinking and teachers' perceptions of their practice. To triangulate the data, a focus group interview was employed along with an analysis of samples of exam papers. Independent variables measured were age, nationality, degree, major, educational zone, teaching experience and in-service training. Results showed teachers' attitudes and perceptions were high. Significant differences were shown for age, major, educational zone, teaching experience and in-service training. Implications as well as recommendations for future research were discussed.