Bilingualism matters: Early childhood teachers' attitudes toward children's creativity

Abstract

Children can learn any language and acquire its skills at a very early age. Creativity is central to the curriculum. Early Childhood (EC) teachers should provide children with appropriate resources to individually spark their imaginations and encourage them to adopt different ideas. The objective of the current study was to determine the attitudes of EC teachers who are teaching bilingual students and integrating creativity into classroom activities. The study adopted the exploratory approach, where a total of 299 EC teachers in the western region of Saudi Arabia participated in this study by filling out a questionnaire. EC teachers believed that there are differences between bilingual boys and girls in creative competencies. Most teachers stated that they did not receive sufficient training and preparation to incorporate creativity into all subjects in EC schools. Teachers in private EC schools showed more positive attitudes toward creativity than teachers in government schools. These findings provide reliable evidence for international research on teachers' attitudes and perceptions toward creativity in bilingual children. Policy makers can also benefit from these results and pay more attention to teacher preparation programs in order to raise their efficiency in supporting and enhancing the creative inclinations of learners.