Examining Teachers’ Perspectives of School-Based Opportunities and Support for Student Creativity with the ICI Index

Abstract

ABSTRACT This mixed-methods study examined 220 teachers’ responses from a new instrument, the Imagination, Creativity, and Innovation (ICI) Index. ICI Index scores represented teachers’ predictions of how students would rate their school’s support for student creativity, which was assumed to represent the teachers’ perspective of the actual support for student creativity at the school. Teachers of grades 6–8 (n = 55) had significantly lower ICI Index scores than teachers of grades 3–5 (n = 155; p = .03, g = .35). Regular classroom teachers (n = 151) did not differ significantly from gifted and talented teachers (n = 49) on their ICI scores (p = .065). Qualitative analysis found that, when asked to give examples of products, performances, and services produced by students that were points of pride, most teachers discussed their own creative teaching practices rather than student-initiated projects. Most major content areas were represented, and many responses were interdisciplinary. The most common audience was the school community. Time, including scheduled special periods, was commonly discussed as a support for creativity. Teachers with high ICI Index scores usually wrote about how the school community collaborated to provide creative opportunities to all students, whereas teachers with low ICI Index scores reported that support for student creativity was absent or limited to specific groups.