Students’ Perception of Classroom Environment in China and its Relationship to Creativity of Students Who Have Visual Impairments

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the perceptions of students with visual impairments (VIs) about their classroom environments; the creativity level of students with VIs; and the influence of classroom environments on the development of students’ creativity. This study used the “Creative Classroom Environment Scale for School for The Blind” (CCES-SB) to investigate students’ perceptions of their classroom environment from five dimensions: teacher leadership, teacher support, student relationship, student communication, and student participation. The verbal sub-tests of “Evaluation of Potential Creativity” (EPoC) was used to investigate students’ creativity level. A total of 189 students with VIs from 10 Schools for the Blind in China participated in the CCES-SB. Among these samples, a total of 32 students were chosen to participate in the EPoC. The results showed that students’ perceptions of the English classroom environment were significantly lower than those of Chinese and Math classroom environments. With increasing grade levels, students’ convergent thinking scores increased accordingly, while divergent thinking scores showed an upward tendency in the fourth to the fifth grade, but declined in the fifth to sixth grade. The divergent thinking of students with low vision was significantly lower than that of students who are legally blind. The “student relationship”, one dimension of the CCES-SB, has shown a significantly positive correlation with students’ convergent thinking level. It suggested that teachers could develop classroom environments to promote students’ creativity level, especially by establishing positive student relationships. More attention should be paid to the divergent thinking of students with low vision.