The Notion of Creativity in Art and the Influence of Cultural Exposure

Abstract

Abstract This study investigates how art teachers judge the creativity of student art work. Both conceptual and operational definitions given by teachers were studied. Furthermore, cultural exposure as measured by a teacher's exposure to non-Asian cultures, was studied to see how it might influence art teachers' judgements. Two instruments were developed for the purpose of this study. One instrument was a questionnaire designed to collect qualitative data from the respondents. The second instrument was used to measure art teachers' ratings of creativity. The data revealed that the conceptual definitions given by art teachers varied considerably. However, when asked to rate subjectively the creativity of art products, moderate agreement was reached among art teachers. Exposure to non-Asian cultures did not seem to have an effect on an art teachers' operational definition of creativity. Results of the study imply that the usefulness of the term creativity needs to be reviewed in general usage and in documents such as curricula. It would seem that there is not a clear notion among art teachers as to what constitutes creativity and a creative product.