Creativity in the Early Childhood Classroom: Perspectives of Preservice Teachers

This study examined how preservice teachers view the nature and role of creativity in light of the complexities of contemporary early childhood classrooms. A multiple methods approach was utilized and data were collected with the Questionnaire Examining Student Teachers' Beliefs about Creativity (Diakidoy & Kanari, 1999) survey instrument and through a qualitative examination of a learning community whose members were preservice teachers engaged in their student-teaching semester. Findings from both the survey and qualitative measures indicate that the vast majority of preservice teachers valued creative thinking; however, they voiced concerns over their own unclear understandings of how to support children's creative endeavors in complex classroom environments. Additionally, this research strongly suggests that early childhood teacher educators take a supportive role in the development of preservice teachers' understandings of the interrelationships between content, pedagogy, and creativity in early childhood classrooms.