The creative abilities of preservice world language educators

Abstract

A creative approach to teaching can factor into a long‐lasting professional career and has the potential to attract passionate newcomers to the field of education. When creativity is valued, teachers can use these abilities to meaningfully design instruction, to create a vibrant learning environment, and to support student self‐confidence. For these reasons, this study used the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking as well as interview data to examine creative profiles within teacher education. Using a checklist of 13 possible creative strengths, world language (n = 32) criterion‐referenced scores indicated distinct creative abilities among participants. Findings resulted in six domain‐specific creative abilities: depicting movement or action, extending or breaking boundaries, storytelling articulation, emotional expressiveness, humor, and expressiveness of titles, as prominent strengths of preservice language educators. In this study, creativity is explored as a transformative factor with potential for teacher retention and recruitment.