Abstract
This qualitative study explored teacher conceptualizations of creativity. Specifically, teachers’ general beliefs about creativity and regarding their own creative abilities as well as how those beliefs relate to their instructional practice in the classroom. Sixteen teachers enrolled in a Masters in Education program with a focus on either arts or English as well as one professor from each cohort participated in semi-structured interviews with the researcher. Data analysis revealed two themes throughout teachers’ beliefs of creativity. First was a focus on the individual in the creative process, and second was a focus on the interactions between individuals within a social context as having an influence on the creative process; an orientation to the self was also revealed throughout both themes. These two themes will be presented within teachers’ beliefs of the origins of creativity, how the context is related to creativity, sources of motivation for creativity, and sources of creative stifling. Teachers’ beliefs will be discussed in relation to past research and Western culture as well as in terms of the implications these beliefs have for educational practice.