The Creativity Levels of Preschool Teachers

Abstract

In this study, the creativity levels of preschool instructors employed in Denizli's central districts' public schools and institutions throughout the 2022–2023 academic year were examined. The study used a scanning model and was quantitatively conducted. Data from 324 preschool teachers were gathered using a convenience sampling technique. Preschool teachers have medium levels of creativity in terms of academic creativity, artistic creativity, and artistic performance. They were discovered to have a high level of creativity in the originality area but a low level in the scientific/mechanical area. In preschool teachers' ratings of creativity, boys considerably outperformed girls on the dimension of scientific/mechanical inventiveness. In the area of artistic performance, creativity perceptions revealed a strong and significant difference in favor of women. Whether they were young, middle-aged, or old, teachers' assessments of creativity had comparable traits. There was a difference between preschool teachers with less seniority and those with more seniority when the artistic performance dimension of their judgments of creativity was explored, favoring those with less seniority. A difference was observed among the participants with 1–10 years of seniority and those with 11–20 years in terms of artistic inventiveness, favoring those with less seniority. When the preschool teachers' opinions of their own creativity were matched to their educational backgrounds, it was found that the graduate-degree holding teachers had greater perceptions of academic, scientific/mechanical, originality, and general creativity than the undergraduate teachers. It was determined that teachers with project experience have greater perceptions of creativity than those without project experience in the areas of academic, artistic performance, artistic inventiveness, and general creativity. Keywords: Creativity, teacher, preschool, school.