Measuring self-perceptions of creative identity: a cross-cultural comparison of the creative identities of pre-service music teachers in the US and Australia

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to examine and compare the creative musical identities of pre-service music education students in the US and Australia. This work builds on prior work that has employed similar procedures with pre-service music teachers (PSMTs) in England and Finland. As in prior research, the creative identity in music (CIM) measure was utilised with both the US and Australian PSMT populations (N = 298). Items of CIM relate to music-making activities often associated with creativity in music education in the literature, including composition, improvisation, and popular music performance. Results suggest that the CIM is a valid tool for measuring creative identity as defined by the researchers. Furthermore, while both populations of pre-service teachers are similarly willing to allow for creativity in the classroom, as measured by CIM Sub-Scale #3, research findings suggest that Australian PSMTs indicate a stronger degree of creative music-making self-efficacy (p < .0001), value the areas of creative identity as measured by CIM to a significantly greater extent (p < .0001), and value the use of popular music listening/performing within the learning environment to a significantly greater extent (p < .0001) than US PSMTs.

KEYWORDS:

• Creativity
• popular music
• composition
• improvisation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Clint Randles is Associate Professor of Music Education at the University of South Florida where he teaches “Progressive Music Education Methods” and “Creative Performance Chamber Ensemble” at the undergraduate level and “Philosophical and Historical Perspectives in Music Education” and “Creativity in Music Teaching and Learning” at the graduate level. He is known for his work in the area of creativity and curriculum expansion in music education research and practice, and has helped establish three book series in these areas with Routledge and GIA Publications. He currently serves as the Chair of the Creativity Special Research Interest Group of the National Association for Music Education in the USA.

Julie Ballantyne is known for her work in the areas of music teacher identities, social justice, music teacher education, and the social and psychological impacts of musical engagement. An Associate Professor in Music Education in the School of Music at the University of Queensland, Australia, she has won commendations and fellowships for her teaching, and is also holds leadership positions with organisations such as the International Society for Music Education. Julie has published work in key journals and has co-edited a book Navigating Music and Sound Education. She enjoys teaching pre-service and in-service teachers at the Bachelor and Masters Level, as well as supervising several PhD students.