Teachers’ creativity, playfulness, and style of interaction with children

Abstract:

This investigation examined the relationships among a teacher's creative thinking, playfulness, and degree of sensitivity in their interactions with preschool children during play. These variables were operationally defined as scores on measures of ideational fluency, playful disposition, and quality of self‐reported play interaction. The Multidimensional Stimulus Fluency Measure, the Adult Behavior Inventory, and the Play Interaction Scale were administered to 46 students and 37 teachers of three‐ and four‐year old children. The Play Interaction Scale, developed for this study, was based on environmental components identified in earlier research as facilitative of play. Subjects indicated the frequency with which they might respond in a structured, elaborative, or unstructured manner to 20 vignettes describing the play of children. Results indicated that the expected positive relationships among creativity, playfulness, and an elaborative teaching style were found only for the students. The predicted negative relationships between creativity and a structured interaction style were found only for the experienced teachers.