BACKGROUND

Creativity has emerged as a critical educational priority on the global stage. In recent years, international organizations and assessments such as OECD and PISA have increasingly emphasized the cultivation of creativity in education (OECD, 2023). Conceptually, creativity is widely defined as the generation of original and appropriate ideas or products within a specific context (Runco & Jaeger, 2012). Its development is understood as a dynamic process arising from the interplay between individual factors, including personal characteristics, skills, and motivation, and environmental conditions, such as teaching methods and classroom culture (Amabile, 1996). 

Challenges in implementing creativity

Despite its acknowledged significance, the integration of creativity into everyday classroom practice remains challenging. Teachers often report difficulties in identifying students’ creative potential and in designing, implementing, and assessing pedagogical strategies that effectively nurture creative thinking (Bereczki & Kárpáti, 2018).

The role of teachers’ beliefs

A growing body of research underscores the role of teachers’ beliefs about creativity in mediating instructional decisions and classroom practice. These beliefs tend to be multifaceted, showing implicit and explicit understandings and perceptions in teaching, learning, and students in relation to creativity (Cropley et al., 2019). When teachers hold robust beliefs about students’ creative capabilities, they are more likely to select and adapt instructional methods aimed at fostering creativity and to sustain long-term commitment to its development.

More importantly, such beliefs are not universal but are able to be shaped by teachers’ prior experiences, disciplinary training, institutional settings, and sociocultural backgrounds, which may lead to conceptions that diverge from empirical definitions and research-based evidence (Kaufman & Beghetto, 2013).

PURPOSE AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Purpose

This study reviews the recent literature on teachers’ beliefs about creativity, with a focus on how teachers conceptualize creativity and how they recognize, interpret, and respond to manifestations of creativity in students. This review aims to advance theoretical understanding, identify research gaps, and provide a comprehensive synthesis that informs teacher education, school-based professional development, and systemic education reform.

Research questions

RQ1: How do teachers define creativity, and to what extent do these definitions align with research-based conceptions?

RQ2: What beliefs do teachers hold about the characteristics of creative students?

RQ3: How do teachers’ beliefs influence their creativity-fostering classroom practices?

RQ4: Under what conditions can teachers’ beliefs about creativity change?

METHOD Review Design This study employed an umbrella review methodology (Aromataris et al., 2015), synthesizing findings from existing systematic and empirical reviews alongside an updated literature search. The aim was to provide a comprehensive overview of research on in-service K–12 teachers’ beliefs about creativity. Search Strategy We began with three foundational systematic reviews (Andiliou & Murphy, 2010; Bereczki & Kárpáti, 2018; Mullet et al., 2016) and extended this work through a targeted search of empirical studies published between January 2016 and December 2023. Databases searched: ProQuest ERIC and PsycINFO Keywords included terms from three conceptual categories: beliefs, creativity and teacher terms. We also performed hand-searches of creativity-focused journals, forward citation tracking, and reference list checks of included studies. Eligibility Criteria Studies were included if they met the following criteria: • Focused on in-service K–12 teachers’ beliefs about creativity and/or creative student characteristics • Reported empirical findings (qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods) • Published in peer-reviewed journals or as reports between 1991 and 2023 • Written in English Screening and Selection Titles and abstracts were screened by two independent reviewers using predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Disagreements were resolved through discussion. Full texts were then reviewed for final inclusion. Data Extraction and Analysis A total of 80 empirical studies published between 1991 and 2023 met the inclusion criteria. Data were coded using a deductive thematic framework derived from Bereczki & Kárpáti (2018) and extended with inductive coding to capture new themes. The analysis focused on the following thematic categories, organized according to the study’s research questions: • Beliefs about the definition, domain-specificity, teachability, and assessability of creativity • Beliefs about creative student characteristics • Cultural and contextual influences on beliefs • The impact of beliefs on classroom practice • The potential for belief change

While teachers widely value creativity as a key educational goal, their definitions often overemphasize originality and tangible products (e.g., student work, projects; de Bruin & Harris, 2017) and tend to be intuitive rather than research-based. Beliefs vary regarding the role of subject knowledge, with some viewing creativity as content-dependent (e.g., Cropley et al., 2019; Patston et al., 2018) and others as a generic or art-relevant skill (e.g., Davies et al., 2018; Patston et al., 2018). Teachers generally believe that creativity can be developed but feel uncertain about how to teach or assess it, leading to its frequent marginalization in practice. Several biases, such as social desirability, achievement, gender, race, and age, influence teachers’ perceptions of creative students. These biases affect which students are identified as creative (Beghetto et al., 2011; Gralewski, 2019; Hartley et al., 2016; Kettler et al., 2018). Although positive beliefs, a significant ‘creative gap’ exists, as instructional practices fail to integrate creativity into core and daily teaching due to barriers, for instance, standardized testing, lack of time, and insufficient training. However, teachers’ beliefs are malleable and can evolve through professional development and exposure to research. Key recommendations include establishing clear, discipline-sensitive definitions of creativity, integrating it into assessment frameworks, and strengthening teacher knowledge through professional training that encourages reflection on personal biases. Future research should employ more rigorous methods, conduct cross-cultural comparisons, and investigate how beliefs translate into practice over time.

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