What Saudi teachers see as their role in promoting students’ creativity

Abstract

This qualitative research explored teachers’ perspectives on their role in promoting creativity in schools in Saudi Arabia. It also examined the extent to which Saudi teachers have the ability and facilities to enhance creativity. Several studies state that teachers do not just lack the knowledge of creativity but also some creative personalities are disliked by some teachers. To collect the data, semi-structured interviews were conducted with five Saudi teachers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Semi-structured observations were also used to observe how teachers interact with students during lessons in Saudi schools. In addition, a thematic analysis approach was used to analyse the data. The findings of this research show that most teachers believed that they have an important role in promoting creativity in schools. However, teachers in this study acknowledged that they had not received sufficient training to be able to foster creativity. Factors such as some policies and facilities were also found to be hindering teachers from improving students’ creativity. Based on the research findings, some recommendations to support teachers and to stimulate students to be more creative were also provided.