A mixed-method study of relationships among teacher quality, reflective practice, and creative abilities of K--12 in-service public school teachers

Reflective practice has the potential to respond to today's diverse classrooms by facilitating contextually derived constructs of teacher quality. Supported by original conceptualizations of reflective practice as a creative process (Dewey, 1933; Schon, 1983), the purpose of this mixed-method study was to examine relationships among teacher quality, reflective practice, and creativity. Focusing on 22 creative abilities identified with reflective practice, the investigator sought to understand how creativity functions in the professional lives of in-service teachers, to identify influential factors regarding teacher creativity, and to relate these findings to issues of teacher quality and reflective practice.; Data collection included critical incident questionnaires completed by 80 K-12 in-service public school teachers and a series of in-depth follow-up interviews. An interactionist approach to typological data analyses was utilized to examine influential factors, selected problems, motivations, reflection and outcomes. Vignettes detailing participants' experiences and participant-generated visual representations support the data displays and analyses.; Findings from both phases of the study suggest that exercise of a broad range of creative abilities facilitated complex reflective thought. In the interview phase, four participants emerged exhibiting at least 90% of 22 creative abilities, complex reflective capabilities, and numerous indicators of contextually constructed teacher quality. Further, creative abilities appeared to facilitate interview participants' interaction with, and influence upon, the environment, leading some to assume the role of teacher as a professional, rather than technician. Findings dealing with influential factors in the institutional framework indicated that most participants in both phases of the study perceived that, other than development of knowledge, pre-service and in-service education provided minimal creativity development. Administrators, time, and current policies were noted as significant influences on participants' creativity. Collaborative environments appeared to promote some participants' creativity.; The findings of this study demonstrated substantive relationships among creativity, reflective practice, and teacher quality, and suggested that both personal and environmental factors influenced participants' creativity. Yet, beyond these conclusions, this study raises as many questions as it answers. These questions may offer a further contribution to the literature by prompting examination of current perspectives of practice, policy and teacher quality through the lens of this study's findings.