Abstract:
Creatively gifted individuals often develop the most important contributions to society.
The importance of nurturing creatively gifted students in the primary classroom has received
significant attention in recent years. However, international studies have found that teachers’
perceptions of the creatively gifted often do not align with current research-based
understandings. It has been shown that teachers may favour conformity and an unquestioning
acceptance of authority in creative students but miss important opposing characteristics. This
can have significant implications for meeting the special needs of these students and their
educational and emotional development. It is not clear if similar issues exist in the context of
the New Zealand primary classroom. This research examines how New Zealand classroom
teachers define giftedness and creativity, and if there are latent perceptions in the same teachers
of personality characteristics associated with gifted and with creative students. Anonymous
online surveys were completed by teachers from around New Zealand (N=205). Surveys were
comprised of demographic questions, open-ended questions and closed questions for both
qualitative and quantitative analysis. Thematic Analysis (TA) was used to interpret the
qualitative results and Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was used to interpret the quantitative
results. Participating teachers related their definitions of giftedness to thinking and intellectual
processes, and creativity to thinking, productivity and innovation. They ranked creativity
characteristics low in their definitions of giftedness and gifted characteristics somewhat low in
their definitions of creativity. Teachers perceived a gifted student as someone typically with
over-excitabilities and to a lesser extent creativity. They perceived a creative student more
diversely. Some as an innovator but a risk-taking student, and others as an innovator and an
ideal student. These findings in the New Zealand classroom context generally confirm prior
studies overseas that suggest teachers value creativity but do not always associate the highly
creative personality traits with the highly creative student. It is also clear that the New Zealand
teacher has a robust understanding of giftedness and a good perception of gifted characteristics
relative to current research and understanding. It would be beneficial for the creatively gifted
students in New Zealand primary schools if classroom teachers and education leaders
prioritised professional development highlighting creative personality characteristics and the
sound techniques that can be used to cater for and involve these students most effectively in
classroom learning.