Creative Teaching as a Component of the New Standard-Based Curriculum in Ghana: Curriculum Rushed or Curriculum Planned?

Abstract

The study was about the creative nurturing behaviors of in-service teachers in Ghana. Using the descriptive cross-sectional survey design, a sample of 768 (out of 1,321) in-service teachers were surveyed using online Google forms. The data for the study were collected with an adapted version of the Sharma and Sharma (2018) creativity nurturing behavior scale (15-items; α=.79). The data were descriptively and inferentially analyzed. Overall, the study found that majority of respondents exhibited low levels of creativity nurturing behaviors. Specifically, most of the respondents had moderate levels of creative curiosity and creative motivation, but some respondents had low levels of creative abstractions and critical thinking. Again, the study revealed that male and female respondents did not differ in their creative nurturing behaviors. Finally, differences were not established in creativity nurturing behaviors of in-service teachers based on the experience. In-service teachers were found to have insufficient knowledge on creative teaching. Therefore, it was recommended that in-service teachers need to be re-trained in the core competent areas of the new standard-based curriculum.