Exploring Teachers’ Beliefs and Practice Regarding Children’s Creativity in Visual Art from Three to Six Years Old in Riyadh, The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

This qualitative study aimed to explore preschool teachers’ beliefs and practices regarding preschool children’s creativity in the visual arts in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has neither a programme at preschool nor a university course designed to support children’s creativity, which could pose a problem for preschool teachers when defining what creativity is and how to support it.
The research was based on the theories of Bourdieu, Bronfenbrenner and Vygotsky (Bourdieu, 2010; Vygotsky, 1979; Bronfenbrenner, 1979; 2005; Routledge, 2016; Harkonen, 2007; Thuketana and Westhof, 2018; Reunamo et al., 2014), which assert that cultures and societies have an influence on children’s development, especially their creativity.
For this case study, three methods were developed and applied in four sequential phases with 11 teachers in three cases of preschools in Riyadh. The methods were semi-structured interviews (first and fourth phases), observation (second phase), and a photography task (third phase). The study revealed that the teachers agreed that children’s development is influenced by their culture and society. However, the teachers were uncertain about the definition of ‘creativity’. Teachers’ beliefs led their practice in supporting the creativity of the children, which reflected several barriers that teachers face, some of which are not easy to overcome. These barriers were a source of inspiration for the teachers to discern what to advise policymakers.
This research can help educators to explore definitions of children’s creativity and support it with the use of the observation schedule developed in this study to observe children’s creativity. It can also help teachers define what policymakers could provide for them to support children’s creativity in preschools. Finally, this research could inform further studies in the area of creativity, especially through the use of the methods developed for this study as there may be a lack of applicable research methods related to this subject.