'Creative teaching behavior' refers to the teaching behavior of teachers at the teaching site by providing diverse resources and strategies to enhance students' creative ability. Existing researchs have found that creative teaching behaviors have beco...
'Creative teaching behavior' refers to the teaching behavior of teachers at the teaching site by providing diverse resources and strategies to enhance students' creative ability. Existing researchs have found that creative teaching behaviors have become necessary competencies for teachers,and there is a close relationship between creative teaching behaviors and students` creative ability. However, while the concept of teaching activity has been much discussed in main courses, studies in CFL(Chinese as Foreign language) class are rare. And researches on the development of creative teaching behaviors for Chinese teachers or pre-service Chinese teachers to lead creative Chinese education have not been found yet.
The purpose of the research is to explore Chinese teachers and pre-service Chinese teachers` perceptions and needs on creative teaching behaviors by comparing discrepancies between perceived 'importance' and 'performance' of creative teaching behavior. Analyzing their perceptions of two groups of Chinese teachers would draw practical implications on what teaching behaviors could be conducive for them to implement creative teaching. The comparisons between the two groups of Chinese teachers’ perceptions and needs would also lead to exploring substantive improvement plans for effective management of teaching practicum as well as the curriculum of teacher education, and providing basic data and evidence for the development of training programs to enhance future creative Chinese teaching.
To investigate Chinese teacher’s perceptions of importance and performance on creative teaching behaviors, an online questionnaire survey has been conducted on in-service teachers and pre-service teachers selected among students in Teaching Chinese as Foreign language master program. The survey was analyzed utilizing descriptive statistics, frequency analysis, and IPA (Importance-Performance Analysis) to empirically explore the two groups of Chinese teachers’ perspectives and performance on creative teaching behaviors.
There are some major findings. First, I found that in-service Chinese teachers and pre-service Chinese teachers` perceptions on the importance of creative teaching behavior have little difference. Both of the two groups of Chinese teachers agree that all creative teaching behaviors are important at Chinese teaching site and their average personal level was above 3.0. Second, Chinese teachers` needs on creative teaching behaviors demonstrated different features. I found a different pattern especially in the area of 'Concentrate Here' on IPA matrix. Specifically, while the expectations of pre-service Chinese teachers concentrate on support teaching behaviors for specific knowledge, in-service Chinese teachers expect not only support teaching behaviors for specific knowledge and skills but also general knowledge and skills. Third, differentiated creativity development of Chinese teachers in different levels should be conducted. Moreover, it is necessary to build a platform for teachers and pre- teachers to exchange experience with each other.
The findings of this research provide basic data and evidence for development and utilization of more creative teaching competency by reflecting the real needs of Chinese teachers and pre-service Chinese teachers. In addition, it also offers guidance on how to develop training programs over creative teaching behaviors for existing Chinese teachers pre-service Chinese teachers in the future.