Chapter 9: A Comparison of Barbadian And Grenadian Teachers’ Beliefs About Creativity

The universal debate on creativity and its interconnectedness to psychology theories such as Maslow’s humanistic theory of self-actualization and Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of the conscious and unconscious have been part of the educational research discourse since the 1950s. However, regardless of the lens used to explain creativity, its importance on a global scale to the economic, educational, and political landscapes cannot be underestimated. In today’s environment, the ever-increasing demands to develop a workforce that can drive innovation and boost economic growth underscore the need to understand and encourage creativity in all its forms. Ongoing discussions about its definition, and the means of fostering and measuring creativity continue. In the Caribbean, even as far back as the 1980s, the failure of the education system to produce creative individuals was recognized, and an argument was made that a shift toward embracing a culture of creativity was necessary (Richardson, 1986). Further, Richardson (1986) supported the earlier sentiments of Rogers (1951) who critically analyzed aspects of society and purported that education tended to produce persons who would only conform to the norms of society and whose prospects for further growth, exploration and learning were severely limited.