Abstract:

Technological advancements characterizing the 21st century have reaffirmed the relevance of creativity for the fulfillment of individuals in society. Consequently, several curricula worldwide consider the creative use of digital tools an essential skill for students. To develop this skill, it is essential that teachers themselves be able to make creative use of digital technology in the classroom. This challenging task requires professional development (PD) activities combining creativity and pedagogical use of digital tools. According to scientific literature, mobilizing creative attitudes and processes in a training context favors the development of lasting attitudes toward technologies rather than the acquisition of ephemeral technical skills (Donner et al., 2021; Henriksen et al., 2019; Koehler et al., 2011), ensuring what Terzidis and Darbellay (2017, p.124) call a "sustainable professional development." Despite these benefits, little is known about the characteristics of digital training programs that mobilize creativity in teaching. It thus seemed relevant to conduct a thesis that aimed to answer the following question: What are the characteristics (content, strategies, and contexts) of professional development activities, dedicated to in-service teachers, that combine the use of digital technology and creativity?.

This research question put forth two principal concepts. First, drawing on major creativity models (for instance, Csíkszentmihály [2014], Glǎveanu [2013] or Lubart et al. [2015]), four dimensions of creativity were considered: the person, the process, the product, and the context. Second, the Guskey and Sparks (1996) model was adapted to identify three dimensions of PD activities for teaching: technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK, Koehler & Mishra, 2009), strategies, and settings characteristics. Based on these frameworks, six PD activities for in-service teachers that combined creativity and pedagogical use of digital tools were analyzed through a multiple case study by triangulating three data collection methods: semi-structured interviews with instructional coaches, document analysis, and observation.

The results showed that creativity was mobilized in various ways, revealing a tension between theory and practice. However, points of convergence emerged: beyond TPACK, mindsets towards the use of digital tools that involved various facets of the creative person (creative attitudes, motivation, and emotions) were valued. Regarding training strategies, creativity was often mobilized through authentic and hands-on activities with digital technologies rather than through explicit instruction. This was complemented by the important role of instructional coaches who fostered a secure and inspiring atmosphere through various means. These results led to the proposal of characteristics for professional development activities within a continuum perspective. Accordingly, various content, strategies, and contextual elements were suggested, depending on the technological and creative skills of the trainees. For trainees considered as beginners, an explicit teaching of the dimensions of creativity is proposed followed by hands-on activities aimed at generating ideas and discovering new and useful pedagogical uses of digital tools. At the other end of the continuum, more experienced teachers are led to co-generate and co-elaborate ideas in order to create an original learning activity.

Keywords:

Creativity, educational technology, in-service teacher training, instructional coaches, multiple case study, professional development.