Abstract:

This study explores how secondary school English teachers conceptualise creative confidence when working with a set of card-based tools designed around the five stages of the Design Thinking framework. The cards were created to help teachers translate design thinking principles — empathy, problem definition, ideation, prototyping and iterative testing (Brown, 2009; Razzouk & Shute, 2012) — into everyday decisions in the classroom. Each card foregrounds key indicators of creative confidence, including risk-taking, flexible thinking and willingness to experiment (Kelley & Kelley, 2013; Beghetto, 2009), offering teachers a clear and accessible structure for reflection.

Teachers participated in a guided session where they engaged with the cards, discussed their interpretations and applied them to familiar teaching scenarios. Their conversations and written reflections formed the core data for this study. Working through the cards encouraged teachers to examine not only how they support creative development in their students, but also how their own beliefs and routines shape opportunities for creativity — an approach closely aligned with reflective practice in professional learning (Schön, 1983).

Initial findings show that the cards made the concept of creative confidence more tangible for teachers. Participants highlighted the value of iterative processes, openness to failure and the need for structured reflection, but also pointed out ongoing tensions with curriculum demands and assessment expectations. Several teachers noted that the activity prompted them to re-evaluate their assumptions about students’ readiness to take creative risks and their own comfort with more open-ended tasks, supporting existing research that identifies design thinking as a catalyst for pedagogical reflection (Wrigley & Straker, 2017; Razzouk & Shute, 2012).

The study demonstrates that the card-based tool can serve as a meaningful support for teacher professional development, helping educators link design thinking principles with the everyday realities of the English classroom. The presentation will include examples from the card set, teacher insights and practical implications for integrating creative confidence more intentionally into secondary education.

Keywords:

Creative confidence, Design thinking, English language teaching, Secondary education, Teacher professional learning.