Developing a scale to measure creativity in student teachers’ performance: a preliminary exploratory study

This study aimed to develop an initial scale and conduct an exploratory investigation of its factor structure to measure creativity in the performance of teachers and student teachers, based on Sternberg’s investment theory. A 36-item scale was developed and administered to a sample of 238 teachers and student teachers. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) using principal component analysis with Varimax rotation was employed to examine the scale’s structure. The reliability of the subscales was calculated using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. The EFA supported a six-factor structure, accounting for 66.79% of the total variance. The six factors were: intellectual skills, environment, personality, intellectual style, knowledge and motivation. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for these factors ranged from 0.868 to 0.912, indicating excellent internal consistency. The findings suggest that the developed scale possesses a coherent and meaningful factor structure aligned with the research’s theoretical framework.