How creative and curious are CLIL teachers? Investigating the effect of CLIL teaching experience and the level of education

Abstract

The aim of the article is to present the research results on two important character virtues, namely creativity and curiosity. Creativity is very significant in the teaching profession, as it involves researching, looking for solutions, and making choices. Curiosity involves “the active recognition, pursuit, and regulation of one’s experience in response to challenging opportunities” (Peterson & Seligman, 2004: 125). The research was conducted in Poland among 149 Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) teachers for whom these features are indispensable, bearing in mind various obstacles they have to face, e.g., lack of proper teaching materials. In order to collect the data, the VIA Inventory of Strengths (VIA-IS) was disseminated among Primary, Junior High School and Secondary School teachers. In the following article, only the data concerning creativity and curiosity is discussed. The findings indicate that self-reported scores for the statements connected with CLIL teachers’ creativity and curiosity did not correlate significantly with the teachers’ experience in CLIL and none of the tested aspects significantly depended on the educational level of the teachers’ employing institutions.

Keywords

• creativity
• curiosity
• CLIL
• teacher perspective
• character strengths
• character virtues