Introduction

Creativity has gained popularity in the context of education and is recognized as one of the most needed skills in business life. In 1999, National Advisory on Creative and Cultural Education (NACCE) affirmed that creativity in educational contexts could be seen from two perspectives: the teacher and the student. Indeed, there is a distinction between teaching creatively and teaching creativity to students. Concerning ‘Classroom Management,’ researchers generally described it as the full range of teacher efforts to oversee classroom activities (Burden, 2005; Good & Brophy, 2006). Moreover, Brophy (1986) defined classroom management as a teacher’s efforts to establish and maintain the classroom as an effective environment for teaching and learning. Savage and Savage (2009) defined classroom management as two levels of management including the prevention of problems and responses when problems do occur. Furthermore, Martin and Sass (2010) defined the term classroom management with two broad dimensions, which are instructional management and behavior management. Instructional managementincludes aspects of classroom life such as establishing daily procedures, allocating materials, and monitoring students' independent work. And Behavior managementis any pre-planned intervention aimed at preventing misbehavior.

     Generally, creativity is considered as one of the most significant criteria which is nowadays expected primarily from teachers. On the other hand, they are the most important factor in the process of classroom management. The more qualified a teacher is, the more emotionally and effectively the classroom will be managed.  A great deal of researchers and scholars around the world recently paid much more attention to the role played by teachers’ creativity in educational system and its effect on classroom management. However, studies concerning teachers’ creativity and classroom management are very few in the context of Iran. Several researchers such as Jalali and Panahzade (2014) and Khany and Boghayeri (2014) investigated these two variables separately, and there is no single study that considered teachers’ creativity and classroom management. All in all, due to lack of studies in the context of Iran, the present study is going to examine the relationship between Iranian teachers’ creativity and their classroom management while considering teachers’ age and gender. Consequently, studies of this kind can pave the ground for a more comprehensive understanding of issues regarding classroom management.Furthermore, this study can bring about fruitful results for EFL teachers, policy makers, curriculum developers and administrators to come to a better understanding of the importance of the role of creativity in theeducational system. Ministry of Education may also need the results of the present study to inform the policymakers and curriculum developers to take into account the role played by teachers’ creativity in the classroom.

Research Questions

The study is designed to answer the following research questions:

1)      RQ1: What is the relationship between Iranian teachers’ creativity and classroom management?

2)      RQ2:  What is the relationship between age and gender of Iranian EFL teachers and their creativity?

3)      RQ3: What is the relationship between Iranian EFL teachers’ age and gender and their view about classroom management?

Literature Review

Conceptions of creativity are highly varied and, at times, conflicting. Based on Cramond’s (2001) idea, creativity is a multidimensional construct that all people demonstrate to some degree. This is supported further by Treffinger, Young, Selby and Shepardson (2001) who argue that creativity is not innate but can be learned and nurtured. Simonton (2002) contended that creativity is among the most important and pervasive of all human activities. The second variable of this study is classroom management which has been defined by a great deal of researchers and scholars differently. Burden (2005) believes that classroom management is composed of a full range of teacher efforts to oversee classroom activities, including learning, social interaction, and student behavior. Besides, Doyle (2006) holds that classroom management revolves around teachers’ and students’ attitudes and actions that influence students’ behaviors in the classroom.

      A number of researchers such as Darnell, Gallagher, Andrews, and Amaral (2000) have done investigations on creativity in the classroom. They accomplished a qualitative survey analyzing how supportive classroom conditions can boost students' creativity. Their study had its main focus on the teacher's role in this regard. Moreover, Fleith (2000) investigated teachers and students’ conceptions about essential qualities that either motivate or suppress the development of creativity in the classroom environment. The results of both researches indicate that in an environment which discourages creativity, teachers are controlling, viewpoints are disallowed, and extreme structure sustains. 

In 2012, Zeteroglu, Dogan, and Derman made an effort to analyze some teacher candidates' ideas about creativity. Besides, they also attempted to disclose their per­ception of creativity concept through the use of comparison. They realized that teacher candidates consider creativity as a criterion to generate various, fantastic, and original products.

Kinai (2013) surveyed Kenyan student-teacher counselors’ creativity and its relationship with their gender, age, and teaching experience. Kinai found that there was not any significant difference between teachers’ age and their perspectives toward creativity. Similarly, the findings contradicted with the study conducted by Pruit (1989) in which he claimed that creativity is not influenced by age.

      The number of Iranian EFL teachers' commitment to creativity was examined by Khany and Boghayeri (2014). A group of 36 English language teachers were asked to fill a checklist designed based on EFL Teachers’ Creativity Profile (EFLTCP). The results showed that the way the participants performed their activities in the classroom did not correspond to their perception. The main differences were observed in teachers’ Expertise and Management competence with their real performance in the classroom.

      Moreover, Al-Qahtani (2016) conducted a study searching to find if Saudi EFL teachers promote creativity in their classrooms. The sample in this study included 45 Saudi EFL teachers and six EFL supervisors. First, teachers responded to a creativity questionnaire that explored their attitudes and the extent to which they promote creativity in language classrooms, then eight of the teachers and the six EFL supervisors were interviewed. The results revealed that most Saudi EFL teachers put little effort into fostering creativity in their teaching practices.

      With respect to classroom management, a great deal of researches have been done. Martin, Yin, and Mayall (2008) investigated classroom management training, teaching experience and gender while examining the impact of teachers’ attitudes and beliefs toward classroom management style. Data were collected from 489 participants via the Attitudes and Beliefs of Classroom Control Inventory, Teacher Efficacy Scale, Problems in School Questionnaire, and a demograph­ic questionnaire. They found that there is no difference between male and female teachers’ scores on classroom management.

      In a research, Schussler (2009) elaborated on how it is possible for teachers can make students intellectually involved in their classroom management. The results demonstrated that when teachers are flexible and have a high opinion of their students are much more capable of providing challenges and creating relevant learning situations.

      Besides, Unal and Unal (2012) investigated the impact of years of teaching experience on the classroom management approaches of elementary school teachers. The findings of this study demonstrated that experienced teachers are more likely to prefer to be in control in their classrooms than beginning teachers while interacting with students when making decisions. In addition, they found that there is certain path teachers follow through their career. While preservice teachers prefer non-interventionism (minimum teacher control), they support interactionism (shared control) during internship and early career years. Finally they prefer to choose complete teacher control when they become experienced teachers.

     Additionally, Khany and Ghoreyshi (2013) made an effort to review the connection between Iranian EFL teachers’ classroom management, reflective thinking and transformational leadership style. 247 English Foreign Language teachers participated in the survey. Generally, it was concluded that reflective thinking and transformational leadership improve teachers' effectiveness of classroom management which, in turn, enhances teaching processes.

             A study attempting to realize EFL teachers’ beliefs concerning classroom management was carried out by Jalali and Panahzade (2014). In doing so, the relationship between EFL teachers’ demographic factors (age and years of teaching experience), computer tendency, and their classroom instructional and behavioral management orientations were explored. The results revealed that as the participants' age and teaching experience increased, their attitudes towards computers became more negative.

      In 2015, Demirdag determined to explore the relationship between classroom management skills of high school teachers and their related critical thinking abilities. The results of the study proved that teachers had positive mental pictures about their classroom management skills and their critical thinking abilities. However, the findings also indicated that there were no considerable relationships between classroom management skills and critical thinking abilities of high school teachers.

Method

Design of the Study

The present study was a quantitative study because all the stages of the data collection and data analyses were statistical and numerical. This study was also a non-experimental study since the researcher did not manipulate any independent variable of the study and the method of the participants’ selection was convenient sampling.

Participants

The participants of this study were selected from Iranian EFL teachers who are all native speakers of Persian. To conduct the study, 70 English foreign language teachers from high schools and institutes of Shiraz city, majoring in Teaching English as Foreign Language (TEFL) were considered to participate in this study. The sample consisted of both female and male teachers as the sampling method was availability non-probability sampling or convenient sampling. Moreover, teachers aged between 23 to 49 years old, and they were categorized into three age groups, including 20-29, 30-39, and 40-49 years old participants. Their educational degrees ranged from Bachelor of Arts to the doctorate of arts degrees.

Instruments

For carrying out the present research and finding the answers to the research questions, two instruments were utilized. To measure the degree of creativity among teachers, Creativity Fostering Teacher Behavior Index (CFTBI) developed by Soh (2000) was used. Moreover, this study also is employed Behavior and Instructional Management Scale (BIMS) developed by Martin and Sass (2010).

      The first instrument was Creativity Fostering Teacher Behavior Index (CFTBI). It was developed by Soh, which was based on the principles of the nine teacher behaviors adopted by Cropley (1997). These nine teacher behaviors included:

• Independence: Making students eager to learn independently;
• Integration: Applying  a co-operative, socially integrative style of teaching;
• Motivation: Encouraging  students to master factual knowledge, so that they have a reliable  foundation  for divergent thinking;
• Judgment: Taking time to judge  students’ ideas until they have been thoroughly worked out and clearly articulated;
• Flexibility: Reinforcing  flexible thinking;
• Evaluation: Emphasizing   self-assessment  in students;   
• Question: Taking it serious to mind students’ questions and suggestions.
• Opportunities: providing students with chances to work with a wide range of materials and under many different situations; and
• Frustration: Making students courageous enough to deal efficiently with hopelessness and failure, so that they would be able to try the new and unusual work.

      Besides, they demonstrated different kinds of behaviors teachers need to think over in their daily interaction with the students in the process of teaching. For each of these nine principles five items were written; thus, nine subscales of the CFTBI were formed. Each item took the form of a six-point Likert scale (from strongly agree to disagree strongly) to avoid the tendency to affirm the neutral middle-point and to maximize the item variance. Besides, the questionnaire’s reliability which was estimated based on Cronbach’s Alpha Level was .76 which indicated a good level of conceptual relatedness among items.

      The second instrument of the present study was Behavior and Instructional Management Scale (BIMS) developed by Martin and Sass (2010). It was used to obtain the teachers’ attitudes toward what they do in class in order to manage the class. The questionnaire consisted of 24 Likert-scaled items, rating from Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree. The BIMS is composed of two subscales, namely, Behavior Management (BM) and Instructional Management (IM). The twelve items of this questionnaire tapped into teachers’ behavioral management approaches. To be more particular, this section was dedicated to teachers’ performance in setting rules in the classroom, controlling students’ behavior and assigning punishment for off-task behaviors and misbehaviors. The participants’ approaches concerning instructional management in classroom were to be investigated through the second subscale of BIMS. IM contained twelve items asking teachers about what they do to observe learning activities, to set daily routines, and to choose teaching materials.

      Moreover, the validity and reliability of the questionnaires have been approved to measure behavior management and instructional management (Martin & Sass, 2010). Through a series of studies by Martin and Sass, it was determined that the BIMS has an internal consistency of.774 for the behavior management factor and.770 for the instructional management factor. It was also determined through the factor analysis that the correlation factor is at.85, which confirmed that the items in the questionnaire are valid and reliable in measuring the behavior management and the instructional management variables proposed in this study. Moreover, in this study, the Cronbach Alpha coefficient of the scale turned out to be .83 which indicated a good level of conceptual relatedness among items.

Procedures

Prior to gathering the data, the researcher explained briefly to the teachers the purpose of the study and the survey procedures, and then obtained each individual’s consent. They were also told in detail what they were required to do. The researcher also reminded that there were no right or wrong answers to the questions of the questionnaire, and that they should answer them honestly and forthrightly. They were also told that the accuracy of the results depends on how honest they can be. Subsequently, at first, the teachers were asked to answer the CFTBI, followed by BIMS. There was no limitation of time for teachers to respond the questionnaires.

Data Analysis

The quantitative data gathered through CFTBI and BIMS were analyzed utilizing SPSS Version 24, primarily for descriptive statistics such as mean and standard deviation as well as inferential statistics such as Correlation Coefficient, One-way ANOVA, and Independent Sample T-test. Table 1 represents the results of descriptive statistics of analysis of the questionnaires.

Table 1                                                    

Descriptive statistics concerning two questionnaires utilized in the study

       According to Table 1, the mean score of participants in Teachers’ Creativity was M=2.01, SD= 0.21, Min=1.62, and Max=2.82. Besides, the participants’ mean score in Classroom Management questionnaire was M=2.32, SD= 0.43, Min=1.58, and Max=4.00.

      Moreover, in order to assess the normality of the distribution of scores in two questionnaires, the researcher employed the Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistic. Table 2 represents the results below.

 Table 2

Test of Normality

      According to Table 2, the ρ values were more than .05 (ρ> .05), denoting that the scores in two questionnaires were normally distributed.

Analysis of the Relationship between Teachers’ Creativity and Their Classroom Management    

To answer the first research question regarding the relationship between Iranian EFL teachers’ creativity and classroom management, the researcher calculated the Pearson Correlation between teachers’ creativity and classroom management. The results are displayed in Table 3 below.

Table 3

 Pearson Correlation between Teachers’ Creativity and Their Classroom Management

      As Table 3 indicates, there is a statistically positive significant relationship between teachers’ creativity and their classroom management as the correlation coefficient is 0.625 and the ρ-value (0.000) is less than 0.01. Moreover, the effect size is .39, which indicates 39 percent of shared variances between teachers’ creativity and classroom management.

Analysis of the Relationship between Teachers’ Creativity and Age

The second research question was designed to scrutinize if Iranian EFL teachers’ age and gender affect their attitudes towards creativity. To do so, two separate statistical analyses, namely, One-Way ANOVA and Independent Sample T-Test were run. At first, to see whether there is any significant difference between Iranian EFL teachers’ age and their attitudes towards creativity, group statistics was first obtained for each group and their attitudes towards creativity. Following that, the One-Way ANOVA was run to analyze and compare the mean scores between the three age groups. Finally, Multiple Comparisons were inspected in order to see where the difference lay. Table 4 represents the results of group statistics of teachers’ age group and their attitudes towards creativity.

Table 4

Group Statistics of Teachers’ Age Group and Their Attitudes towards Creativity

      Based on the results of Table4, the older group (40-49) had the largest mean as it was M=2.20, SD=.25, whereas the teachers’ age group 30-39 had the second larger mean as it was M=1.98, SD=.11. Besides, the younger teachers had the lowest way of attitudes towards creativity as it was M=1.88, SD=.14. In addition, it is worth mentioning that the lower the teachers’ mean, the more positive their attitudes towards creativity since in the two questionnaires, the rating scale started from strongly agree. 

      Furthermore, One-Way ANOVA was run to see if there was any significant difference between the three age groups. Table 5 indicated the results of One-Way ANOVA.

Table 5

One-Way ANOVA between Three Age Groups and Their Creativity Attitudes

      The results of Table 5 reveals that there is a statistically significant difference across the three age groups regarding their attitudes towards creativity, F_2,67 = 18.546, ρ= .0001. Besides, to determine the effect size for this result, the following formula was utilized:

      By putting the values in the formula, the obtained effect size was .35, indicating a very large effect size.

      In addition, as the significant difference among the groups does not mean that all the groups are different from each other, the researcher tried to find out where the difference lies. Therefore, Multiple Comparisons were calculated. Below is the result of Multiple Comparisons and explanations related to the results.

Table 6

Multiple Comparisons of Three Age Groups

      The results of Multiple Comparisons signified that the 40-49 age group differ significantly from two other age groups in terms of their attitudes towards creativity as it was significantly different from 20-29 age group (MD= .31, ρ< .000) and the 30-39 age group (MD= .21, ρ< .000). Moreover, it was revealed that the 20-29 age group and 30-39 age group did not differ significantly from each other (MD= .10, ρ> .000).

      Furthermore, to examine whether there was any significant difference between Iranian EFL male and female teachers concerning their attitudes towards creativity, group statistics were obtained for each gender and their creativity. Thereafter, an independent sample t-test was implemented to analyze and compare the mean scores between the two genders. Table 7 shows the results of group statistics of male and female teachers and their creativity.

Table 7

Group Statistics of Male and Female Teachers and Their Creativity

      The analysis of data reveals that the mean score of male teachers is M=1.89 and the mean scores of female teachers is M=2.13 while the standard deviation of two genders is SD= .11 for male teachers and SD=.23 for female teachers.  Additionally, to assess the significance of the difference between the two groups and their creativity, the researcher also employed independent samples t-test. The results are presented in Table 8.

Table 8

Independent Samples T-Test between Male and Female Teachers and Their Creativity

      Results of the t-test highlighted that there is a statistically significant difference between mean scores of male teachers and mean scores of female teachers (t ₍₆₈₎ = -5.22, p<0.05).

      Then, to know how big the difference between the means of two groups was, the researcher calculated the effect size or the strength of association which showed the relative magnitude of the difference. The following formula was utilized to calculate the means difference:

      Consequently, by putting the values in the formula, the obtained effect was .28, which was a very large effect size.

Analysis of the Relationship between Teachers’ Age and Gender and Their Attitudes towards Creativity

The last research question was intended to inspect whether Iranian EFL teachers’ age and gender affect their attitudes towards classroom management. To accomplish this goal, just like the previous research question, two separate statistical analyses, namely, One-Way ANOVA and Independent Sample T-Test were run. At first, to see whether there is any significant difference between Iranian EFL teachers’ age and their attitudes towards classroom management, the group statistics was first obtained for each group and their attitudes towards classroom management. Then, the One-Way ANOVA was run to analyze and compare the mean scores between the three age groups. Finally, Multiple Comparisons was inspected in order to see where the difference lay. Table 9 signified the results of group statistics of teachers’ age group and their attitudes towards classroom management.

Table 9

Group Statistics of Teachers’ Age Group and Their Attitudes towards Classroom Management

      Along with the results of Table 9, the older group (40-49) has the largest mean as it is M=2.79, SD=.39, whereas the teachers’ age group 30-39 had the second larger mean as it is M=2.28, SD=.16. In addition, the younger teachers had the lowest mean of attitudes towards classroom management as it is M=1.93, SD=.16.    Moreover, One-Way ANOVA was run to see if there was any significant difference between the three age groups. Table 10 specified the results of One-Way ANOVA.

Table 10

One-Way ANOVA between Three Age Groups and Their Classroom Management Attitudes

      The results of Table 10 demonstrate that there is a statistically significant difference across the three age groups regarding their attitudes towards classroom management, F_2,67 = 63.196, ρ= .0001. Besides, the obtained effect size is .65, suggesting a very large effect size. Furthermore, Multiple Comparisons was calculated. Below is the results of multiple comparisons and explanations related to the results.

Table 11

Multiple Comparisons of Three Age Groups

      According to Table 11, all three age groups differ significantly from each other in terms of their attitudes towards classroom management as the p-value was less than ρ< .05. Additionally, to observe whether there was any significant difference between Iranian EFL male and female teachers concerning their attitudes towards classroom management, group statistics were obtained for each gender and their classroom management. Subsequently, an independent sample t-test was implemented to analyze and compare the mean scores between the two genders. Table 12 discloses the results of group statistics of male and female teachers and their classroom management.

Table 12

Group Statistics of Male and Female Teachers and Their Classroom Management

      According to Table 12, the mean score of male teachers was M=2.26 and the mean scores of female teachers was M=2.37. Table 4.12 also reveals the standard deviation of each group which is SD= .48 for male teachers and SD=.36 for female teachers. Besides, to assess the significance of the difference between groups, the researcher also employed independent samples t-test. The results are presented in Table 13.

Table 13

Independent Samples T-Test between Male and Female Teachers and Their Classroom Management

      Table 13 indicates that there is not any statistically significant difference between the mean score of male teachers and the mean score of female teachers respecting their classroom management (t ₍₆₈₎ = -1.04, p>0.05).

Discussion

Based on the findings of this study, there was a statistically positive significant relationship between teachers’ creativity and their classroom management as the effect size was .39, indicating that there is 39 percent of shared variances between teachers’ creativity and their classroom management. To put it differently, the changes in teachers’ creativity scores lead to the changes in their attitudes towards classroom management. In fact, Iranian EFL teachers’ classroom management could be affected by the level or the degree of their creativity. In other words, the size of this correlation specified that the more they were creative, the better they managed their classroom.

      Moreover, the findings of this study were not in agreement with Khany and Boghayeri (2014) who inspected the extent to which Iranian EFL teachers are creative. They found that the way the teachers performed their activities in the classroom did not correspond to their perception. In fact, the main differences were observed in teachers’ expertise and management competence with their real performance in the classroom.

      The findings of the second research question indicated that Iranian EFL teachers’ age and gender do not affect their attitudes towards creativity. Consistent with the results of the present study, there was a statistically significant difference across the three age groups regarding their attitudes towards creativity and the obtained effect size was .35, indicating a very large effect size. Moreover, the results of multiple comparisons signified that the older age group differed significantly from two other younger age groups in terms of their attitudes towards creativity. In fact, the results revealed that teachers’ age could be recognized as a factor that influences teachers’ perspectives toward creativity. Indeed, Iranian EFL teachers’ perspectives toward creativity did go hand in hand with their age.

      The findings of the study were not in line with Kinai (2013) who surveyed Kenyan student-teacher counselors’ creativity and its relationship with their gender, age, and teaching experience. Kinai and Pruit (1989) had similar findings, they found that there was not any significant difference between teachers’ age and their perspectives toward creativity or, in other words, creativity is not influenced by age which contradicted with this study.

      Furthermore, the results of the t-test emphasized that there was a statistically significant difference between male and female teachers in terms of their attitudes towards creativity and the obtained effect was .28, which was a very large effect size. Indeed, it was disclosed that gender had been effective on the Iranian EFL teachers’ perspectives towards creativity. Actually, Iranian cultural norms made it quite possible for men to express their own personal ideas much more freely and confidently (Jarideh & Kargar, 2015). On the other hand, from sociological perspectives women are believed and branded to be cowards, cautious about changes or innovation and the ones who accept society as it is (Holmes, 2013), it was seemingly normal that there was a significant difference between male and female teachers’ perspectives with respect to creativity. The findings did not confirm the study conducted by Al-Karasneh and Jubran (2013), who found that there was not any significant difference between teachers’ gender and their perspectives toward creativity. Likewise, Kinai found that there was not any significant difference between teachers’ gender and their perspectives toward creativity.   The last research question of this study stated that Iranian EFL teachers’ age and gender do not affect their attitudes towards classroom management.   In accordance with the findings of this study, there was a statistically significant difference across the three age groups regarding their attitudes towards classroom management, and the attained effect size was .65, suggesting a very large effect size. Besides, all three age groups differ significantly from each other in terms of their attitudes towards classroom management. In fact, the results revealed that teachers’ age appeared as an individual determinant of their attitudes towards classroom management. Indeed, Iranian EFL teachers’ age was an indicator of their attitudes towards classroom management. The findings were inconsistent with the study conducted by Jalali and Panahzade (2014) who investigated the predicting language teachers’ classroom management orientations originating from their computer attitude and characteristics related to the structure of population. They revealed that age was not an exact predictor of both instructional and behavioral management.

      Moreover, the results of the independent samples t-test highlighted that there was not any statistically significant difference between male and female teachers in terms of their attitudes towards classroom management. To put it simply, both male and female teachers have almost the same perspectives toward classroom management. In fact, one possible reason is that both male and female teachers in this study were much the same in their cognition development, as they lived in the same city and had almost similar language teaching experiences. Therefore, it is not surprising that they had more or less the same attitudes towards classroom management. The findings of the present study were in accordance with the results of previous study conducted by Martin, Yin, and Mayall (2008). They determined the impact of teachers’ attitudes toward classroom management style. They also examined the classroom management training, teaching experience as well as gender. They found that there is no difference between male and female teachers’ scores on classroom management. In addition, the results also were in line with the study of Gürçay (2015) who indicated that there was not any significant difference between male and female scores on classroom management.

Conclusion

It is believed that teachers themselves should be creative people to be able to apply appropriate standards of creative science education in the classroom. They not only have to provide the appropriate science content, but also think about creativity in the management of their classroom by using effective techniques. Based on this study, Iranian EFL teachers’ classroom management could be affected by the level or the degree of their creativity. In other words, the more they were creative, the better they managed their classroom. Besides, the results revealed that teachers’ age could be recognized as a factor that influences teachers’ perspectives toward creativity and classroom management. Indeed, Iranian EFL teachers’ perspectives toward creativity and classroom management did go hand in hand with their age. In addition, it was disclosed that gender has been effective on the Iranian EFL teachers’ perspectives towards creativity whereas there was not any statistically significant difference between male and female teachers in terms of their attitudes towards classroom management and both male and female teachers have almost the same perspectives toward classroom management.

            The results of this study are probably useful for EFL teachers, teacher trainers, students, as well as for syllabus designers. Besides, teachers will be able to lead their respective classrooms in a way that make them capable to cope with the daily changes and be ready to update themselves on developments. Moreover, courses on educational leadership in universities, colleges and teachers training centers should incorporate the skills of classroom management and creativity. This will enable these institutions to train healthy, knowledgeable and skillful teachers and administrators. The results of such researches can be a great help to designers of teacher education programs and educators in order to revise their programs or practicum experiences. Moreover, it would be interesting to generate opportunities for teachers to characterize and reflect on their own approaches to managing the classroom. This also encourages instructors to explore other approaches by which they can acquire outstanding merit to become a leader manager as opposed to a boss manager.

      The findings of this study have also some pedagogical implications for foreign or second language teaching. Analyzing Iranian EFL teachers’ creativity can lead to specify and develop a specific profile of the problematic components in order to help the teachers identify their weaknesses and boost their creativity. Additionally, the results of this research will be useful to those university instructors who want to help students/researchers to achieve an acceptable level of creativity in their profession.

      There were some limitations in conducting the present study. The first limitation of the study was the sample size and setting. The findings pertain to a small sample (N=70) and cannot be generalized to all EFL teachers. Moreover, reference to other settings may have produced different results. The second limitation of this study was concerned with the instruments of this study. After all said about the advantages of questionnaires, it should be accepted that questionnaires are self-reports which might be subject to the information which might be provided inaccurately by the participants due to factors such as lack of time, fatigue, and the act of saving one’s image. Third, the sampling used in this study was availability non-probability sampling. Therefore, the data which have been obtained in the present study cannot be generalized to the whole population since randomization was not included during the sampling and selection process.

       It is recommended that further research be undertaken by considering some crucial factors. First, in order to generalize the results, research on a larger sample size and also teachers from different places should be done. Moreover, future studies by including a qualitative study component (e.g., field-note observation, or in-depth interview data of teachers) can benefit to complement quantitative data. Qualitative data provide rich descriptions of the nuances and subtle means in the data which quantitative data might lack. In addition, the sampling used in this study was availability non-probability sampling and those interested in doing more research on this topic can replicate the same study using random sampling or even cluster sampling which enjoys a bit of randomization.