Validation and further validation of a measure of creative identity among USA and Finland pre-service music teachers

The purpose of this study was to validate a measure of creative identity with a population of pre-service teachers in the USA, to further validate the measure with a Finnish population, and to compare both populations regarding their perceptions of themselves as creative musicians. The researcher developed a tool, the Creative Identity Measure (CIM), based on the work of Isbell (2007) to examine this area. The specific research questions were as follows: 1. What factors can explain creative identity in music? 2. What is the internal consistency within the factors that explain creative identity in music? 3. Do differences exist between the two populations with regard to each sub-scale? Results of factor analysis reveal that the CIM can be meaningfully divided into four sub-scales with a US population (n = 159) and a combined US and Finland population (n = 277). Significant differences were discovered for sub-scales one (Creative Music Making Self-Efficacy), two (Value of Creative Musicianship Areas), and four (Value of Popular-Music Making/Listening in the Classroom), suggesting that the Finnish pre-service music teachers possess a stronger creative identity than their contemporaries from the USA. Significant differences were not found for sub-scale three (Willingness to Allow for Creativity in the Classroom), suggesting that both populations of pre-service music teachers are equally willing to allow time for creativity.