Education for Sustainable Development: How Seminar Design and Time Structure of Teacher Professional Development Affect Students’ Motivation and Creativity

Teachers need to adapt teaching styles to the goals of modern education. The Starwalker project has developed an approach for strengthening students’ self-efficacy and has provided professional development (PD) to teachers. The present study measured the effectiveness of PD indirectly by changes in students’ motivation and creativity as indicators. Two PD designs with the same time budget were examined: (1) a traditional lecture with a single feedback session; (2) repeated supervision sessions. Students completed questionnaires on school motivation, self-reported creativity and personality measures at the beginning and end of the school year. Four classes each were selected for both treatments and a control group (N = 281; Mean-Age = 10.82). At baseline, with no difference, the second PD design showed a significant increase in motivation and creativity, while the first PD design showed no differences compared to the control group. Spearman’s correlations of personality with motivation and creativity confirmed the presumed role of Agreeableness and Conscientiousness, while Grade Motivation and Flow were independent of personality. Structural equation modelling (SEM) confirmed the importance of creativity for motivation. The study proves that PD can be evaluated indirectly through its effects on students and confirms the Starwalker approach. Frequent brief interventions are recommended for attitude change.