Abstract:

Rhodes (1961) more than 51 years ago asserted that “Now is the time for every teacher to become more creative” (p.310). This quote becomes more relevant considering “creativity is the key to education in its fullest sense and to the solution of mankind’s most serious problems” (Guilford, 1967, p. 13). In other to do this, it is necessary to consider those contextual characteristics that foster creativity Contextual Characteristics are generally defined as the “dimensions of the work environment that potentially influence an employee’s creativity” (Shallley, Zhou, Oldham, 2010, p.935) that are different from individual characteristics. As a result, characteristics like organizational structures, job complexity, work setting, time, organizational culture, relationship with other employees and supervisors would all be considered contextual characteristics. This study argues that aside from personal characteristics which are also important, that creativity can be better understood when we consider the contextual characteristics of a work environment and the group dynamics and the interactions that takes place between them. Boyer (1990) emphasized the need for scholarship engagement describing integrative and collaborative research as the apogee of scholarship. Therefore, I will examine studies on contextual conditions, individual and group dynamics like interdisciplinary collaboration among faculties and how these interact in fostering faculty productivity in higher education.