The Role of Liberal and Conservative Thinking in Innovation: A SEM Analysis of Physical Education Teachers

Abstract

Physical education is an additional field of education that promotes the physical, social and emotional development of students and academic education. In this field, physical education has introduced innovative knowledge and practices and innovative ways of working have been made possible. On the other hand, thinking leaning plays an important role in shaping teachers' understanding of innovation and practices. This study explored the relationship between thinking leaning and innovative workplace behavior. This study selected a descriptive and cross-sectional design, in which 849 Turkish physical education teachers participated, and examined the relationship between variables using structural equation modeling. Data were collected using a liberal and conservative thinking style scale and an innovative work behavior scale. Structural models showed that the liberal thinking style positively and strongly predicted the innovative working practices of physical education teachers, while the conservative style negatively predicted and weakly. Therefore, there is a structurally strong relationship between thought styles and innovative work behavior. In this structure, it has been observed that, in particular, the liberal thinking style plays an important role in the innovative work behavior of physical education teachers. This study highlights the role and importance of liberal and conservative thinking styles in education, even in different cultural contexts, and shows that these types of thinking remain effective in the development of innovation strategies. In this sense, the value of liberal thinking should be highlighted in the development of innovative educational environments.