Theory into Practice: Examination of Teacher Practices in Supporting Children's Creativity and Creative Thinking

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1 Ozean Journal of Social Sciences 1(1), 2008 ISSN Ozean Publication Theory into Practice: Examination of Teacher Practices in Supporting Children's Creativity and Creative Thinking Nida Bayindir *, Hatice Zeynep Inan *Dumlupinar University, Faculty of Education, Kutahya/Turkey Abstract: Importance of creativity and creative thinking in education of children is getting attention of educators and researchers all over the world. The current study focuses on importance and the ways of supporting creativity and creative thinking of children and presents some suggestions for teachers. This study is conducted in ten different elementary schools in Istanbul, Turkey, with 90 elementary school teachers of various branches in total. The aim of the study is to find out if teachers take children's creativity development into consideration when planning the lessons; the strategies and activities teachers use to support creative thinking in children; kinds of creative music activities; and if there is any difference among the strategies used by different branch teachers (e.g., literacy teacher, math teacher). Some suggestions for educators are also offered. Keywords: Creativity, Creative Thinking, Elementary School Education, Children INTRODUCTION Creativity is the ability to reveal intentionally a composition, work or an idea that has a scientific, aesthetic and a social value. (Binbaşıoğlu, 1990, s.168, May, 1976, s.37, Boden, 1994, s.200, Beğinsu, 1993, s.12). Creativity covers some features like flexibility, sensitivity, fluency and originality. However the environment conditions and personal qualities, as well as the need to be observed as a process, of creativity that differs to person to person should be considered. (Yavuz, 1989, s.9, Aral, 1992, s.41, Sükan 1988, s.25, Mac Gregor, 1997, s.8). Discovering and improving the creativity should be in such quality that it should enrich the present and future lives of children with enjoyable activities such as music, drama, story, gymnastics), improve positive attitudes and behaviours and stimulate imagination and creativity (Darıca, 1993, s.221, Sükan, 1983, s.25, Erden, Akman,1997, s.220). In creative thinking children s sensorial organs are important. Children see, hear, feel, and perceive their atmosphere parallel to the sensitivity of their sensorial organs. Creative thinking composes integrity and it is functional. Wallance argues that creative thinking has the steps of preparation, incubation, clarification and breeding. So we can assess creative thinking as a momentary inspiration or a sudden brain wave.however, the process of creative thinking absolutely involves more than this. Till having an inspiration people have a conscious or unconscious thinking process at any rate. (Hakbilen, 1979, s.74, Mert, 1997, s.29, Karadağ, 1993, s.77, Varoğlu, 1993, s.102). Defining, analyzing and solving the problem are the essential steps of creative thinking. If there is not problem solving, then there is not creative thinking. When solving a present problem, creative thinking should be keep in mind in every step of problem solving process so that new solutions can be developed (Mert, 1997, s.23, Arık, 1990, s.107). So a teacher should apply some activities that prompt creativity such as creative music, picture completion, drama and creative expression in the class (Erden, Akman,1997.s.220, Ürfioğlu, 1985,s.83, San, 1983,s.56). One of the most basic criticisms for compulsory education and education system in developing countries is related to inhibition the development of creativity. In this context, education should be reorganized so that it can give students scientific thinking and relational and creative thinking abilities 91

2 (Kamaraj and Aktan, 1998, Öztürk, 2004, Doğan, 2005). Because one of the targets of education is to make individuals use their minds creatively. So teachers are supposed to open creative thinking ways for students (İpşiroğlu, 1993; Çellek, 2001; Noyonalpan, 1993, Açıkgöz Ün, 1998). Teachers, particularly during the years of pre-school and primary school education in which creativity is established, should evaluate students such periods and establish creativity (Blomm and Sosniak, 1981). Developing students creativity is closely related to the program applied at school, teachers attitudes and behaviours and teaching methods and techniques. The aim of this study is to reveal how much the teachers, according to their branches, support the creativity and creative thinking of their students. METHOD The main purpose of the study is to determine the contribution of the attitudes and behaviours of the teachers at primary schools to the development of creative thinking ability of the students. In this study, it was supposed that the sampling represented the population and the participants to the survey answered the survey questions sincerely. In this survey, the data were collected with a survey consisting of 14 questions in order to determine the activities prepared by secondary school teachers to develop creative thinking of children. The population of this study consists of all the secondary school teachers in Kadıköy, Istanbul. The sampling of the study consists of 90 secondary school teachers at 10 primary schools in Kadıköy, Istanbul in educational year. FINDINGS AND COMMENTS Table 1. The distribution of the teachers according to gender GENDER* F % CUMULATIVE% FEMALE MALE TOTAL female and 29 male teachers participated in the survey. Table 2. Do you use the creative problem solving activity? THE BRANCHES ALWAYS USUALLY SOMETIMES NEVER TOTAL TURKISH P.E ART MUSIC SCIENCE MATHS TOTAL Maths teachers are the ones who most use the problem solving activity although other lessons are also suitable for the activity. 92

3 Table 3. Do you use creative music activity? ALWAYS USUALLY SOMETIME S NEVER TOTAL TURKISH P.E ART MUSIC SCIENCE MATHS TOTAL Supporting creativity with music is only provided by music teachers. This activity is not applied in other lessons. Table 4. Do you use picture completion activity? ALWAYS USUALLY SOMETIM ES NEVER TOTAL TURKISH P.E ART MUSIC SCIENCE MATHS TOTAL Seventy % of the teachers participated in the survey don t use the picture completion activity. Table 5. Do you use creative drama activity? THE BRANCHES OF THE ALWAYS USUALLY SOMETIM ES NEVER TOTAL TURKISH P.E ART MUSIC SCIENCE MATHS TOTAL We saw that creative drama activity was much more used than other activities. 93

4 Table 6. Do you use creative expression? ALWAYS USUALLY SOMETIMES NEVER TOTAL TURKISH P.E ART MUSIC SCIENCE MATHS TOTAL Table 7. Do you give your students awards for their creative ideas? ALWAYS USUALLY SOMETIMES NEVER TOTAL TURKISH P.E ART MUSIC SCIENCE MATHS TOTAL Moreover, it was determined that the most used strategy used by the teachers to develop creative thinking was to encourage students to be free. According to this finding, of the 90 teachers: 43.3% use encouraging students to be free, 15.5% use being models for students, 6.6% use being exciting, 0% use being over critic (A quality that inhibits creativity) 17.7% use establishing easy communication, 16.6% use being interested strategy. It was also determined that the activities creating a story for a listened music, creating a story for effect music and creating one s own band that are creative music activities were not used by the teachers but they were used by only 30% of the total music teachers. According to the findings of the study: RESULT AND SUGGESTIONS 1. Teachers do not use the activities developing creativity in classes. 2. Teachers equate developing creativity with Music and Art lessons. So these lessons are the ones in which creativity is the most used. 3. Developing children s creativity is predominantly depends on the teachers knowing how to develop creativity. A teacher should be a model of creativity for students and supply free environment for expressing themselves. 94

5 4. Creativity is the ability to reveal one s performance. An individual should notice his existing potential. Teachers should be guides for students in this issue. 5. It is highly important for students to express themselves at school environment. Children should have the chance to express themselves at the ages in which their future lives are shaped and their personality is determined, because a child s way of expression determines how he will express himself in the future life. 6. A teacher should be aware of the personal differences between students as well as revealing their potentials. Because different creativity levels of individuals results from their individual differences As a result, if people cannot find the performances identifying themselves they become unhappy. Decreasing the number of the unhappy people depends on having the chance to express themselves freely. In this context school has a vital importance in an individual s life. REFERENCES Açıkgöz-Ün, K. (1998). Etkili öğrenme ve öğretme. Kanyılmaz Matbaası, İzmir. Arık, A. (1987). Yaratıcılık. Kültür Bakanlığı Yayınları, Ankara. Beginsu, H. (1993) Yaş grubu çocuklarda yaratıcı kişilik oluşturmada özgün baskıresim çalışmalarının eğitsel değeri. Yüksek Lisans Tezi, İstanbul. Binbaşıoğlu, C. (1992). Eğitim psikolojisi. Kadıoğlu Matbaası, Ankara. Bloom, B.S. & Sosniak, L.A. (1981). Talent development. Educational Leadership, November. Boden, M. A. (1994). Dimensions of creativity. The Mit Pess, London. Çellek, T. (2001). Yaratıcılık ve eğitim sistemimizdeki boyutu. Cumhuriyet Bilim Teknik Dergisi, 741, Darıca, N. (1993). Okulöncesi dönemde sanat ve estetiksel algının değerlendirilmesi. Ya-Pa Yayınları, Ankara. Doğan, N. (2005). Yaratıcı düşünme ve yaratıcılık. Icinde Eğitimde Yeni Yönelimler (ss ). Ankara: PegemA Yayıncılık Erden, M., Akman, Y. (1997). Eğitim psikolojisi, gelişim, öğrenme ve öğretme. Arkadaş Yayınevi, Ankara. Hakbilen, N. (1980). Çocuk gelişimi ve eğitimi el kitabı, Hacettepe Üniversitesi Yayınları, Ankara. Hesapçıoğlu, M. (1994). Öğretim ilke ve yöntemleri. Beta Basım Yayın, İstanbul. İpşiroğlu, Z. (1993). Eğitimde yaratıcılık. Ankara: TED Yayıncılık. Kamaraj, I. & Aktan, E. (1998). Okul öncesi eğitimde yaratıcılık ve problem çözme becerisi. Çağdaş Eğitim, 244, Kocaoluk, F. & Kocaoluk,M. (1996). likokoul programı. İstanbul. Mac Gregor, C. (1998). Yaratıcı bir çocuk yetiştirme. Papirüs Yayınları, İstanbul. May, R. (1976). The courage to create. Bantam Books W. W. Norton and Company Inc, New York. Mert, I. S. (1997). Karar vermede yaratıcı problem çözme. Yayınlanmamış yüksek lisans tezi, Marmara Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü İşletme Anabilim Dalı, İstanbul. Morgül, M. (1995). Yaratıcı drama ile oynayarak, yaşayarak öğrenme. Ya-Pa Yayınları, İstanbul. Noyanalpan, N. (1993). Eğitimde yaratıcılığa genel bakış. Yaratıcılık ve Eğitim, Ankara: TED Yayınları. Oğuzkan, Ş, Tezcan, E, & Tür, G. (1992). Yaratıcı çocuk etkinlikleri. MEB, Oğul Matbaacılık, İstanbul. Öztürk, Ş. (2004). Eğitimde yaratıcı düşünme. Ondokuz Mayıs Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 18, San, İ. (1979). Sanatsal yaratma ve çocukta yaratıcılık. İş Bankası Yayınları, Ankara. San, İ. (1983). Sanat eğitimi kuramları. Tan Yayınları, Ankara. Sungur, N. (1992). Yaratıcı düşünce. Özgür Yayın Dağıtım, İstanbul. Sükan Z. (1988). Okulöncesi etkinlikleri. İstanbul. Ürfioğlu, A. (1985). Okulöncesi dönemde müziğin önemi. İstanbul. Varoğlu, A. K. (1993). Problem çözme yöntemleri. Kara Harp Okulu Yayınları, Ankara. Yavuz H. S. (1989). Yaratıcılık. İstanbul. Yavuzer H. (1992). Resimleriyle çocuk. Remzi Kitabevi, İstanbul. 95

6 INDEX Survey * Gender: ( ) Female ( ) Male *Teaching Experience: ( ) 1-5 year ( ) 6-10 year ( ) year ( ) 16 and more *Teaching branch: ( ) Turkish Language Teacher ( ) Gymnastic Teacher ( ) Visual Art Teacher ( ) Music Teacher ( ) Math Teacher ( ) Social Sciences Teacher ( ) Natural Sciences Teacher QUESTIONS: 1. Do you use the creative problem solving activity? ALWAYS USUALLY SOMETIMES NEVER Creative problem solving (...) (...) (...) (...) Creative music activity (...) (...) (...) (...) Picture completion activity (...) (...) (...) (...) Creative drama activity (...) (...) (...) (...) Creative expression (...) (...) (...) (...) Creativity materials (...) (...) (...) (...) Encouraging creative thinking (...) (...) (...) (...) 2. Do you use creative music activity? ALWAYS USUALLY SOMETIMES NEVER Storytelling while listening to (...) (...) (...) (...) the music Storytelling while listening to (...) (...) (...) (...) the effect music Creating your own orchestra (...) (...) (...) (...) Matching voices (...) (...) (...) (...) 3. What strategy you use more to encourage creative thinking in students? ( ) Encouraging free thinking ( ) Being a model to students ( ) Being excited ( ) Criticising much ( ) Communicating well ( ) Being interested in 4. Do you consider your students creativity skills while planning the curriculum? a-always b- Usually c- Sometimes d- Never 96