Kategori : Alıntılar , Yazar : Mehmet Yapıcı , Okunma : 82
CREATIVITY IN PRIMARY LEVEL EDUCATION
Şenay YAPICI
Mehmet YAPICI
Seydi AKTUĞ
Abstract
In this study, an analysis is carried out in relation to how an educational environment at the first level of primary schooling should be designed with a consideration into creativity.
The quality of teaching delivered by the teacher in the educational environment has a determining role in creativity. Teachers? awareness of this role is considered to be very significant in uncovering and development of students? creativity.
Some of the most challenging obstacles hindering creativity in educational environment are thought to be the teachers? negative attitudes towards teaching profession, the lack of quality and distinguishability of measurement tools.
Despite so many challenges being encountered, teachers individually can establish a creative atmosphere in the teaching and learning environment through simple activities. In doing so, the teacher?s intention and effort for creating and supporting creative environment is to be seen at circumspect.
Keywords: Primary level education, teacher, creativity.
Introduction
Primary level is the most important educational level in terms of creating future?s intellectually and cognitively productive individuals. Individuals are expected to overcome problems in the future after having acquired cognitive, affective and physical background at this level. Creativity could only be feasable within an educational environment if we have the teachers who :
? are not the only source of knowledge
? are not in the position to know everything
? are aware of the ways in which knowledge can be accessed
? are not satisfied with only one possible answer
? support differences and alternatives
? think critically
What comes to mind when you think of creativity? People being imaginative, inventive, taking risks and challenging convention?. The definition of creativity in the report published by the National Advisory Committee (http://www.ncaction.org.uk) is broken down into four characteristics:
?thinking or behaving imaginatively
(are they willing to take it further?)
? overall this imaginative activity is purposeful and it is directed to achieving an objective
(what is the point of the idea?)
? these processes must generate something original
(original in relation to what?)
? the outcome must be of value in relation to the objective.
(does it do the job? Is it useful and a valid solution?)
Creativity is being regarded as a social phenomenon which cannot be fully and precisely defined. The reason for this is that the creativity is perceived directly as a reflection of an individual?s difference on life.
For the reasons mentioned above, primary level of schooling is being regarded significantly when creativity is of consideration. Our motives for the study is to discuss the role of the teacher in supporting creativity and to interpret concrete examples/cases which could guide us in the classroom while we are attempting to develop creativity.
Method
In this study, a qualitative analysis of sample questions raising from classroom activities is carried out. Two familiar sample questions raised from maths and Turkish Language (writing) classes taught in the primary level are analysed qualitatively and alternative interpretations are put forward.
Discussion and Findings
In discussing creativity, one of the very first question that pops up in mind is that the question of whether everybody can be creative or not. It has been stated in the report called 'All our futures: Creativity, culture and education' ?published by the National Advisory Committee that we are all, or can be, creative to a lesser or greater degree if we are given the opportunity. Everybody can be creative. A shepherd, a shop keeper, a teacher, a politician can be creative. Each individual?s creativity is unique and differs from others in one way or another. Therefore, it makes a lot of sense for us to not to separate creativity into dividents but rather study and think on how to become creative (Yapıcı, 2002).
In the literature, there are certain characteristics associated with creativity and those characteristics could fall under headings below.
A creative person :
?Trusts himself/herself
?Loves himself/herself
?Knows his/her limits
?Thinks differently and independently
?Empathise
?Makes use of experiences
?Unconventional
?Critical towards social norms and law
?Has his/her own set of values
?Keen on to be left alone
?Fond of freedom
?Always looks for alternatives
?is the one who has distinctive habits of his/her own
?Asks unusual questions
?is not scared of making mistakes
?Curious
?Takes risks
?Challenges convention
?Questions his/her actions/thoughts
(Arık, 1987; May, 1987; Mayesky, 1995; Rawlinson, 1995; Sungur, 1997; Singer and Singer, 1998; Bentley, 1999)
One dilemma that is faced in most of the educational establishments is that teachers, parents, members in the peer group generally feel tense when they are challenged by creative kids. Some questions, experiments and new (different) thoughts coming from a creative kid could cause a trouble for parents and teachers. In this case what happens is that, generally speaking, kids? creative processes are hindered due to the reactions and answers given by adults.
Why and in what ways do we have to consider developing creativity? The reason for stressing the importance of creativity in child development is not only enabling the child to reach unique reasonings but also improving innate capacity of the child who is not a blank plate from the birth. (Montessori,1982). In order to have a creative teaching environment, we have to support creating free zones of thought where students will have a chance to demonstrate their creativity. However, currnetly used course books and measuring instruments for supporting creativity do not seem to function for that purpose at most of the mainstream schools. Impeding or flourishing creativity could easily rely on using of these two tools. When course books are taken into consideration, there are ceratin drawbacks that have to be challenged. First of all, course books are not perfect. They need adjustments and re-writing. They should encourage creativity, and should be questioned whether they are means or they are ends. Course books should be designed in such way that they need to be attractive and appealing regarding visual, aesthetic, technical components such as pictures, colours, and texture (MEB,1962; Gökaydın, 1996; Yalın, 2002). More importantly though, they need to motivate students and arouse curiosity. Measurement tools on the other hand should encourage abstract and critical thinking skills and they should give opportunity to develop four basic language skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening. Finally, measurement tools need to spare space for life-long learning and improvement of creative thinking.
In the following section various activities for creative teaching will be presented bearing in mind that there could potentially be other alternatives.
Activities for Creative Teaching
The first sample question was taken from the maths course covered as part of the primary school curriculum.
Sample Question No 1 : Ali walks 100 metres in order to go to school everyday.. How many metres of distance Ali covers in one week in order to go to school?
(Sample Question No 1 in original language, Turkish) : Ali okula gitmek için her gün 100 metre yol yürümektedir. Ali bir haftada okula gitmek için kaç metre yol yürür?
This question was asked as a multiple-choice question to 3rd grade students in the primary level and the correct answer given to the question by the teacher was :
100*7=700 metres.
Teacher?s intention in relation to the question : ?Teaching ?multiplying? and the concept of the week?
(This is how the teacher did make his intention obvious by telling us exactly with his own words)
Students? intention in relation to the question : ?To find out the answer that the teacher wants? (Students did tell in their own words).
How could have the intention of the student differ? Instead, the student could have established relations, learned to think and found out the alternative ways leading to the conclusion. However, neither teaching environment nor the meaning that the teacher attributes to solving a problem as such seem appropriate.
Comment 1:
Sample Question No.1 lacks adequacy in terms of measurement and evaluation and should be corrected. Student in the first phase of the primary level is at the ?concrete operational level? and is also in a position think on stimuluses percepted through sensory organs. Student could not think of an alternative since in the first part of the question (Ali walks 100 metres in order to go to school everyday), the action of ?going? could have meant that there would also be a return. As it can be seen, the teacher did not think about it either.It could be claimed that the question is wrong because the second part of the question ?How many metres of distance Ali covers in one week in order to go to school?? implies within itself that ?going? and ?returning? to be involved. This is also contradictory. Although in the first part of the question, only the action of ?going? to school was emphasised, in the second part of the question, the action of ?returning? is also implied and thought to be taken into consideration. If so, not only that the teacher asked a wrongly-structured question but also gave the answer of 700 metres mistakenly. At least the teacher could have replied to the question in the following way and this also would be misleading and wrong (100*2=200, 200*7=1400).
This question could have been corrected in the following way:
Ali walks everyday 100 metres to go to school and covers another 100 metres to return home from the school. How many meters Ali walks in a week to go and return from the school?
If the teacher asked the original question and let students find the reasoning problems, s/he could have had students develop their creativity and also their skill for establishing mathematical relations/patterns.
Comment 2 :
Officially, a student goes to school five days a week in Turkey. If so, the answer ?100*5=500 metres? would be true and would also have been accepted as true.
Comment 3 :
One student could have reasoned it well and had reached the conclusion as being 1000 metres simply through considering 5 days of ?goings? and ?returns?. This could have been the most true answer. If there was a student as such, it would not be wrong to conclude that the creativity was somehow not taken away by the school for this particular individual. So as to develop creativity, the student who gave this answer could be encouraged through learning environments that suit his/her cognitive and affective level and could be monitored step by step towards feeling enthusiastic over his/her creativity. This very much depends on the socio-cultural structure and physical infrastructure available to them.The most important of all is to provide a positive environment where an individual feel loved and trusted.
Comment 4 :
When measurement and evaluation criteria is not taken into account, this question has the quality to capture whether the creativity within an individual exist or not and in order to uncover creativity. Regardless of its mis-wording, the question appears to be good if it is used for this purpose. However, it seeks one answer since it is designed as a multiple-choice question and therefore seems to hinder creativity. The question is to be corrected in consideration to measurement and evaluation criteria and not to be asked as a multiple-choice question.
Final interpretation in relation to the Sample Question No 1:
The first question sample shows us that the way teacher handles the question determines either the process encouraging creativity or a dogmatic process which undermines creativity. This seems to depend upon the theacher?s intention. The sample question being measured is only a tool. How and why this tool would be used depends on the teacher. It is also related to the role that teacher attributes to a measuring tool.
Sample Question No 2 : Write an essay explaining the following proverb : ?Stretch your foot according to your duvet?
(Sample Question in Turkish) : Ayağını yorganına göre uzat.
The original essay written by the 6th grade primary school student is given and excerpted below from Gülüm & Gönen (1997) :
?A person stretches the duvet if s/he is cold or his/her foot has pins and needles. When you sleep in a snowy weather, it makes your feet cold?
Introduction: Introducing your foot to the duvet
Development: The man who stretches his feet finds a reason for this action. Perhaps this reason makes him very sorry.
Conclusion: A lesson should be given to the man so that he can find this lesson. Because he must stretch his feet to the duvet. (Gülüm&Gönen,1997)
Comment 1 :
This student is mentally retarded.
Comment 2 :
This student is teasing with his/her teacher
Comment 3 :
This student has an average mental capacity. S/he is in the concrete operational stage. Therefore, s/he used concrete connotations carelessly while writing.
Comment 4 :
This question is asked deliberatley to underestimate student?s creativity. Because, it is not logical to expect a student who is in the concrete operational stage to interpret an abstract proverb. In an education system which does not give enough space to thinking skills and abstract interpretations, this student is driven into memorisation and recalling process. Although s/he is in abstract operational level concerning his/her age, s/he still appears to be in concrete operational stage with respect to mental cognitive process.
Within the framework of comment 4, issues below should be taken into consideration :
?Abstract thinking level/skill of the students
?Attitudes towards proverbs as essay topics
?The frequency of use of proverbs in daily life
?The level of abstractness of the proverb
Comment 5 :
The teacher is not aware of child?s cognitive and affective stages. S/he is repeating the classic way of teaching ?essay writing? without questioning and updating him/herself. The teacher is just following a conventional and familiar way of teaching ?essay writing? as s/he was him/herself exposed during his/her educational period.
Comment 6 :
The teacher is aware of everything but is not tentative to affective and cognitive development of the student. This makes a teacher incompetent person who does not allow students to build effective strategies within the system. This sample, of course, cannot be generalised. However, the profession of teaching goes beyond the statistical probability calculations and it is more about offering opportunities for everybody to develop their potential to their own limits and providing that all the students reach required levels.
Final interpretation concerning the Sample Question No 2 :
None of the comments given for the sample question no 2 give us a peace of mind. Whichever it may be true, it implies a process where creativity is impeded. The other interesting point is that the student follows a commonly used concrete schema (Introduction-Development-Conclusion) while writing an essay and it shows us all that we have not gone so far from memorising even when teaching ?writing? which is supposed to be a creative area in the curriculum.
Concluding Remarks
Considering all the comments and interpretations put forward above, one crucial factor either in impeding or in flourishing creativity appears to be the teacher and the teacher?s intention. Capturing your students? interest and firing their imagination could only be feasible within the hands of the teacher. Establishing creativity flow such as what has been discussed above is possible within the capacity of the teacher as an individual. Above activities and alternative ones could be accomplished for most of the courses. The main determining factor in establishing creativity flow in the classroom appears to be the teacher?s intention and willingness. If we were to express it by what Kant suggested : ?Teacher should have the intention for creativity?. Teachers should look for creativity supporting opportunities and there is no law, a principle or a norm that tends to hinder creativity in the classroom. With no doubt we could find creativity hindering factors in the system itself, in the teacher education system, in the family and in society. Nevertheless, teachers should be in the position to question themselves asking enquiries such as ?what am I doing?, how am I doing? and what benefits do the things I do have for people and for my students??.
The other issues is the measuring tools. In order to reach aims of the courses, teachers could make use of various types of evaluation tools. Using only one type of evaluation tool could wipe creativity off the students.
Does creativity involves being creative? Answer to this question would not definitely be ?yes? or ?no?. However, it could be claimed that creativity involves accepting alternative solutions, reasonings and diverse views. If this perception is somehow being internalised by the teacher and put into action through classroom activities, educational end result would at least be more satisfactory.
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