Session Information
SES C 04, Paper Session
Paper Session
Contribution
There is no common wisdom regarding the definition of creativity and many researchers have different descriptions of it. For instance, Woodman, Sawyer & Griffin (1993) defined creativity as “a function of antecedent conditions, cognitive styles and ability, personality factors, motivation, social influences and contextual influences” (p.294). Furthermore, Torrance (1977) who is “the father of creativity” defined it as “ the process of sensing problems or gaps in information, forming ideas or hypotheses, testing and modifying these hypothesis, and communicating the results” (p. 6). When we look at the historical concept of creativity, we can see that creativity was originated long ago with several theories and it has been believed that innovation on opinions and production of original things are basic characteristics of creative human being. Systematic studies about creativity began in the early twentieth century concerning many approaches such as, psychoanalytic, cognitive, behaviorist and humanistic (Craft, 2001). The cruciality of creativity has been come up since the beginning of the 21st century in an educational field (Craft, 2008). Especially, fostering of creativity is one of the targets of early childhood education. Creative thinking starts to reach the highest level from very young ages and drops when children begin to primary school. Therefore, one of the most important missions of the early childhood teachers’ is stimulating creativity of young children (Kemple & Nissenberg, 2000). It is believed that creativity can be fostered with appropriate environmental order and it can help young children to show their potential (Diakidoy & Kanari, 1999; Eason, Giannangelo & Franceschini, 2009).
In the light of the discussions above, the current study aims to explore pre-service preschool teachers’ general ideas about their own potential, enhancing children’s creativity, and the ways schools and communities support creativity. Additional purpose of the present study is to compare pre-service preschool teachers’ views based on their personal characteristics and if any, the effects of classes they take related to creativity during their education at Middle East Technical University, Turkey.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Craft, A. (2001). An analysis of research and literature on creativity in education (Report prepared by the Qualifications and Curriculum for Authority). London: QCA. Retrived January 17, 2008, from http://.www.ncaction.org.uk/creativity/creativity_report.pdf Craft, A. (2008). Creativity in the school. Retrieved January 15, 2009, from http://www.beyondcurrenthorizons.org.uk/creativity-in-the-school/ Diakidoy, I-A, N., & Kanari, E. (1999). Student teachers' beliefs about creativity, British Educational Research Journal, 25 (2), 225-243. Eason, R. Giannagelo, D. M., & Franceschini, L. A. (2009). A look at creativity in public and private schools. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 4, 130–137. Kampylis, P., Berki, E., & Saariluoma, P. (2009). In service and prospective teachers’ conceptions of creativity. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 4, 15-29. Kemple, K. M., & Nissenberg, S. A. (2000). Nurturing creativity in early childhood education: families are part of it. Early Childhood Education Journal, 28, (1), 67-71. Torrance, E. P. (1977). Creativity in the classroom. Washington, DC: National Education Association. Woodman, R. W., Sawyer, J. E. & Griffi, R. W. (1993). Toward a theory of organizational creativity. Academy of Management Review , 18 ( 2), 293-321.
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