Data Analysis
Data Analysis
The investigation for the ways in which the children can develop creative thinking skills are supported by various data coming from the education practitioners themselves. Additionally, the collected data aims to support and answer the question, “What is the role of play in developing creative thinking skills in kindergarten students?” This analysis will encompass various factors, such as the observation conducted to three different teachers in relation to the practical applications and programs that are successful in using play as a development tool of kindergarten students, how teachers can create creative thinking skills within their classroom environment, and the best approach that best supports creative thinking skills development in the real world role plays. Thus, the data that will be collected will be based on the items that are included in the teacher survey. This approach will also tell me whether the current practice in the United States is in line with the practices and theories located in the literature, and will show how these data pieces of data can contribute to the overall objective of the research.
Using Play to Develop Creative Thinking Skills
Primarily, the survey stated that the teacher responded “yes” to the question when I asked her if she uses play in her kindergarten school to develop her students’ creative learning skills. This is an ideal head start of supporting the research’s goal in presenting play as an essential factor in building a child’s creative skills development. On the other hand, there are underlying techniques that the teacher has been using, such as the thematic or role play, dramatization, puzzles, board games, and other computer-assisted learning games, which will be presented on the latter part of the data analysis. They will be supported by various data that will show how such approaches are being practiced in the United States.
In a school setting, children are exposed to a wide variety of opportunities to learn and develop their creative thinking ability. It was revealed that even a simple task contributes to a child’s ability to creatively learn many things inside the classroom. This is a representation that play, specifically a real-life dramatization is current practice in the United States in relation to a child’s creative thinking development. In fact, Lillard et al (2013) said that pretend play contributes to the development of children’s intellectual capacity. Thus, there are various benefits that the application of play within the classroom environment, such as emotional, cognitive, and social benefits that are learned by the child as she become exposed to this type of school activity.
The data suggests that classroom practices, such as play serves as stimulants in the development of creative environment for young learners like the kindergarten students (Dababneh, Ihmeideh, and Al-Omari, 2010). Thus, such approach in using play is not only a practice in the United States, as there are other countries who adopts this type of creative learning approach. In addition, I would like to emphasize that play, regardless whether it is a teacher-guided or a free play, will have significant roles in developing child’s problem-solving skills and the overall creative thinking ability of the child.
Thematic Play and Role Play
I also asked the teacher about the techniques that she uses in applying play as part of her teaching method. The teacher responded that she normally uses role playing as she believes that it enhances the child’s oral and social skills. Blatner (2009), role playing is an approach that will enable students in exploring the issues within a complexity of the society. Relatively, the application of role playing in education enhances the student’s ability to understand the things that go around the environment. As a result, a child will be able to not only understand the real-world, but also give him the opportunity understand why a specific solution is applied to certain problem. Therefore, in answering the question about the role of play in developing creative thinking skills in kindergarten students, it clearly shows a positive relationship between role playing and the child’s creative thinking development. This also tells me that current teaching practices among kindergarten students are in line with the presented literature, including the theories behind them. For instance, it was stated in my literature review that creative expressions help children in developing problem-solving skills (Michalopoulou, 2014).
Furthermore, this data tells me that teachers are aware about the outcomes of role playing when it comes to the child’s social skills, as it was answered as one of the two skills that thematic play or role playing encourages. As the child interacts with his or her classmate in a role play, the way they deliver their lines and communication approach build an interaction between his fellow students. As they go along with this type of interaction, their social skills are also being enhanced in a way that they learn how to properly communicate with other individuals. This approach also helps in building the child’s conversational and questioning skills as they go along with simple challenges in their role plays.
Dramatization
Dramatization as part of the creative thinking development among kindergarten students is another approach that is currently in practice in many. I found out that this has something to do with the student’s real-world role play. The factors that encompass within the application of dramatization are equally essential towards the development of the child’s creative thinking skills. In fact, I find them complementary to each other. Thus, based on my observations, I knew that teachers are using other elements that help their students, such as puzzles, games, and even computer-assisted play. These help in building a classroom environment in terms of tools utilization. On the other hand, I found that computer-assisted games may require the teacher’s guidance to increase their motivation in learning new things based on what has been programmed in the computer.
Furthermore, dramatization, just like the role playing, can improve the child’s oral and communication skills as agreed by the teacher in the survey. This is because, based on the same approach applied by other countries, I found out that dramatization can increase the child’s imagination towards different things. According to Hendrix, Eick, and Shannon (2012), dramatization can be a part of the classroom play sessions that help the children in learning various concepts, which can be applied into a real-life situation. For example, a dramatization can be used in teaching challenging subjects that some students may find more difficult without the application of a play session. As the data shows, the idea that play has significant roles in developing a child’s creative thinking skills becomes stronger. Thus, it was revealed that dramatization provides more than just an improvement on the child’s social skills. I knew that a child that holds different roles in dramatization sessions will build his sense of the world.
A dramatization that presents different types of scenarios, such as outside events also help in increasing and enhancing the imagination skills of the child. I also observed that teachers are aware about the positive effects of these factors. For instance, a dramatization that shows different types of weather will lead children to think how it is possible that weather changes in an instant. It can lead to how the rain is formed, how big the sun really is, and how snowflakes are being formed.
Puzzles
Based on my observation, children who play puzzle enhances their ability to solve problems. This type of game is simple, yet creates a challenge that will lead a child into knowing how to complete such challenge. On the other hand, my observation argues that playing puzzle is equally important with other factors that build the child’s problem solving and math skills. According to the response from the teacher, puzzle game is one of the encouraging factors numeracy and logical thinking. Eliza Sungar (2014) of Huffington Post explained various data about the benefits of children playing puzzles. A simple board game will not only enhance the child’s identification of colors, shapes, and letters. It will also improve their logical thinking in games that has latches, laces, or locks.
The application of puzzle as part of the children’s learning encompasses various tools that are essential for creative thinking development. According to my observations, it is evident that teachers are using different tools and materials, in which they integrate with their teaching approach. More than just a real-life experience, teachers utilize technologies in their computer center, from which the students learn the basic computer skills so they can learn from software-based games that enhance their vocabulary, alphabet, thinking, and numbers skills. These experiences are helpful for the development of better communication skills with their fellow students, which is essential for creative thinking.
Furthermore, the teachers’ approach in developing their students’ creative thinking is also supported by various games inside the classroom. However, I believe that the application of games and play sessions will be more effective by establishing a dedicated center that focuses on providing game-based materials that aim to increase the problem-solving and reasoning skills of the students. Additionally, it should have an integration between the actual free play and different learning materials so they can learn on their phase without the presence of pressure to learn. Although it will be a pure play session, it will still be part of the teachers’ creative teaching strategies that will benefit their students in the long run.
The teacher’s opinion shows that play helps children in developing better social and emotional skills. Play allows them to have an effective interaction with their classmates and sometimes solve the problems together. The teacher also said that teacher-directed play and free play are two different things that have different effects. In fact she is more in favor of a free play because a teacher-directed play removes the authenticity of the actual objective of the play inside the classroom environment, which is to build and improve the child’s creative thinking skills.
Additionally, the gathered data were able to tell and show me that the current teaching practice in the United States as well as in other countries are in line with the various literature that shows the theories behind the essence of play. It shows that play is not only beneficial in child’s development, but also in the application of creative teaching using various tools, from a simple puzzle, to dramatization of real-world, and to the utilization of computer-assisted games. Thus, teachers can also apply a more creative manner of teaching especially for students who have disabilities, from which teachers will be able to showcase their own unique way of teaching towards the child’s development.
There is no question that play can be applied as part of the teaching approach in order to achieve its benefits in relation to the development of creative thinking skills. However, the optimum educational outcome will be achieved using the right technique to use play and its underlying elements as part of the daily classroom activities. For instance, teachers may use different tools that can help them in demonstrating the actual play and let them have a free play of their own. This way, there will be a wider opportunity for students to learn many things while having fun play sessions inside the classroom.
References
Dababneh, K., Ihmeideh, F. M., & Al‐Omari, A. A. (2010). Promoting kindergarten children’s creativity in the classroom environment in Jordan. Early Child Development and Care, 180(9), 1165-1184.
Hendrix, R., Eick, C., & Shannon, D. (2012). The Integration of Creative Drama in an Inquiry-Based Elementary Program: The Effect on Student Attitude and Conceptual Learning. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 23(7), 823-846.
Lillard, A. S., Lerner, M. D., Hopkins, E. J., Dore, R. A., Smith, E. D., & Palmquist, C. M. (2012). The Impact of Pretend Play on Children’s Development: A Review of the Evidence. Psychological Bulletin, 139(1), 1-34.
Michalopoulou, A. (2014). Inquiry-Based Learning through the Creative Thinking and Expression in Early Years Education. Creative Education, 05(06), 377-385.
Sungar, E. (2014). Importance of Doing Puzzles With Your Kids | The Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/galtime/importance-of-doing-puzzles-with-your-kids_b_4683094.html
