ES 6340
3.14.16
Research Purpose/Introduction
In a paper presented at a symposium on teaching children to think creatively, child psychologist E. Paul Torrance (1972), creator of the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) (Torrance, 1980, 1966) says,
I know that it is possible to teach children to think creatively and that it can be done in a variety of ways. I have done it. I have seen my wife do it. I have seen other excellent teachers do it. I have seen children who demonstrated a disability for thinking creatively learn to think creatively. I have seen them continuing for years thereafter to think creatively. I have seen, heard and otherwise experienced their creative products -- their works of art, inventions, innovations, musical compositions, poems, stories, and dramas. I have seen them solving problems creatively, creating new businesses and organizations, inventing new ways of teaching, and generally living creatively (p. 1).
But this teacher with years of experience also notes that he knows “that these things would not have happened by chance because I have also seen that it is not happening to multitudes of their peers” (p. 1). Nearly fifty years later, we are still finding that it is possible to assist children in the development of creative thinking skills, but we are also finding that this is not practice being done everywhere for our kindergarten and pre-school children. The purpose of this paper will therefore be to investigate ways in which children at the preschool/kindergarten level are being supported in the development of creative thinking skills in general and the role that play in particular has in helping kindergarten students develop creative thinking skills.
Research shows that several approaches have been tried to help children develop creative thinking skills, divergent thinking skills, or executive functioning skills (Diamond & Lee, 2011; Baer, 1993; Torrance, 1980, 1972, 1966). These have ranged over the last five or so decades from computer-assisted training programs, specific training programs using Osborn-Parnes Creative Problem Solving, and training programs focused on general semantics or creative research to specific classroom curricula, media and reading programs supporting creative thinking, and teacher-administrator support to aerobic exercise and sports, martial arts and mindfulness practices, and creative arts. However, helping develop these skills in kindergarten using play has been an approach that has been researched less often. First, the majority of studies focus on that which supports the development of creative thinking that does not address the role of play. Second, play has been found to be a function of imaginative play that supports development in all dimensions (“Dolls and doll play,” 2004)in general, though the specifics are rarely outlined; and play has been found to facilitate exploratory behaviors (Dean & Cheetham, 2013). Yet only a few theorists, researchers, and practitioners have investigated play as specific to developing creative thinking skills (Chronopoulou & Riga, 2012; Leonidou, 2005; Howard-Jones, Taylor & Sutton, 2002; Russ, Robins, & Christiano, 1999Balke, 1997; Slade & Wolf, 1994; Lieberman, 1965).
The purpose of the study is to investigate ways in which children at the preschool/kindergarten level are being supported in the development of creative thinking skills in general and the role that play in particular has in helping kindergarten students develop creative thinking skills.
Research question and Sub-questions
Main Question
The main question of my study is:
“What is the role of play in developing creative thinking skills in kindergarten students?”
Sub Questions
1- What practical applications/programs have proven successful in the use of play for the development of creative thinking skills in children?
2- How can the educator/teacher develop creative thinking skills within the classroom environment, or, what strategies can be implemented?
3- What is the value of teacher directed play versus children’s free play for developing creative thinking in children?
4- Of dramatization, real-world role play, puzzles, games, and computer-assisted play, which best support(s) development of creative thinking in children?
I chose these questions because they are reflections of what I am looking to gain from exploring this topic and conducting research. The main research question clearly makes the role of play the focal point. The sub-questions will foster the need to go beyond the surface of creative thinking and focus on how this way of teaching can be implemented into the classroom.
Literature Review
The literature review is guided by the research questions and informs the study of the role of play in developing creative thinking skills in kindergarten students. The chapter begins with a review of the literature on two theories, Associative Theory and Connectionist Theory, and is followed by definitions of divergent thinking as it relies on the two theories. These make up the framework for this study. The chapter continues with a review of the literature on creative thinking and concludes with a review of the evidence-based literature in two domains: 1) practical applications/programs that have proven successful in the use of play for the development of creative thinking skills in children; and 2) strategies on the part of the educator/teacher to develop creative thinking skills within the classroom environment.
Theoretical Framework
Divergent or creative thinking has been informed by two theories that will make up the framework for this study, Associative Theory (Mednick, 1962) and Connectionist Theory (McClelland & Cleeremans, 2009), and by the definitions of divergent thinking (Torrance, 1972; Hudson, 1967).
Associative Theory
Mednick (1962) relates the concept of associative theory by citing the work of the French mathematician, Henri Poincaré, who defined creative thinking as comprised of “‘making new combinations of associative elements which are useful’” (in Mednick, 1962, pp. 220-221). And according to Mednick (1962), “The more mutually remote the elements of the new combination, the more creative the process or solution” (p. 221). In associative thinking, according to the author, there are three ways in which associative thinking/creative thinking are achieved, by serendipity, by similarity, and by mediation. By serendipity, the elements needed for association are evoked by accident or chance, in the way, says the author, penicillin was discovered. By similarity, the elements needed for association appear as a result of their similarity to one another, as would occur in the study of rhymes in a poem, for example. And by mediation, the elements needed for association appear as a result of interference or intervention, in order to solve problems with symbols, for example.
Connectionism
McClelland and Cleeremans (2009) explain that Connectionism isbased by the way the brain processes information: simple units (such as neurons), organized in networks, are activated repeatedly and transmit information of their own to other units based on their connections to those units. It is the perpetual activation that allows for the connection—in a linear or non-linear fashion—that results in representation, processing, and learning.
Defining Creative or Divergent Thinking
British psychologist Hudson (1967) was one of the first to identify two types of thinking in students—convergent thinking, which Hudson (1967) defined as applying a variety of resources to the problem being worked out in order to arrive at a correct solution; and divergent thinking, which Hudson (1967) defined as bringing alternatives and elaborations to bear upon the problem at hand to arrive at many possible solutions. Lieberman (1965) further characterized divergent thinking or creative thinking to include physical, social and cognitive spontaneity; sense of humor; and manifest joy.
Studies on Creative Thinking in Preschool/Kindergarten
There is only a small amount of literature on creative thinking in preschool/kindergarten (Diamond and Lee, 2011; Baer, 1993; Torrance, 1972; Hudson, 1967).
Hudson (1967) studied English schoolboys and determined that measuring intelligence must extend beyond testing convergent thinking only. The researcher administered divergent thinking tests such as his uses of an object test, which asked the students to come up with as many possible uses as they could for a barrel, a paper clip, a tin of boot polish, a blanket, etc. What resulted was a diversity of outcomes—whereby depending upon the kind of specialization of the students required testing diversity—verbal reasoning testing and open-ended testing—as some boys were math-inclined while other boys were arts inclined. The convergent thinker, the mathematician, came up with two ideas for using a barrel (keeping wine and playing football); the divergent thinker, the artist, came up with 24 uses for a barrel
“For storing old clothes, shoes, tools, paper, etc. For pickling onions in. For growing a yew tree in. For inverting and sitting on. As a table. As firewood chopped up. As a drain or sump for rainwater. As a sandpit. At a party for games. For making cider or beer in. As a playpen for a small child. As a rabbit hutch, inverted, with a door out of the side. On top of a pole as a dove-cote. Let into a wall as night exit for a dog or cat. As a base for a large lamp. As a vase for goldenrod and michelmas daisies, as an ornament, especially f it is a small one. With holes cut in the top and sides, either for growing wall flowers and strawberries in, or for stacking pots and kitchen utensils. As a proper garbage can or wastepaper basket. As a ladder to reach the top shelves of a high bookcase. As a casing for a home-made bomb. Sawn in half, as a doll’s crib. As a drum. As a large bird’s nest” (Hudson, 1967, p. 90).
With similar a focus, Torrance (1972) conducted a long-range predictability study over twelve years and provides a review of 133 studies designed to test approaches to teaching children to think creatively. These approaches include
training programs emphasizing/modifying the Osborn-Parnes creative problem-solving procedures; other disciplined approaches, such as training in general semantics, creative research, etc.; complex programs involving packages of materials, such as the Purdue Creativity Program; Covington, Crutchfield and Davies' Productive Thinking Program; and the Myers and Torrance ideabooks; the creative arts; media and reading programs designed to teach and give practice in creative thinking; curricular and administrative arrangements designed to create favorable conditions for learning and practicing creative thinking; teacher-classroom variables, indirect and direct control, classroom climate, etc.; motivation, reward, competition, and etc.; and testing conditions designed to facilitate a higher level of creative functioning or more valid and reliable test performance (p. 3).
Of these, concludes Torrance (1972), the most effective approaches to teaching children to think creatively are: (1) [approaches] that emphasize the Osborne-Parnes program; (2) other disciplined approaches; (3) the creative arts; and (4) media-oriented programs.
The implications of the studies by Hudson (1967) and by Torrance (1972) point to how differently children think as well as to how differently approaches to critical thinking skill development should be in the classroom. More contemporary approaches to helping children develop creative or divergent thinking skills have included task-specific approaches (Baer, 1993) and those recommended by Diamond and Lee (2011) that the researchers specifically note are approaches that aid in the development of executive functioning: “including mentally playing with ideas, giving a considered rather than an impulsive response, and staying focused” (p. 959). These approaches include computer-assisted training programs; aerobic exercise and sports; martial arts and mindfulness practices; classroom curricula such as Tools of the Mind (Tools), a Vygotsky-based curriculum for preschool and Kindergarten developed by Bodrova and Leong () and Montessori curricula that emphasizes normalization: “a shift from disorder, impulsivity, and inattention to self-discipline, independence, orderliness, and peacefulness” (p.); adjuncts to the classroom curriculum such as Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS) and the Chicago School Readiness Project (CSRP); and, finally, a hybrid of computer and non-computer games.
Studies on Creative Thinking and Play
Originating with researchers in the 1960s, using play to develop creative thinking skills has been an approach for about a half a century. The evidence-based literature relevant to the study includes research on strategies on the part of the educator/teacher to develop creative thinking skills within the classroom environment (Howard-Jones, Taylor & Sutton, 2002; Russ, Robins, & Christiano, 1999) and practical applications/programs that have proven successful in the use of play for the development of creative thinking skills in children (Chronopoulou & Riga, 2012;).
Russ, Robins, and Christiano (1999) conducted a 4-year longitudinal study of pretend playaffect in play or fantasy in first and second grades and fifth and sixth grades as it informs divergent thinking. Using such measures as the Russ (1987,1993) Affect in Play Scale and the Wallach & Kogan (1965) Alternate Uses test (which simulates the Uses of Objects test designed by Hudson [1967[), the researchers found that “quality of fantasy and imagination in early play predicted divergent thinking over time, independent of IQ” (p. 129). And Howard-Jones, Taylor and Sutton (2002) conducted a similar study, exploring the impact of unstructured play on structured activities: with 52 children ages 6 and 7 randomly assigned to two separate groups—group 1 playing with salt-dough for 25 minutes, group 2 following a structured exercise copying text from the chalkboard, and 2 weeks later switching roles—the researchers tested by having the children from both groups do a follow-up task creating a creature collage. Criteria for judging creative thinking included range of colors used from the pre-set materials and total number of pieces of materials The researchers concluded that preceding free play lent more favorably to creative thinking than did the preceding structured task.
And Chronopoulou and Riga (2012) conducted a study of a specific program— an experimental three month educational program —to investigate music and movement activities as they lend to creative thinking in preschool children (aged 5). Seeking to measure creative thinking components such as fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration of thought” (p. 196), the researchers found there was a significant impact from music and movement activities on these components of creative thinking, whereas the absence of music and movement (in the control group)made much fewer contributions to creative thinking. Moreover, the researchers found, “the emergence of creative behaviours [sic], such as an increased freedom of expression, a tendency to explore and experiment, and a questioning of what is commonly accepted, were considered to be a consequence of the implementation of the specific educational programme [sic] ” (p. 196). As these and the other researchers’ findings suggest, there is a validated, relevant need for approach, strategy, and assessment that taps into, supports, and promotes creative thinking skill development through play.
Methodology
Theoretical Framework
Since the focus of the study will be on developing creative thinking skills through play in kindergarten, the research design will use a qualitative methodology of interviewing kindergarten teachers. This approach is designed to elicit experiences and points of view of credible participants in the field (Turner, 2010).
Participants
Participants of the study who are three kindergarten teachers will be interviewed in the United States. I will use action research that conducted in Saudi Arabia.
Procedures
Data Collection
Data collection will include data derived from a review of the literature, semi-structured interviews with kindergarten teachers, and a written journal of this kindergarten teacher’s general experiences.
Literature review:
The literature is a way to review recent literature on my subject area. Literature reviews are an important part of the process. Finding other researchers and scholars who are in support of the same ideology are always something to look forward to. I look forward to seeing what methods have worked and which ones need improvement. According to Michalopoulou (2014) Creative expression leads to problem-solving for children. This will indeed become beneficial as they continue to grow as learners. There are other researchers who agree with Michalopoulou. Shawareb (2011) is a researcher who observed creative thinking among kindergarten classrooms in Jordan. The research observed used technology as a means to encourage creative thinking. The research further states, “Creative thinking is a novel way of seeing or doing things characterized by four thinking processes: fluency, flexibility, originality and elaboration” (Shawareb, 2011, p. 14). I look to use these four thinking processes in expanding on my research.
Chronopoulou, & Riga (2012) believe that music and movement activities are important for stimulating creative thinking in young school-aged children as early as pre-school. Chronopoulou & Riga (2012) continue to write that “As interest in creativity is rising, kindergarten teachers are looking for ways to strengthen the creative potential of young children (p. 196). These researchers are just a few who believe that creative thinking is important in leading children into higher levels of thinking. Overall, the literature review will introduce proven researchers that support my ideas.
Interview with teacher:
The primary research instrument is a semi-structured interview using a self-administered questionnaire that is offered to participants. The questionnaire will be comprised of closed-ended yes/no questions asking teachers to self-report on their present practices using play and developing creative thinking skills as well as a few open-ended questions that will ask for their perceptions/attitudes about using play to develop creative thinking skills. According to Turner (2010), “This open-mindedness allows the participants to contribute as much detailed information as they desire and it also allows the researcher to ask probing questions as a means of follow-up” (p. 756).
Writing Journal:
The researcher will also keep a written journal. The journal will include documentation of the research process and will also include generalizations of personal experience as a kindergarten teacher in Saudi Arabia. My experience as a kindergarten teacher in Saudi Arabia will add to my research data. Personal experience as a researcher is important because I can attest to some of the methods for encouraging creative learning. Moreover, keeping a journal is a form of qualitative research that is an efficient way of keeping documentation of research data and is helpful for recording reflections on the failures and successes of the research project.
Data Analysis
Data will be collected and coded for themes around kindergarten teacher practices in and perceptions of the general development of creative thinking and the specific role of play in developing creative thinking. What is being practiced in Saudi Arabia will be the central focus, but the importance of teacher attitudes and opinions for using/not using play will be significant. These data will tell the researcher if they are in line with existing theory and existing practices found in the literature, if they need further investigation, and how they can contribute to the current body of research.
Timeline
February
Literature review.
March
Interview
April
Write findings.
Conclusion
As the research is intended to uncover the role of play and the kindergarten classroom in the development of creative, divergent critical thinking skills in children, it is expected that the findings will point to the play as an effective contributor to developing such skills. The research will hopefully contribute to guides for teachers and administrators in the kindergarten classroom who will use or continue to use play as it is effective in developing creative thinking skills in children at the earliest stages. Ensuring that kindergarteners are using creative skills can allow for further growth in their academic skills and can only enhance what is already a passion on the part of kindergarten teachers dedicated to kindergarten children in their quest to be high-level learners.
References
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