Early childhood teachers' approaches to the development of young children's creativity
บทคัดย่อ
The beliefs, values, perceptions, and reported actions of seven early childhood teachers about the development of young children's creativity were examined in this phenomenological study. The sample was drawn from three Montessori and Reggio Emilia-inspired schools in the United States. Using possibility thinking (Cremin, Burnard, & Craft, 2006)--which was developed as a research-based pedagogy for nurturing children's creativity--to guide analysis of the teachers stated perspectives and practices, study results revealed three of possibility thinking's four core pedagogical philosophies. They were: valuing learner agency, knowing when to step back, and knowing when to step in and support children's learning. Three additional components emerged from the data analysis as necessary to the development of children's creativity: modeling creative behavior, understanding the creative process, and encouraging collaboration amongst students. These three findings may serve to augment the possibility thinking framework in future research and practice. Results also revealed that one school's culture in particular, as described by its teachers, served as an incubator for communication and collaboration across teaching teams, administrators, and parents, which the teachers saw as essential in nurturing children's creativity. Situating these findings in educational leadership literature led to the recognition that the team leadership model (Northouse, 2012), which is based upon interdependent teaching teams that collaborate extensively to achieve common goals, may best serve educational leaders who work in schools choosing to emphasize the development of young children's creativity.