Creativity of Turkish Prospective Teachers

Universities in developed countries require people who can think, make new scientific discoveries, and find more adequate solutions to compelling world problems. For developing countries, integration of creative thinking skills in university education is a crucial need for shaping their future orientations and actualizing reforms in political, economic, and cultural areas. For many developing countries, creativity remains neglected, whereas in developed countries, educational philosophy and goals rely on students' enhancement of creativity and self-actualization. The Turkish educational system, which is highly centralized and achievement oriented, seeks creative and innovative teachers who are able to enhance creative thinking strategies and who respect the creative ideas of students. This study investigated whether 4 dimensions of creativity (fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration) are accounted for at the university entrance examination (OSS) to select prospective teachers in Turkey. The study sample consisted of the students of Akdeniz University, Faculty of Education. Regression analyses demonstrated that although creativity dimensions were not included in OSS in previous years, they are taken into consideration at moderate but significant levels in recent years. This shift at OSS, which is a standardized test, appears to be the sign of an educational innovation; however, it is not sufficient to produce an educational reform for a creative, developed society. This article discusses the alternative ways of selecting and training prospective teachers who are creative and who can develop creativity and innovation in Turkish society.     

创造力游乐场理论及其实践涵义

创造力的领域特殊/一般性问题是创造力研究中最具争议的焦点之一。Baer和Kaufman基于大量实证研究, 提出创造力游乐场理论。该理论以游乐场做隐喻, 将创造力分为先决条件、一般主题层面、领域和微领域, 并将创造力的一般性成分和特殊性成分联系起来, 说明这两种成分在层级结构中是如何在不同程度上重叠的。这一理论是西方研究者提出来的, 我国研究者在创造教育实践中也摸索出了类似的培养模式, 两者互相印证, 说明该理论具有极强的科学性与实用性。     

A Rasch Measure of Fostering Creativity

A general creativity questionnaire of 21 stem-items was designed and based on 7 teaching aspects of fostering creativity in higher education students: (a) teaching the skills and attitudes of creativity; (b) teaching the creative methods of the disciplines; (c) developing a problem-friendly classroom; (d) using prior knowledge; (e) using different types of problems; (f) using multi-disciplinary hands-on projects; and (g) using appropriate lesson plans. Stem-items (21) based on these were conceptualized from easy to hard—3 stem-items for each of the 7 aspects—and answered in 2 perspectives: (a) an attitude self-view (ideally this is what I think I should do) and (b) a behavior self-view (this is what I actually do)—using 3 ordered response categories: none or some of the time (score 1), most of the time (score 2), and all of the time (score 3). This meant that the effective item sample was 42. The general questionnaire was applied to a lecturer sample from a higher institution, N = 124. Data were analyzed with a Rasch measurement model computer program. The item-trait interaction chi-square was not statistically significant (χ² = 87.6, df = 84, p = 0.37), meaning that a unidimensional trait (called fostering creativity) was measured in which the 42 items each fitted the measurement model with p > 0.02. The Person Separation Index was 0.78 and the Cronbach Alpha was 0.79 showing that the measures were well-separated along the scale in comparison to the errors.     

Moral Reasoning Effects on Political Participation

In this study, respondents who agreed to participate in a computer-administered interview were presented with information and questions about public interest groups, followed by the Defining Issues Test of moral reasoning (DIT). Respondents with high DIT scores stressed morally central over morally peripheral considerations in deciding whether to participate in public interest groups. Less sophisticated reasoners showed the opposite pattern. Morally central considerations also had a much greater impact on the probability that sophisticated respondents would attempt to participate in public interest groups after completing the interview. The analysis included controls for potential confounding variables such as cognitive ability, education, prior political participation, and gender. The findings imply motivational differences between advantaged and disadvantaged population groups. Such differences may help to account for the differing strategies and successes of political organizations mobilizing these groups.     

小学教师的创造力培养观与创造性教学行为的关系:教学监控能力的中介作用

用创造力培养观、教学监控能力和创造性教学行为问卷对430名小学教师进行调查,考察三者之间的关系,并着重对教学监控能力在其中的中介作用进行分析。结果表明:(1)创造力培养观、教学监控能力及其各个维度对创造性教学行为都有正向预测作用;(2)教学监控能力的计划准备性、控制调节性、评价反馈性、课后反省性及作为一个整体在创造力培养观与创造性教学行为之间均具有显著的中介效应。这一发现提示教师培训工作应重视教师教学监控能力的实际增长,这样才能使教师已经接受的创造教育理念落实到创造性教学行为上。