EC teachers’ perceptions on Creativity. Evidence from Greece Eleftheria Argyropoulou, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF CRETE, GREECE VII International ECCE Conference, Moscow, Russia, May 2018

Research in Creativity in Greece The purpose of this research: to depict early childhood teachers’ views on creativity in regard to themselves [self-evaluation] and to the rest of the educational partners [students, the school principal] The research is part of a wider research project assessing creativity as a leadership characteristic of both teachers and school principals and re-examining the notion of creative leadership in education The rational behind the research Though creativity is over-discussed in EC settings and education in general worldwide, little work has been in Greece as to enhance students’ creativity, that is creative-thinking and problem-solving capacities. Teachers’ perceptions on creativity and its use/implementation in teaching is questionable. However, we believe that EC teachers may be more capable of perceiving creativity than teachers in any other level of education, due to the freer and multi-faceted way of teaching in an EC centre. However, modern life demands the cultivation of those capacities. The hidden hypothesis here is: to know how to teach something means to know what this something is about VII International ECCE Conference, Moscow, Russia, May 2018

Research details 1/ The sample The sample comes from semi-urban areas around the capital [Attica] and four other major regions of the country [Euboea, Boeotia, Peloponnese and Crete) A sample of 600 EC teachers taken during 2016 and 2017 2/ The tool A short questionnaire including 5 forced-type questions [using Likert scales] and one open –ended question Two of the questions offered possibilities for self-evaluation: a/ I am creative in my work b/ I provide my students opportunities to be creative One major forced –type opinion question c/ creativity is a notion associated with: i. the teacher, ii. The head teacher, iii. The students An open-ended question: “According to your opinion, in what ways should creativity expressed in school and what is its importance? Please provide examples” VII International ECCE Conference, Moscow, Russia, May 2018

3/ The data analysis Multiple quantitative and qualitative process: Quantitative analysis using SPSS, Qualitative Analysis [thematic analysis using the RADaR technique, Watkins, 2017]. Stages in proceeding with the analysis a/ initial thematic analysis of the open-ended question aiming to investigate general views on creativity b/ second thematic analysis combining findings from literature review and aiming to find out whether similar themes can be identified. c/ formation of specific thematic categories and narrow investigation by using the RADaR technique d/ exploring the frequency of thematic categories in open-ended answers e/ quantification of thematic categories and re-entering them in SPSS for further quantitative analysis VII International ECCE Conference, Moscow, Russia, May 2018

Quantified Answers to all questions 1 VII International ECCE Conference, Moscow, Russia, May 2018

Quantified Answers to all questions 2 self-evaluation VII International ECCE Conference, Moscow, Russia, May 2018

Quantified Answers to all questions 3 VII International ECCE Conference, Moscow, Russia, May 2018

Quantified Answers to all questions 4 VII International ECCE Conference, Moscow, Russia, May 2018

Quantified Answers to all questions 5 VII International ECCE Conference, Moscow, Russia, May 2018

Quantified Answers to all questions 6 VII International ECCE Conference, Moscow, Russia, May 2018

Correlations 1: AGE 0# HEAD TEACHERS should be creative Crosstab Count   AGE and HEAD TEACHERS should be creative Total None A little Moderate A lot Very much/ High Age In years 30-35 2 6 3 17 36-40 1 9 41-45 4 46-50 5 51-55 10 12 38 Chi-Square Tests   Value df Asymptotic Significance (2-sided) Pearson Chi-Square 50.986a 16 .000 Likelihood Ratio 23.923 .091 Linear-by-Linear Association 1.523 1 .217 N of Valid Cases 38 a. 24 cells (96,0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is ,03. VII International ECCE Conference, Moscow, Russia, May 2018

Correlations 2: AGE 0# Creativity in school should be student-oriented Crosstab Count   Creativity in school should be student-oriented. Total yes no AGE IN YEARS 30-35 13 5 18 36-40 4 7 11 41-45 8 46-50 6 51-55 2 27 45 Chi-Square Tests   Value df Asymptotic Significance (2-sided) Pearson Chi-Square 11.014a 4 .026 Likelihood Ratio 13.790 .008 Linear-by-Linear Association .198 1 .656 N of Valid Cases 45 a. 7 cells (70,0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is ,80. VII International ECCE Conference, Moscow, Russia, May 2018

Some first qualitative results Lack of literature in Greece on creative thinking and problem solving Lack of these ideas within the general curricula, as it happens in other countries. Consequently, lack of specific training or seminars on teaching creativity and/or teaching creatively. Old-fashioned, one-way perception of creativity as associated with arts and talent only. Perceptions are not the result of study or training; they are self-formed. Teachers’ answers are often ambiguous, equivocal or contradictory. A blurred view on how creativity in education is perceived today. Ex. Although they recognize the importance of creativity, they tend to think that creativity is the responsibility of everybody else [Heads, students, etc] but not themselves. Moreover, they assess themselves as creative people and /or teachers. Teachers’ attitudes do not encourage the formation of creative minds; they are static and they lack inspiration. No leading characteristics can be seen in such attitudes. They do not practice creative thinking and problem solving, They do not lead their classrooms creatively VII International ECCE Conference, Moscow, Russia, May 2018

Questions to share for further exploration How to incorporate the notion of creativity in curricula? Which specific notion of creativity? Which type of training is more appropriate for teaching teachers to be creative? Theory or practical scenarios? Why? What is the importance of creativity in school leadership? Is creativity development an ethical issue for schools? VII International ECCE Conference, Moscow, Russia, May 2018

Thank you for your attendance VII International ECCE Conference, Moscow, Russia, May 2018