The Contribution Of Students Creativity To Functional Creatives

Abstract

This article highlights the significant contribution of pupils' creativity to the creation of functional works within the discipline Visual Arts and Practical Skills in the Primary Cycle. The aim of the research is to highlight the creative character of the students' activity products in the visual arts classes and practical skills. The objectives of micro-research are aimed at teachers and pupils. The experiment is the main method used in this microtest. In the lessons of visual arts and practical skills in the making of objects, as well as in their finishing, all psychic processes develop: the memory, the thinking, the imagination, the language, the motivation, the affectivity, the will and the attention of the students as well as the spirit of initiative. Student’s creativity can be considered as a mental and social process that involves the generation of new ideas or concepts, or new associations of the creative mind between existing ideas or concepts. Creativity is a multidimensional concept and can be manifested in many areas of activity. The concept of creativity can be defined from the perspective of different disciplines: psychology, social psychology, cognitive sciences, arts, philosophy, economics, management and so on many distinct levels: cognitive, intellectual, social, economic, artistic, literary. Many people associate creativity with the arts in particular: music, theater, dance, literature, which are often called creative arts. In this micro-research we will deal with pupils' creativity in creating functional works within the discipline of visual arts and practical skills in the primary cycle.

Keywords: Creativityfunctional creations

Introduction

During the course of the hours allocated to Visual Arts and Practical Skills, each student involved in the creation of his own functional creation (the finished product of the practical activity) outlines his creative personality. The creative performance of students is a demonstration of the skills to produce the new one and it is visible in the functional creations made within the discipline Visual Arts and Practical Skills in the Primary Cycle.

Lowenfeld (1939) puts the arts education at the forefront and argues that the sensitivity to problems and the flexibility acquired through art can then be transferred to other areas. Each student has a creative potential that has individual nuances and has a specific dynamics along ontogenetic development. Individual and group creativity are forms of creativity that cannot be separated because each class of students consists of a certain number of members and each creative approach of the group involves the creative potential of each individual in the group. Differences between pupils are recorded by the intensity with which the creative potential of each student manifests itself in the realization of their own functional creation, of their own finished product of the conducted practical activity.

Student creativity as a process

Creativity has been shown to be a free form of student self-expression in visual arts classes and practical skills, while at the same time leading to problem solving and decision-making.

Graham (1926) reported that the processuality of creation passes through four stages: preparation, incubation, inspiration and verification (Table 01 ).

Table 1 -
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Student creativity as a product

We note that the product of student creation in Visual Arts and Practical Skills classes is a new element in relation to the student's previous experience of finding a solution to a problem.

There are two complementary criteria in the creation product:

  • originality;

  • relevance.

The product of student creativity is the functional creation made (paintings, ornamental vases, collages, ornaments for Christmas, pencil holders, decorating fruits, congratulations, marriage, etc.)

Recent research includes the environment as an important factor influencing creativity, together with accumulated experience and creative attitude.

Problem Statement

The problem of the research is the contribution of pupils' creativity to the realization of functional creations, materialized in practice by realizing 20 floral arrangements necessary for decorating the tables in a festive hall.

  • 10 floral arrangements will be made by 10 pupils individually;

  • 10 floral arrangements will be made by 10 other students within a group.

Research Questions

Which functional creation will be appreciated by the teachers who coordinated teaching, learning, evaluation?

Are products made individually superior to those achieved in the group?

Each pupil exhibits his own interest in the realization of the individual floral arrangement proving the spirit of observation, visual acuity, sense of proportion, shape and volume, manual dexterity, accuracy and rapidity in hand movements.

Are the products made in group superior to those made individually?

Individual and group creativity are forms of creativity that cannot be separated because each team is made up of a certain number of members and each creative approach / lesson / didactic approach of the group involves the creative potential of each student in the group

Purpose of the Study

The aim of the research is to highlight the creative character of the students' activity products in the visual arts classes and practical skills.

Objectives of micro-research aimed at teachers

The main objective of the teaching staff is the formation of the pupil's creative behavior in an organized homework school. Learning in school is the key source of the student to gain new knowledge and experiences.

Teachers participating in the microtest must:

  • be aware of the role they play, the organizers of learning situations and the direction of learning;

  • encourage student involvement in finding and formulating situations - problem, waking up to the desire to solve them themselves;

  • organize knowledge in a "highly structured" way so that students can pass them progressively and fully;

  • to develop didactic activity projects appropriate to the purpose pursued;

  • create the formative feed-back on which to develop the necessary steps to overcome the reported difficulties.

Objectives of micro-research aimed at students

Achievable goals change the behavior of students, helping to eliminate hyperactivity, develop visual and language skills, develop orientation, eliminate affective disorders, acquire practical skills

Students in the sample of subjects must:

  • participate in didactic activities not only with answers to the questions posed by the teacher but to practice in the production of finished products - their own functional creations;

  • discover, recognize and use simple correspondences and sequences of objects, phenomena or associated numbers according to given rules;

  • to observe and to denote the effects of phenomena in nature and to use a specific language in the description of objects and phenomena in the environment;

  • to form an independent and collectively sound and efficient working style, to adopt in performing works specific to visual arts and practical skills;

  • to make floral arrangements using modelling, pressing, incision, brushing, joining, collage, scratching, fingerprinting, breaking, cutting, contouring;

  • to self-evaluate their own works.

Research Methods

The experiment is the main method used in this microtest. In the lessons of visual arts and practical skills in the making of objects, as well as in their finishing, all psychic processes develop: the memory, the thinking, the imagination, the language, the motivation, the affectivity, the will and the attention of the students as well as the spirit of initiative.

Experimental research helps students in structuring formal thinking, in developing the ability to formulate hypotheses, to combine them and to verify practically.

Findings

During the course of the hours allocated to Visual Arts and Practical Skills, each student involved in the creation of his own functional creation (the finished product of the practical activity) outlines his creative personality.

Creative performance

The creative performance of students is a demonstration of the skills to produce the new one and it is visible in the functional creations made within the discipline Visual Arts and Practical Skills in the Primary Cycle.

Lowenfeld (1952) puts the arts education at the forefront and argues that the sensitivity to problems and the flexibility acquired through art can then be transferred to other areas.

Creative potential

Each pupil has its own creative potential that has individual nuances and has a specific dynamics along the ontogenetic development.

The forms of creativity are:

Individual creativity ( Table 02 )

Group creativity (Table 03 ).

Table 2 -
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Table 3 -
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Figure 1: Individual creative potential intensity compared to potential creative group intensity
Individual creative potential intensity compared to potential creative group intensity
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Individual and group creativity are forms of creativity that cannot be separated because each class of students consists of a certain number of members and each creative approach of the group involves the creative potential of each individual in the group. Differences between pupils are recorded by the intensity with which the creative potential of each student manifests itself in the realization of their own functional creation, of their own finished product of the practical activity (Figure 01 ).

Conclusion

Contributing pupils 'creativity to making functional creations, finished products of students' practical activities is essential and indispensable. Chiș (2002) considers school to be defined by attributes such as accessibility, creativity, flexibility and continuity, being the main factor that can contribute decisively to valorising students' potential creativity, stimulating their creative inclinations and educating creativity.

The formation of the creative behavior implies a harmonious development of pupils in primary classes who manifest themselves spontaneously through curiosity, independence and rich imagination. School is essentially a communication and collaboration system that encourages students' creative ideas. Student creativity contributes significantly to the creation of functional creations in visual arts classes and practical skills. Detecting and stimulating creativity among students is one of the most important directions for improving and modernizing the process of education, education and training in general. Also, by developing students' creativity, we stimulate the progress of society and highlight the creative potential of each. The progress of society depends on innovation and creative people.

"Creativity and education is today a great and beautiful challenge for societies, peoples, and for education, the creative behavior being the most complex behavior. It can assume a wide range of creative actions - from the simple transformations of some models of action, to the creation of new models of different degrees of complexity and to the enrichment and even the revolution of the general human knowledge" ( Ionescu, 2007, p. 140).

Education, as a far-reaching human activity, is the transmission of value systems, interests, needs, beliefs and principles, the whole ideology, its ideals and goals for the younger generations. In this way, education has a huge role, being a social creation activity that today's society creates on tomorrow. Education is therefore one of the great social forces, the stronger, the better organized, the factor of capitalizing on the most precious social capital: the intelligence and the creative genre of man. In fact, education, culture and art are part of the architecture of creativity, including it at the center of the knowledge triangle.

Creativity in education, receives the functions of education: the transmission of past knowledge and the realization of new knowledge, new discoveries. In a broader sphere, creativity is a dynamic and interactive process that helps us assimilate information in a more imaginative way. It is an essential component of our ability, which opens our minds to allow us to innovate new ideas to become more competitive, thus improving the quality of our lives.

In particular, the micro-research aimed to identify as many aspects as possible about the knowledge and stimulation of the creative ability of the young schoolchild, by creating a favorable educational environment that nourishes pupils' curiosity, developing their creative skills essential to achieving the learning process.

Acknowledgments

The work was conducted within the Doctoral School of Education, Reflection, Development of the Babeş-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca

References

  1. Chiş, V. (2002). Challenges of Contemporary Pedagogy. Cluj-Napoca: The University Press in Cluj.
  2. Graham, W. (1926). The Art Of Thought, Harcourt, Brace.
  3. Ionescu, M (2007). Instruction and Education, (3th ed.), Vasile Goldiş Arad: West University Publishing House.
  4. Lowenfeld, V. (1939). The Nature Of Creative Activity, New York: Harcourt Brace.
  5. Lowenfeld, V. (1952). Creative And Mental Growth, (2nd ed.), New York: Macmillan.

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About this article

Publication Date

15 August 2019

eBook ISBN

978-1-80296-066-2

Publisher

Future Academy

Volume

67

Print ISBN (optional)

-

Edition Number

1st Edition

Pages

1-2235

Subjects

Educational strategies,teacher education, educational policy, organization of education, management of education, teacher training

Cite this article as:

Pirvulescu*, L. E. (2019). The Contribution Of Students Creativity To Functional Creatives. In E. Soare, & C. Langa (Eds.), Education Facing Contemporary World Issues, vol 67. European Proceedings of Social and Behavioural Sciences (pp. 1942-1947). Future Academy. https://doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2019.08.03.239