Choice Situations In Educational Activities As Means Of Developing Students Creativity

Abstract

The article is devoted to the consideration of one aspect of the problem of the development of personality creativity. In it, one of the important pedagogical means of developing the individuality, activity and creativity of students is considered a specially designed in the educational activity choice situation. The methodological basis for the study of the process of development of creativity of students using the educational situation using the choice situation substantiates systematic and personal-activity approaches. The study confirmed the existence of a problematic situation with the students' awareness of their creativity, the desire to develop it and the actual actions for its development. In the course of the study, it was found that for the effective use of the choice situation as means of shaping the creativity of students in educational activities, it is advisable to take into account the pedagogical conditions: 1) saturate the content of the educational process with creative tools that implement the idea of a situation of choice that contributes to the development of personal creative qualities of students; 2) to increase the willingness of teachers to implement this process, stimulating the creativity and development of the reflective position of students; 3) the creation of a creative environment in the educational environment of an educational institution that allows a person to act as a subject of training, which also involves the development of creative personality traits; 4) the use of specially designed software and methodological support for the development of students creativity.

Keywords: Students creativitypersonality developmentchoice situationsconditions for effective use of the choice situationlearning activities

Introduction

The humanistic educational paradigm is closely connected with the idea of ​​a diverse and harmonious development of the personality, self-realization of students. Accordingly, organizations engaged in educational activities are called upon to solve the complex formation of a creative person. At the same time, graduates should have their own view on various life phenomena, be able to master new information, be creative in approaching any innovations, create something valuable with benefit for themselves and society, etc. Human creativity is genetically based ( Bender, Nibbelink, Towner-Thyrum, & Vredenburg, 2013; Caroff & Lubart, 2012). Through the desire to create and discover a new person, he realizes his individual and sociocultural mission.

Modern education is aimed at providing the opportunity to implement an individual educational trajectory for each student, the development of creativity (understood as a person’s general ability to be creative, as a person’s diverse capabilities manifested in thinking and feelings, communication and activity). However, an analysis of educational practice convincingly shows higher and professional education. the prevailing orientation of the educational process on professional skills, which leads to the emphasis on the educational opportunities of a person, the infringement of his natural aspiration for creativity.

Problems of the development of personality creativity have always attracted the attention of domestic and foreign psychologists and educators. Scientists are searching for tools and technologies for diagnosing creative abilities of a person, the development of creativity, management in the activities of students with a creative component. It is emphasized that a person can realize his ability to creativity at various levels, and at the same time, enormous opportunities for stimulating creative abilities exist in the learning process. An important role is played by tasks involving freedom and independence in the choice of a solution method in the presence of a large number of solution options.

Problem Statement

One of the important pedagogical means of developing students creativity, their individuality and activity is a specially designed choice situation in educational activities. Its use makes it necessary for them to make an informed choice, to make an independent decision, thereby activating the creative abilities of the participants in the process.

Researchers have already identified a variety of approaches and technologies for organizing students creative activities. However, the problem of using the choice situation as means of developing personality creativity in educational activities is not sufficiently developed. At present, a number of prevailing objective contradictions are noted in pedagogical theory and practice: between the society need for creative personalities and its insufficient theoretical justification for the possibility of realizing this need for educational activities; between the requirements for students as creative individuals and their lack of creativity; between the possibilities of choice situations in learning activities for the development of students creativity and the lack of software and methodological support for these opportunities.

Research Questions

• What is the level of development of students creativity at the beginning of the experiment?

• How prepared are students for the situation of independent choice of tasks in educational activity?

• What are the pedagogical conditions for the use of choice situations for the development of creativity in cadets and students?

Purpose of the Study

The highlighted contradictions determined the purpose of the study, which is to identify pedagogical conditions in the use of educational choice situations that would contribute to the development of creativity of students. The choice in educational activity is presented as a specially designed pedagogical situation, which actualizes the need for students to find an independent solution. The result of such organization of educational activity, according to the hypothesis, will be the development of creative abilities, focus on results, the desire for independent creative activity, and an increase in susceptibility to new ideas.

The purpose of the article is to justify the pedagogical conditions for using choice situations in the educational activity, the result of which will be the development of the general creative abilities of students.

Research Methods

The methodological basis for the study of the process of development of creativity of students using the choice situation in educational activities is a systematic approach, considering it as a combination of structured elements that are closely interconnected and interacting with the educational space and society in general, and a personal-activity approach based on the idea of development personality included in various types of educational activities and striving to realize their capabilities, capable of responsible choice in difficult situations of life.

To achieve the goal of the study, various methods were used. Conducted by the logic of the research: theoretical analysis of scientific literature, observation, questionnaires, testing, retrospective analysis of authors' experience, analysis of creative products of students, pedagogical experiment, etc. The study was attended by teachers and students of the Faculty of Psychology of Federal Breech Educational Institution of Higher Education "Vologda Institute of Law and Economics of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia" (116 cadets and students).

Findings

When studying the initial level of development of students creativity, shortcomings were identified: poor vocabulary, lack of flexibility (variability) in assessing the results of activities and self-analysis skills, public speaking, logically competent presentation of information, uncertainty in independent choice and responsibility for making decisions, etc. This indicates the lack of formation of such creative qualities as resourcefulness, independence, initiative, determination, desire and ready Respect for responsible choice, creative attitude to educational activities. In addition, a questionnaire survey showed that for the majority of participants there is no difference between the concepts of “artistry” and “creativity”, they associate them only with the presence of special abilities, etc. Moreover, 30% of students consider themselves creative, 10% - «not artistic, but creative», 20% answered «relatively», 12%- «not very», 15% - «rather, yes», 5%- «no», 8%- «it is difficult to answer». Thus, students for the most part underestimate the importance of the creative component as a significant quality of personality, which greatly complicates the possibility of developing students creativity in educational activities and this circumstance allowed us to identify conditions for its effective implementation through choice situations in educational activities.

In order to justify the pedagogical conditions for the effective use of choice situations as means of forming creativity in learning activities, students were included in the implementation of specially designed tasks (for example, a written annotation, selection of information on a specific topic and its design, preparation of an educational event, project protection, etc.). Their goal is to diagnose the level of formation of students motivation (interest and determination in independent choice, willingness to choose in an atypical situation, etc.) and their orientation (creative imagination, initiative, curiosity, the ability to clearly state one’s thoughts and argue one’s choice, etc.) to the procedure of independent choice in educational activities.

During the execution of specially designed tasks, 7% of students carried out an independent search, while 55% chose the option with a partially independent search, and 38% chose an independent choice. Also, an analysis of a personal creative product based on a free choice of means allowed to study the willingness of students to make choices in educational activities. At the same time, the participants in the process noted an indifferent attitude to independent choice in educational activities, poorly visible positive motivation to form a creative product through the participation of students in educational activities.

So, for the effective use in learning activities of the choice situation as means of updating the creativity of students, it is advisable to take into account the pedagogical conditions:

saturate the content of the educational process with creative means, in making demanding choice situations, contributing to the development of personal creative qualities of students in view of the fact that the educational activity is characterized by a constant creative beginning of the student, whether it is the choice of theoretical information, educational task, method of presentation of the material, etc., or it is a moral choice, etc. So, you can offer students a choice situation in the form of a didactic game, where the main thing is the possibility of free choice. In this regard, the student, choosing a game, understands and accepts not only its capabilities, and the difficulties associated with it. So, he, focusing on the game, consciously tunes in to overcome them, updating the focus and will. At the same time, the game acquires a special emotional coloring and motivation for him ( Amonashvili, 1988);

the willingness of teachers to implement this process, stimulating the creativity and development of the reflective position of students in accordance with the specifics of the age of students and its characteristic high level of both cognitive motivation and social activity. Cognitive motives, a person’s motivation to develop their inclinations and capabilities can arise only when using active teaching methods. The motivation of students is an effective factor in the active involvement of the personality in the process of cognition and creative activity ( Lashmanova, 2018);

the formation of a creative environment in the educational space of an educational institution that allows a person to act as a subject of training, to form and develop the qualities of a creative personality. Educational space is a dynamically developing open system, mastered for creative self-disclosure of a person and the realization of her creative aspirations. The creative environment is formed in order to maximize the creative potential inherent in the student ( Konovalova, Vilkova, Litvishkov, Zautorova, & Kewla, 2018). At the same time, the creative environment of the educational institution must meet such requirements as the ability and accessibility in obtaining the necessary information; lack of rules restricting the actions of students in the process of cognition and creativity; providing independence of conscious freedom without time limits - all these conditions support and develop a free creative atmosphere ( Amabile & Hennessey, 1988; Krechetnikov, 2002);

the use of specially designed software and methodological support for the development of students creativity. Currently, the curriculum still lacks disciplines that study creativity. Sternberg and Lubart ( 1995) wrote that creativity in an area of which the creator knows very little or does not know anything is simply impossible. Therefore, the process of forming a creative personality becomes most effective if students will know various aspects of the problem of creativity, new techniques and the results of various studies aimed at developing creativity. Creativity does not depend on intelligence and is an independent unit; therefore, it is also necessary to study and develop it separately ( Kaufman & Baer, 2012; Sigova, 2013). The program and methodological complex can make lecture courses of choice, psychological and pedagogical trainings on the development of creative qualities of participants in the process, various thematic competitions, etc.

The presented pedagogical conditions form the basis for the successful use in the educational activity of a choice situation as means of developing students creativity. This is expressed in the dynamics of levels of creativity, forms the prerequisites for achieving a qualitatively new stage in the development of creative personal qualities of participants in the process.

Conclusion

Socio-economic and political changes in society led to a study of the problem of using a choice situation that ensures the development of creativity of students in educational activities, which is considered as a general ability for creativity, which can manifest itself in non-standard thinking and saturation of feelings, in the areas of communication and activity in a variety of modern society. The choice situation is a multivariate and multifunctional problematic situation, the resolution of which requires the participants in the process to be able to make independent choices and solutions.

A pedagogical experiment has allowed the study of the initial level of development of creativity of students indicates a lack of formation of creative personality traits. An analysis of the reasons for the low level of students creativity led to a search for potential ways to use problem situations in educational activities. As a result of using the various research methods outlined in this article above, the following pedagogical conditions were identified for the use of such situations in order to develop students creativity, such as saturating the content of the educational process with creative tools, increasing the willingness of teachers to implement this process, forming a creative environment in an educational organization, the use of specially designed software and methodological support for the development of students creativity.

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