Sköpunarkraftur og sköpunarferli í skólastarfi

Í greininni er fjallað um rannsókn á hugmyndum fjögurra kennara um sköpunarkraft í kennslu með það að markmiði að skoða og lýsa sannfæringu þeirra um þennan þátt kennslunnar. Rannsóknin var meistaraverkefni Hrafnhildar Eiðsdóttur en Jóhanna Einarsdóttir var leiðbeinandi hennar. Gengið er út frá því að sköpunar-kraftur byggi á ímyndunarafli og beiting hans í skólastarfi verði til þess að nýr skilningur vakni og gefi lærdómsferlinu persónulegt gildi fyrir hvern og einn. Gildi og tilgangur rannsóknarinnar fólst í að varpa ljósi á sköpunarkraft í skólastarfi og fá fram hugmyndir um hvernig byggja má á sköpunarkrafti í kennslu. Notaðar voru eigindlegar aðferðir, gerðar voru þátttökuathuganir og tekin viðtöl. Helstu niðurstöður sýna að sannfæring kennaranna einkenndist af hugmyndum um sköpunarkraft sem innblástur til að sjá námsefnið og námsferlið í nýju ljósi. Kennararnir sáu fyrir sér að geta í gegnum sköpunarkraft náð til nemenda á árangursríkan hátt og þannig ýtt undir nám. Undirbúningur einkenndist af ígrundun þar sem kennararnir nýttu sinn eigin sköpunarkraft og persónulega nálgun til að tileinka sér námsefnið áður en þeir legðu það fyrir nemendur. Þeir álitu sköpunarkraftinn koma inn í námsferlið í gegnum sköpunarferli. Kennararnir voru meðvitaðir um að þeir þyrftu að vera í stöðugu námsferli samhliða nemendum og leggja mikið á sig til að nýta sér sköpunarkraftinn til fulls.The aim of the study reported in this article was to observe and describe four teachers’ beliefs about creativity in teaching. Creativity in this study is seen as based on imagination and that building on it in education can evoke new under-standing that gives the learning process personal value for each child (NACCCE, 1999). The purpose of describing creativity through teachers’ beliefs was to get close to the teachers’ fundamental ideas about creativity in their own teaching. In the study, beliefs are defined as every individual’s conception of what is true and right (Jóhanna Einarsdóttir, 2001). Teachers’ beliefs are considered to be compli-cated and hard to describe and reach but they are also considered to be an im-portant factor in how they organize their teaching and perform (Pajares, 1992). The main value and purpose of the study was to highlight creativity in education and generate ideas about how to build on creativity in teaching. In the new Ice-landic national curriculum, creativity is considered to be one of six basic ele-ments of education (Mennta- og menningarmálaráðuneyti, 2013). Furthermore the need to promote creativity in education has been internationally recognized and called upon over the last decade. In this study creativity is looked at through the lense of Waldorf teacher beliefs. Waldorf teachers were chosen to participate in this study due to the emphasis on creativity in the ideology of the Waldorf schools and thus were considered to be more likely to posess valuable knowledge of creativity in education. The theoretical context of this study has three aspects. The first aspect is the ideology of the Waldorf school. The next one involves teachers’ perceptions of teaching with the focus on their beliefs. The third aspect is creativity in education looked at from various angles. Qualitative methods were employed. Data gathering consisted of participant observations and interviews, and was conducted over a period of one year. The findings indicate that the beliefs about creativity held by the participating teachers can be characterized by ideas about creativity as an inspiration which acts as a vital component in the process of achieving a new view on the curriculum and the process of learning. This inspiration is seen as a way to support meaningful learning in a creative process. To achieve this, the teachers have to rely on their own creativity in their teaching preparation as well as in their teaching. The teaching preparations were characterized by reflection that supported their own creativity and personal approach in their attempt to prepare the study material before presenting it to their students. The teachers considered their teaching preparations and connection to the subject through their own creativity the main framework for the promotion of creative flow in the creative process. The teachers felt that they could reach the students in an effective way through creativity and thereby encourage and enhance their learning. In the classroom their beliefs appeared in the means and methods chosen by the teachers and involved a variety of teaching methods and the learn-ing process as a whole. They belived that creativity is a process within the learning process. The teachers’ beliefs were also visible in the classroom in their role in the development of the creative process and their emphasis on a strong frame as a support to the creative process. The teachers were aware of the need to take part in a constant learning process paralell to their students and work hard to fully utilize the potential of creativity in education. They also considered it their main challenge to mould the creative process and to enrich the opportunities for students to learn in a creative way