EXAMINATION OF EARLY CHILDHOOD TEACHERS’ CREATIVE THINKING TENDENCIES AND CRITICAL THINKING IN DESIGN BASED ACTIVITIES

Creativity and critical thinking are important goals of early childhood curriculum. There are various ways to support these important goals. In the context of this study, our goal is to determine the views of early childhood teachers based on design-based activities. Mixed method was used in the study. The quantitative data examined 88 early childhood teachers’ creativity by using Marmara Creative Thinking Tendency Scale. Creativity scores of the teachers differed significantly according to the variables of age, gender and educational level. These scores were grouped as low-medium-high to select 12 teachers for interviews. The interview analysis revealed that the teachers did not provide examples directly related design while expressing their ideas on creativity, development areas and critical thinking. When the teachers' examples related to design were examined, teachers mostly included examples from science education. In the last step of the study, the activity plans taken from the three teachers who participated in the interview were examined. When planning design-based activities, teachers included a plan based on the age group of the students and clearly determine the materials to be used. However, teachers did not discuss design parameters and data collection that are critical to support creativity and critical thinking. Design is a relatively new field at early childhood education. Providing teachers with professional development can contribute positively to the implementation of design based activities supporting creativity and critical thinking.

Anahtar Kelimeler:

Early childhood, creativity, critical thinking, design

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