An Exploration of Creativity Education Model

창의성 교육 모델의 탐색

Although it is widely acknowledged that enhancing creativity is an important educational theme on which schools should depend and embody their educational goal and activities, how to do it can be characterized as 'piecemeal' without a whole picture of it. Thus, school practices of creativity education has been disoriented, discontinuous, short-term, and peripheral in nature. In this practical context, a theoretical model of creativity education was developed in ways in which several theoretical concepts based on research findings on a variety of aspects of creativity education were compiled and organized. The core of the model was creative problem solving process to which the goals and the mediating variables of creativity education were connected in relational fashion. By giving repetitive opportunities for creative problem solving geared to producing the results that are novel and useful for the individual as well as the socity, it was conceptualized that two educational goals could be achieved: a short-term goal of developing creative potential of the individual and the long-term goals of self-actualization of the individual and contribution to the society. It is also conceptualized that creative problem solving can be influenced in positive manner by several mediating variables: content knowledge and skills, creative cognition, creative motivation and attitudes, and creative environment. The creative environment is composed of psychological and physical conditions and provides a basis for creativity education. The former three variables are conceptualized as necessary conditions for the effectiveness and efficiency of creative problem solving, when provided appropriately. The four mediating variables ware conceptualized as mutually affecting so that the development of one variable influences positively that of the other, and vice versa. In terms of practical perspective of teaching creativity, developing creative potential, self-actualization, and contribution to society are the goals; creative problem solving process is the methodology; content knowledge and skills, creative cognition, and creative motivation and attitudes are the content; and creative environment is the condition of creativity education. The model is not yet perfect but needs further explorations to make it more detailed in clarifying various relationships. For instance, how the creative problem solving process can be differentiated in teaching various subject matters is yet to be explored. Thus, the model proposed in this study should be regarded as a general model of creativity education, and is relatively sound to be adopted in school practices since it is based on the theoretical as well as empirical study findings on creativity. However, the proposed model needs to be validated through empirical researches in real teaching settings.