Research Article: 2017 Vol: 20 Issue: 3
Erzhan Auelbekov, International Kazakh-Turkish University of Ahmed Yasaui
Fatima Zhumabekova, Eurasian National University Named After Lev Gumilyou
Begaim Zhiyentayeva, Eurasian National University Named After Lev Gumilyou
Almagul Mandykaeva, Eurasian National University Named After Lev Gumilyou
The paper reveals the essence and feature of children's creativity. Analyzing psychological and pedagogical literature, pedagogical experience of researchers, the author, revealing the diversity of activity of children also focuses on importance of the address to psychical process of activity, qualitatively elevating children's creativity. The backbone of the Kazakhstan teachers’ researches results and the author’s own experiment uncovers some actual problems of creative development of younger school students in the system of artistic training. In the presented methodical recommendations of the author there are the main directions of formation of younger school students’ creative activity in the course of fine art education.
Creativity, Psychical Process, Students, Elementary School, Fine Art.
Stimulating creative activities of personality is a vital task of art education and upbringing. Art education in all its aspects and forms can and should be an important means of development of personal creative potential.
Creativity of personality, as known, initiates its development at preschool facilities and at school and keeps on forming throughout life. Essences and natures of infant artwork, ways of formation and development of pre-schoolers’ and junior school students’ creativity in the process of fine art activities (painting, modelling and decorative work), are revealed in the researches of the pedagogical scientists (Labunskaja, 1970; Vetlugina, 1972; Sakulina, 1969; Shherbakov, 1969; Gromov, 1986; Yusov, Mints & Lepsky, 1992; Yusov, 2002). Their works show that revealing of creative element of senior pre-schoolers and junior school students is especially prominent in the aesthetic, artistic forms, particularly, of fine art activities.
Experimental research of the Kazakh pedagogical scientists conducted among the junior school students revealed peculiarities of this age group significant for pedagogical guidance with their creative work at the fine art classes. Analysing children’s perception of objects and phenomena of nature, pieces of fine arts as well as decorative and applied arts, such researchers as: Amanzholov, 2006; Balkenov, 1987; Kamak, 2014; Zhumabekova, 1998; Auelbekov, 2008; Poshayev et al., 2016; conclude that sensorial perceptual capability of perception, reproduction of emotional tone of the perceived image in one’s creative work, to a certain extent is available to senior pre-schoolers and to junior school students.
At the modern stage of educational and upbringing globalization we have got significant material and spiritual opportunities for more integral development of creative personality. However the practice of art education shows that the content of fine art training is composed mostly for acquiring the technique (Vygotskij, 1999). School is now only capable of giving the knowledge, but not yet forming the productive way of thinking. Thus, we limit the children with only the circle of obligatory school disciplines not going beyond the scope of program material, thinking it is enough to develop their capacities of creative search. Creativity is the process of overcoming the norm, going beyond its limits. The content of the art educational system should obligatory include focus on creativity, supported by the world view mind-set.
The setting of the issue of creativity development and of this pedagogic task at the level of elementary school seems to be reasonable. It is exactly the age when formation and preparation of future creative personality begins.
Various artistic means of educational process and forms of art pedagogic work in certain conditions can be oriented at the further solving the tasks of creative growth, as well as aesthetic, spiritual and cultural development of school students’ personalities. However this process is not simple enough and provides many unsolved tasks. One of them is studying of the peculiarities of creative nature and formation of creative element of the junior school students in the process of fine art training.
Objective of the Research
Based on the analysis of the pedagogic scientists’ works, the objective of the research is to reveal the following: The essence and the natures of children’s artistic and creative activities; various factors influencing development of junior school children’s creativity in their art training; importance of consideration of these phenomena in the system of the future fine art teachers’ training.
In order to enlighten the psychological and pedagogical peculiarities of junior school students’ creativity development, we considered it necessary to study the following issues:
1. What is creative work from the perspective of science?
2. What are psychological peculiarities of junior school students’ creative work?
3. What are the peculiarities of junior school students’ creative work and how do they manifest in various kinds of education and art activities?
The answer to the first question will provide the ideas of the concepts necessary for presentation of the material.
Creative activities of a person, including school students, are reflected in many scientific works (pedagogics, psychology, philosophy, aesthetics, art history, etc.). However the term ‘creative work’ is used there in various meanings. In the strict sense term ‘creative work’ means the activities generating something qualitatively new, something brand new. Speaking about philosophical idea, ‘creative work is the activities of a person, transforming the natural and social environment in accordance with the purposes and needs of the person and this is the manifestation of human consciousness’s productive activities which is not only reflects the objective world, but also creates it” (Frolov, 1991). And here it is difficult to share single opinion regarding the fact what personal characteristics are necessary for a person in order to be a creative personality. The existing authors’ views are also different. For example, according to Ponomarev (1976), it is a person capable of independently solving a task and so on. Nevertheless, many researchers share the opinion that a person with independent judgments and good inner motivation to self-development may be called personality.
Pedagogy studies creative work as an indicator of quality of art education and aesthetic maturity helping a person to comprehend the beauty of the surrounding world, art as well as spiritual and cultural values. Psychology pays special attention to the psychical process of creative work in acquisition and creation of pieces of art (perception, feeling, thinking, cognition, fantasy, evaluation, taste, etc.), qualitatively elevating creative activities. Term ‘activities’ is also used in psychology in various meanings. (Vygotskij, 1999; Rubinshstein, 1999) separated three main kinds of children’s activities: Game, study and labour. Anan'ev (1982) suggests the following concepts as the three main kinds of activities: Labour, communication and cognition. Anan'ev (1982) not denying the concepts of the leading activities nevertheless highlights labour in all the ages including childhood and adolescence. According to Anan’ev (1982) alongside with game and study the labour should take place in the form of self-service, socially beneficial activities and creative work in various spheres of activities. Psychologist Kagan (1974) highlights transforming, cognitive, value-orientation communicative activities and artwork as a special kind of activities. Leont'ev (1975) generally considered labour and communication. He wrote, “Leading is to our mind such activity of a child, which is characterized by the following three attributes.
First, it is such activities in the form of which new kinds of other activities are being generated and differentiated.
Second, it is such activities, in which personal psychological processes are being formed and modified.
Third, it is such activities, on which the main psychological changes in the personality of a child depend observed in this period of development.” Further he points out that “stages of mental development of a child are characterized not only by the contents of the leading child’s activities, but also by a certain consequence in time...”, however, “...neither the contents of the stages, nor their consequence in time are constant criteria” (Leont'ev, 1975). The latter depends on the fact, in what form each generation faces the known social life conditions, defining the contents of activities or, in other words, one cannot consider development of a child beyond certain historical circumstances. Continuing the idea of Leont'ev (1975) about the reasonability of studying children’s development beyond certain historical circumstances, psychologist Elkonin (1978) wrote, “Scientific judgments about the drivers of children’s psychological development, on its sources, forms and temps one may develop only considering historically formed regularities of the childhood in the nearest future”.
A modern junior school student, adolescent and senior school student differ from those of the 20th century. If earlier junior school students (1-4 forms) compounded a separate unit of the education system, then now in the period of transfer to 12 year education system they are included into the system of general education and thus should be prepared to perform those kinds of activities which are peculiar to adolescents. Considering the problem of maintenance and development of creative capacity and activities of 7-12 years children in the conditions of aesthetic-educational process, taking place in the modern schools, it is necessary to characterize first of all the dynamics of changing this quality of personality within this age group. In this education system the following activities are considered as the leading successively changing each other and characterizing a certain age: Game (preschoolers); communication and socially beneficial activities (junior school students); learning process with the choice of profession (senior school students); professional education (youth); labour (adulthood). It means that the observed childhood should be analysed and evaluated in those aspects which connect it with the past and future. So, the creative elements should be combined with various types of activities at all the stages of the student’s personality formation and first of all in the education process when the personality is being formed and manifested in the junior, adolescent and senior school age.
Basing on the principles of activity approach towards children’s creative work as an important issue of psychology (Leont'ev, 1975; Ignat'ev, 1971) and pedagogics, we would like to clarify the following issues:
1. Traditional views towards the children’s creative work at school.
2. The possibility of application of psychological and pedagogic concepts of activities regarding the creative work of junior school students and first of all their fine art training, also including the other kinds of productive activities.
3. What are the psychological peculiarities of junior school students’ creativity formation?
According to the works by (Labunskaja, 1970; Vetlugina, 1972; Sakulina, 1969; Shherbakov, 1969) and other researchers of children’s creativity it is known that manifestation of creative elements of junior and senior school students is explicitly shown in aesthetic, fine arts forms, particularly in their fine arts activities. The researchers note among the peculiarities of junior and senior school students, bright sensuous and emotional reactions connected with the general insufficient stability of neural and mental processes. It is known that junior school students’ attitude towards things and phenomena are expressed in positive (beautiful, graceful, fine, impressive, etc.) evaluations. They are attracted by the objects decorated with bright multi-coloured patterns or opalizing in various shades. They are also long characterized by ‘trace’ perception images and bright impressions (Kamak, 2014).
Let’s consider the theory of education as a specific activity developed in the works by the Russian psychologists. According to Ponomarev (1976), education as the leading activities for the junior school students is characterized by the fact that it contributes to emergence and development of the bases of creative attitude towards reality, towards various kinds of actions. In the process of education more private novelties are being formed, such as: Inner plan of actions, performance of mental processes and reflection. Hereinafter it is said that alongside with the objective predicament of creative process a great role is plaid by subjective factors: Inner motivation of the personality, presence of productive imagination, developed fantasy, upbringing where an important role is plaid by art. Ponomarev (1976), basing upon the theory of education defines the following structural components of education activities:
1. Educational situation (or tasks);
2. Educational actions;
3. Control;
4. Evaluation (Ponomarev, 1976).
These components complementing each other, lead to activation of children’s attitude towards educational activities, form positive motives of learning and opportunity and necessity of using creative elements.
High priority on junior school students’ creative work was placed by Sukhomlinsky (1982). He pointed out that “Children should live in the world of beauty, game, fairytale, music, paintings, fantasy and creative work. This world should always surround children and when we want to teach them read and writes. What children feel and experience, influences their further way to knowledge”.
Such researches as: Amanzholov, 2006; Balkenov, 1987; Kamak, 2014; Auelbekov, 2008; analysing fine art of junior school students and comparing them with the activities of the senior school students, conclude that some kinds of activities contain unconscious elements of aesthetic acquisition of the external world. Creative activity (free fantasying, imagination, etc.) in general, creative strive for expression of one’s moods, impressions in movements, paintings, actions peculiar to senior pre-schoolers are reduced to the narrow hobby zones in the mode of school (for walks, lessons of fine art or game). A school student abruptly changes the leading kind of activities-game is replaced by education. And there with the forms of children’s activities also change. Simultaneously the zone and form of manifestation of cognitive activity changes and becomes narrower. Subsequently, it provokes a supposition that decline in junior school children’s creative potential is connected with decrease in the range of creative actions as well as abrupt decrease in the number of sensuous impressions and sensuous-harmonic activity. At that, maintenance of game interests and activities in general is apparently enough as a significant way of creative acquisition of the world and the relationships in the class (Kamak, 2001).
Summarizing the psychologists’ and teachers’ statements about the peculiarities of the nature of creative activities, one may assert that children’s creative work in the true sense of the word characterizes game, labour-practical and spiritual-aesthetic (education, art, creative work) activities. At the same time creative work characterized the formed personality of a school student and his or her educational activities at a certain stage, because educational activities as a kind of cognitive activities are also creative and reproductive (Kamak, 2011b).
For the purposes of study of this social and age group creative work peculiarities we surveyed students of 1-3 forms of elementary school.
The content of special lessons of fine arts and artistic labour was aimed at studying creative approach of children to the perception of natural phenomena and objects of external world: Cognition and the sense of beauty of the forms, functionality and some significant traits, artistic nature of subjects and phenomena. At planning of the knowledge system we considered the choice of the targeted objects, familiar and attractive to junior school students, aesthetically and creatively activating his or her perception and artistic actions. As the objects the natural phenomena were chosen, based on the fact that in the elementary school education and upbringing process is rich in the materials of ‘nature’. They are the materials of reading lessons, the images of nature in the poetry, music and painting. Though at the lessons of environmental studies children learn many things about nature, it provokes no interest to the studied subject due to the lack of live perception of nature. There is no nature at the lessons, but only the environmental studies. And at the lessons of reading and music there is also no live perception of the natural phenomena and beauty (Kamak, 2011).
Analysing junior school students’ creative works, performed after experimental lessons of direct perception of nature (sunny, merry, gloomy, thoughtful; colour and change of the colour shades depending on the illumination), at the children’s paintings one may see really joyful, creative, personal and sensuous attitude towards nature, to its phenomena provoking admiration, fascination, joy and amusement (towards the whole phenomena and towards its separate attributes). The results of the direct viewing by the children of natural phenomena and the landscape artworks show multidimensionality of manifestation of sensuous and harmonic reactions of children: All the sensuous perceptions, motor processes, all the being of the child, game potential which are connected with search and orientational needs of the external world phenomena cognition and reflected in the creative work (Kamak, 2014).
Thus, one may state that elementary creative potential, manifested in the perception of art and artistic activities, is peculiar to all children. At this background pre-aesthetical and elementary-aesthetical children’s reactions are formed, based on their sensuous and creative thinking focused first of all at the acquisition of aesthetically attractive and impressive attributes of objects (nature, toys, clothes, everyday items, etc.), as well as the peculiarities of artistic objects and phenomena (artistic images in fine and decorative arts, artistic labour, musical, theatrical images, etc.).
Summarizing the psychologists’ and teachers’ statements about the peculiarities of the nature of creative activities, one may assert that children’s creative work in the true sense of the word characterizes game, labour-practical and spiritual-aesthetic (education, art, creative work) activities. At the same time creative work characterized the formed personality of a school student and his or her educational activities at a certain stage.
Thus, the elements of artwork should be consistent in the following forms of activities: All the sensuous perceptions, motor processes, all the being of the child, game potential which are connected with search and orientational needs of the external world phenomena cognition. These requirements were considered at planning the system of special lessons on fine art for 1-3 forms, connected with certain objects close to junior school student, aesthetically and creatively activating his or her perception and fine art actions. As the objects the natural phenomena were chosen, based on the fact that in the elementary school education and upbringing process is rich in the materials of ‘nature’. They are the materials of reading lessons, the images of nature in the poetry, music and painting. Though at the lessons of environmental studies children learn many things about nature, it provokes no interest to the studied subject due to the lack of live perception of nature. There is no nature at the lessons, but only the environmental studies.
Analysing junior school students’ creative works, performed after experimental lessons of direct perception of nature (sunny, merry, gloomy, thoughtful; colour and change of the colour shades depending on the illumination), at the children’s paintings one may see really joyful, creative, personal and sensuous attitude towards nature, to its phenomena provoking admiration, fascination, joy and amusement (towards the whole phenomena and towards its separate attributes).
Therefore, artistic and creative view of external world should include perception and evaluation of separate expressive characteristics and aesthetically evaluated, sensuously comprehended integral peculiarities of objects and phenomena to their combination to the whole concept of sensuous image of the depicted objects. Therewith the base on the authenticity of the view model, plastic images of things and nature provided by the fine art and its creators, is significant.
Creative development of junior school students in the fine art educational process requires deliberate pedagogical action to activation of aesthetic view of the objects (form, construction, texture, colour, character, emotional state of nature, etc.) and aesthetic evaluations of children, as well as further reproduction of the perceptions, their comparison, analysis and artwork in the creative activity of the children themselves.
Based on it, there is the necessity of setting the tasks of building the system of art education and aesthetical upbringing process where it is pedagogically reasonable to implement the following requirements:
1. Maintenance of creative game potential, game flexible perception of the external objects and phenomena by children;
2. Activation of earlier accumulated experience including perceptions, evaluation of the external objects, situations and their correlation with the references of evaluation and the ways of the objects acquisition obtained from the adults;
3. Formation of fine art creative manifestation of children based on it, in the integrity and mutual complementarity of the kinds of activities as well as in their fine art products.