The Light Millennium, Charitable Global Human Advancement Organization, proudly presents the below research by Enudi Perera, Whyteleafe Junior Researcher (Sri Lanka), in support of the 2022 #WorldScienceDay theme’s #BasicSciencesForSustainableDevelopment, along with encouraging students toward further research-based projects.

The theme of World Science Day on 10 November 2022 is Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development. It is being celebrated within the International Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development, which kicked off on 8 July 2022. Scientists, science communicators, and science enthusiasts are encouraged to prepare their events to celebrate #WorldScienceDay.
“The annual observance of theInternational Week ofScience and Peace, 9-15 November (A/RES/43/61), is making an important contribution to the promotion of peace. The Week encourages greater academic exchanges on a subject of universal importance while also generating greater awareness of the relationship of science and peace among the general public. Based on observances of Science and Peace Week to date, it may be expected that participation each year will increase, contributing to greater international understanding and opportunities for co-operation in the applications of science for the promotion of peace throughout the year.” #ScienceForDevelopmentAndPeace 
Source: https://www.un.org/en/observances/world-science-day/week

Whyteleafe Junior Researchers Series

Old Habits Die Hard”:
The Impact of Preschool education on becoming a creative person with a positive attitude
by Enudi Perera, Whyteleafe Junior Researcher

Introduction 

Creativity and positive attitudes play important roles throughout our lives. They broaden perspective and bring optimism to life. This research was done to analyze the impact of preschool education on becoming a creative person with a positive attitude. This research will provide new insights into the importance of creativity and having positive attitudes to be a better human being. Moreover, the analysis of this research will convey further information on the preschool education system in Sri Lanka. To conduct this research, 2 selected groups of parents and preschool teachers, living in several districts of Sri Lanka were used and analyzed according to the quantitative method. Following the data analysis, this research hopes to discuss the results to conclude. However, due to a lack of time and the inability to consider unreliable answers to questions, there will be limitations within this research. Furthermore, as this research contains personal views, this does not generalize. As well as there will be limitations in this research due to, not receiving responses equally from each district, the majority of responses to the questionnaires from only 6 – 9 districts, and the Pandemic situation. And also, there were some irrelevant answers among the responses received. Accordingly, this research aims to find out how preschool education makes an impact on becoming a creative person with a positive attitude and why this is important.

Explanation of research question & Objectives

This research was done based on the above question, “what is the impact of preschool education on becoming a creative person with a positive attitude?”. Preschool education is education during the earliest phases of childhood, beginning in infancy and ending upon entry into primary school. Creativity means the use of imagination or original ideas to create something; inventiveness and a positive attitude are, being positive about things, hopeful and confident, and thinking of the good aspects of a situation rather than the bad ones. Therefore, the research questions simply ask, “is there a marked effect or influence made by preschool education on becoming a creative person with a positive attitude?”. The objectives of the research are; To find effective ways to develop a child’s creativity and attitudes, to understand early childhood teaching methods in developed countries, and to identify the impact of early childhood and preschool education on a person.

Theoretical Framework

Doireann O’Connor (2012) states that
“Creativity in adults is highly valued in our society. Personal creativity contributes to inventiveness, innovation, social and cultural change as well as political development and economic progression. The creator is an innovator, a problem solver, an entrepreneur, and an artist. Creative people have rapid and effective responses that help them to achieve their life goals and allow them to enjoy the journey. Creativity is both a skill set and a unique and individual personality structure that is developed throughout childhood and fine-tuned in adolescence and adulthood. Education has a key role to play in its development. Positive creativity-inspiring experiences at every stage of the educational journey are needed. This is especially true in both early childhood and the infant primary classes.”

Arnold (2003) and Bruce state that engaging in creative activities promotes children’s developing abilities to think of new ideas, express them, identify issues and problem-solve. Marzollo and Lloyd (1972) state that if creativity is not engaged during the naturally creative childhood years, it is not something that can then be developed in later life. (O’Connor, D. Creativity in childhood: The role of education). Rizi, Yarmohamadiyan, and Gholami [15] studied 60 children who were continuing to kindergarten, to determine the effect of the group plays on the development of creativity in six-year-old children. 30 of the children were determined as the experimental group and 30 as the control group. The experimental group was trained through group plays and both groups participated in the post-test after the completion of the training program. The results showed that the creativity scores of children positively increased due to group plays training. It was determined that the creative skills of children can be developed through group play activities. Creativity is often considered a solution to present-day and future challenges (Leggett, 2017; NACCCE, 1999). Early experiences in arts, including visual arts, dance, music making, and song, are one of the most efficient means that foster creative development, as they provide children with opportunities to respond to each other’s creativity and explore boundless possibilities in imaginative, positive, dynamic and innovative ways. (Gariboldi A., & Catellani N.)

Materials and Methods

The study group consists of a total of 64 containing Parents and Preschool teachers in Sri Lanka. The group of teachers includes 20 preschool teachers working in public, private and self-owned preschools in 9 districts. The group of parents includes 44 parents from 10 districts in Sri Lanka. The following details show the research areas of the 2 groups. Data collected districts of the Preschool Teachers group are as follows; Ampara, Badulla, Colombo, Galle, Gampaha, Jaffna, Kandy, Polonnaruwa, and Puttalam. Data collected districts of the Parents group are Anuradhapura, Colombo, Gampaha, Hambantota, Jaffna, Kalutara, Kandy, Kegalle, Matale, and Trincomalee. The data for this research was collected through questionnaires from parents and preschool teachers and also from online articles previously done in the research. The data collected were analyzed using Microsoft Excel software and questionnaires were created on the Google forms platform. The quantitative method was used for the analysis.

Results 

1. Preschool Teachers category 

1.1. Pedagogic Methodologies

There are pedagogic[1] methodologies that can apply in classrooms while teaching. In the course of this research, 4 pedagogic methods were found which were used by the majority of Preschool teachers. They are Child centered education method, Theme based activities, Group activities, and the Expeditionary method. Furthermore, it is discovered that some preschools are using teaching methods such as Reggio Emilia Method and Montessori Method. The Reggio Emilia Approach method is an educational philosophy based on the image of a child with strong potential for development and a subject with rights, who learns through the hundred languages belonging to all human beings and grows in relations with others. The Montessori Method is characterized by providing a prepared environment: tidy, pleasing in appearance, simple and real, where each element exists for a reason to help in the development of the child. 

1.2. Standard teaching practice

A question was asked as “ In your experience, what is the most effective teaching method for that ‘standard teaching practice’? ” in the teachers’ questionnaire and the responses that were received are as follows; 

Some answers were given to select. 8 of the teachers have stated “Group activities”. 5 preschool teachers have stated “Through subjects they like” and 3 of them stated, “Experience through field visits”. 4 teachers, 2 for each; have stated “Writing activities” and All of the above answers. In Sri Lanka, there is no Standard teaching practice in the Preschool sector. Therefore, preschools use different teaching methods, and syllabi and their standards are different as well. Besides, there is a national policy on preschool education published by the National Education Commission of Sri Lanka. According to my research analysis, 100% of preschool teachers think that there is a need to adopt a “Standard teaching practice” in all preschools in Sri Lanka. This study revealed some effective teaching methods, which are suggested by preschool teachers, for this standard practice according to their experience. The most suggested 3 methods are, Through group Activities, Through subjects according to child preference, and Experience through field visits.

1.3. Problems of preschool teachers

This section discusses the problems that preschool teachers come across during teaching. Five major problems have been identified that preschool teachers encounter. They are less concentration of children, various requests from parents, less outdoor area, behavioral problems, and a lack of resources. These problems also can be identified as popular general problems in preschools island-wide.

2. Parents Category

In this study, there were nearly 25 reasons mentioned by parents for sending their children to a preschool. The most stated reasons are; Socialization, Basic education, To prepare for school, Discipline, and improved attitudes and creativity. The majority of parents send their children to socialize in society. The reason for this is, children are spending time mostly with their parents, and they are not familiar with society. Parents should make their children familiar with society as children are not going to spend time only with their family members hereafter. According to the analysis, the majority of the parents’ opinion is that the teachers should teach things like ethics, soft skills, and creativity except for writing activities. Apart from that, Aesthetics, Basics of languages, and Environment were also on the list. Parents are the main point that affects a child’s mental, physical, emotional, and social development, especially during early childhood. Therefore, parents should be well aware of what a child should learn and should not. Considering the data received, more than 90% of parents say that it is important to teach creativity and positive attitudes to children in preschool.

Discussion 

The findings of this research concluded that, if there were a standard practice method, then most preschools will achieve the same quality. Similarly, the teaching materials, syllabi, and teaching methods need to change considering teachers’ and parents’ opinions. Then, the concentration of preschool children on the lessons will increase and most of the mentioned problems will be solved. Accordingly, there should be a criterion of requirements for preschools and standard qualifications for teachers as well. Then, all the preschools will follow the same guideline. Therefore, the problems of preschool teachers will be solved, especially, facility problems and lack of resources. The findings of the analysis show that group activities and field visits are effective for standard teaching practice. In addition, teaching along with subjects of child preference is effective as well since these methods were mentioned by preschool teachers considering their experience. Marzollo and Lloyd (1972) stated that if creativity is not engaged during the childhood years, it is not something that can then be developed in later life. Additionally, it is a must to provide better preschool education as it is the basic foundation of a child. “Creativity is the key to success in the future, and primary education is where teachers can bring creativity to children at that level, stated Abdul Kalam. Similarly, A positive attitude will lead to positive outcomes. Preschool education will be more effective and will make a huge impact if responsible institutions can make required changes in needed sectors considering the above opinions as well. It was observed that methods such as the Reggio Emilia Approach method, Montessori Method are the most commonly used methods in preschools. Although it was mentioned by a minority, responsible institutions can research effective methods by testing different modules in different preschools.

Conclusion 

I selected this research topic because of the negative things we experience as a society and considered that this is due to a lack of creativity and positive attitudes among people. In this direction, developing creativity and positive attitudes in an early stage of a child is very important and can make an impact on that same adult. Also, some policies and standards need to be changed to achieve a quality standard in preschool education in Sri Lanka. In addition, many opinions were received from both parents and preschool teachers, which will be helpful to improve preschool education. However, due to lack of time and the inability to consider unreliable answers to questions, and as this research contains personal views, this does not generalize. Furthermore, there will be limitations in this research, due to not receiving responses equally from each district, the majority of responses to the questionnaires from only 6 – 9 districts, and also the Covid-19 Pandemic. In addition, there were some irrelevant answers among the responses received. There were situations when the target data-collecting groups did not want to provide answers. Taking into consideration all the reasons stated above, there will be limitations within this research.

 [1] Art, science, or profession of teaching. There are many moving parts to pedagogy that include teaching styles, feedback, and assessment.

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Declaration

“I certify that the content of this research is my study findings. The information and data given in the report are authentic to the best of my knowledge.”

– Enudi Perera (2022-09-29)

Whyteleafe Academy

Dedicated to the 2022 World Science Day & International Week of Science and Peace byThe Light Millennium, Charitable Global Human Advancement Organization (LMGlobal.Org; 2001, New York); associated with the United Nations Department of Global Communications (formerly, UN.DPI) since 2005. www.lmglobal.org

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