Changes in Korean Science Teachers' Perceptions of Creativity and Science Teaching After Participating in an Overseas Professional Development Program
Soo-Young Lee TERC
0
1
Cambridge
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1
MA
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1
U.S.A.
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1
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J. Steve Oliver,
& Bonnie Cramond College of Education, The University of Georgia
,
Athens, GA 30602 U.S.A
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Soonhye Park College of Education, The University of Toledo
, Toledo,
OH 43606 U.S.A
This study investigated changes in Korean science teachers' perceptions of creativity and science teaching after participating in an overseas professional development program. Participants were 35 secondary science teachers. Data were collected from open-ended questionnaires and interviews. Results indicated that participants showed a growing awareness that creativity can be expressed by every student; creativity can be enhanced; science has a much wider range of activities that foster creativity; and creativity-centered science teaching can be implemented in Korea. The major elements of the professional program that promoted these perceptual changes included hands-on creativity activities, observation of creativitycentered classrooms, and discussion with other teachers. Follow-up study revealed that their perceptual changes have been reflected in their teaching practices.
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Recent educational reforms in Korea aim to rear creative human beings who are
well prepared for the Information Age of the 21st Century (Ministry of Education,
2000), where productivity is measured by innovation and problem-solving skills
instead of by merchandise produced (Toffler, 1984). Under the assumption that
scientific advancement is essential to the nations economic competitiveness, a recent
national curriculum revision in science education addressed the importance of
fostering students creativity, and creativity-centered science teaching has become a
catchphrase among science educators in Korea. In general, creativity-centered
science teaching is an instructional approach that places the focus of science instruction
on the development of students creativity, as well as their conceptual understanding
of science. The research, however, indicated that Korean science teachers exhibit
uneasiness about the educational reform, struggling with how to teach science to
improve students creativity (Yoo & Sohn, 2001). This appeared to mainly result
from the fact that teachers themselves have never been taught creativity-centered
instruction as learners (Yoo & Sohn, 2001). Rare, indeed, is the teacher who can
inspire students to do what he or she has never actually experienced.
Since a teacher is the main mediator between any curriculum reform and
classroom practice, to enhance students creativity through science education, science
teachers need to develop the competency necessary to implement the
creativitycentered teaching approach. Accordingly, the Torrance Center for Creativity and
Talent Development at the University of Georgia (UGA) was asked to design a
professional development program (hereafter called the UGA program) to help Korean
science teachers develop strategies to foster students creativity in science. This
invitation followed from UGAs long tradition of development and research in the
fields of both creativity and science education.
This research study evolved from the belief that initiatives to reform our schools
will undoubtedly flounder if we ignore the centrality of teachers perceptions, beliefs,
and practices. Educational change must always be mediated through the minds and
motives of teachers. In this vein, this study sought to identify changes in the UGA
program participating teachers perceptions of the nature of creativity and science
teaching and to identify specific elements of the program that seemed to promote
the perceptual changes. Research questions of this study were as follows:
1. What changes in Korean science teachers perceptions of creativity and science
teaching can be identified after they participated in the program?
2. What specific elements of the program (e.g., lectures, school visits and classroom
observations, workshops, discussions) seemed to contribute to these changes?
The purpose of this study was twofold. The present study sought to identify
the nature of teachers perceptual changes after participating in a specific
professional development program. This understanding was to enable us to evaluate the
effectiveness of the program in terms of its goals. The other purpose was to gain a
better understanding of the elements of the professional development program that
promote the desired teachers perceptual changes. Once identified, these elements
can serve as crucial components of future professional development programs for
creativity-centered science teaching. Accordingly, this research study contributes to
the research-based design of professional development programs for science
teachers in Korea.
The theoretical framework of this study is based on a review of the literature
in three areas: science education, teacher education, and educational psychology. A
comprehensive review of the relevant literature revealed that three lines of
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