Advancing collaborative creativity in the context of Greek teachers' in-service training in environmental education
This paper presents the research design of a case study aiming to enhance Greek environmental educators' competence in collaborative creativity through online training. The study, which is part of an on-going research project, entails the design of an e-learning course, the development and evaluation of a collaborative creativity framework called Hybrid Synergy and an associated tool to support it, and the identification of specific patterns related to the participants' engagement with the provided e-learning activities.
Fostering creative thinking : the role of primary teachers
Τα τελευταία χρόνια παρατηρείται μια αυξανόμενη απαίτηση για δημιουργικότητα σε όλους τους τομείς της ανθρώπινης δραστηριότητας. Η πρωτοβάθμια εκπαίδευση πασχίζει να συμβαδίσει με τις νέες κοινωνικοοικονομικές ανάγκες και να προετοιμάσει τους δημιουργικούς πολίτες του μέλλοντος. Αν και οι εκπαιδευτικοί της πρωτοβάθμιας εκπαίδευσης παίζουν καθοριστικό ρόλο, άλλοτε θετικό και άλλοτε αρνητικό, στην καλλιέργεια της δημιουργικότητας των μαθητών, λίγες έρευνες έχουν διεξαχθεί σχετικά με τη συμβολή τους στην καλλιέργεια της δημιουργικής σκέψης των μαθητών και τις απόψεις τους για το θέμα αυτό. Η θεμελιωμένη γνώση (situated knowledge) των Ελλήνων εκπαιδευτικών πρωτοβάθμιας εκπαίδευσης και η εμπειρί…
Hybrid Synergy for Virtual Knowledge Working
Recent rapid technological advancement has influenced communication and information management. In addition, it has facilitated collaboration, an interactive process that engages participants who work together to achieve outcomes they could not accomplish independently. Using new technologies for remote collaboration from U.K., Finland, and Greece, we created our own collaboration and creativity technique as best practices for our team by utilizing an adaptation of Collaborative E-Learning and Six Thinking Hats. We call this model for knowledge working to enhance collaborative creativity Hybrid Synergy. The question under investigation was “What tools, methodologies, techniques, and practic…
In-service and prospective teachers’ conceptions of creativity
Abstract Teachers play a crucial role in the development of primary school students’ creative potential in either a positive or a negative way. This paper aims to draw attention to in-service and prospective teachers’ conceptions of creativity and answer three main research questions: “What are the teachers’ conceptions and implicit theories of creativity in general?”, “What are the teachers’ conceptions and implicit theories of creativity in the context of primary education?”, and “How well-trained and equipped do teachers feel to play their key role in the development of students’ creative potential?” A self-report questionnaire was used as an instrument to gather qualitative and quantita…
Redefining Creativity - Analyzing Definitions, Collocations, and Consequences
How holistically is human creativity defined, investigated, and understood? Until recently, most scientific research on creativity has focused on its positive side. However, creativity might not only be a desirable resource but also be a potential threat. In order to redefine creativity we need to analyze and understand definitions, collocations, and consequences of creativity. In this paper, we reviewed 42 explicit definitions and 120 collocations. The thematic analysis of our data reveals that the vast majority of creativity definitions do not emphasize the positive/negative aspects of the concept. Neither are the negative aspects of creativity emphasized in its numerous collocations. Thu…