Zbornik Instituta za pedagoska istrazivanja 2016 Volume 48, Issue 2, Pages: 207-230
https://doi.org/10.2298/ZIPI1602207S
Full text ( 387 KB)
The effects of the trefoil pedagogical approach on encouraging creative behaviour in students
Šefer Jasmina (Institute for Educational Research, Belgrade)
Mirkov Snežana (Institute for Educational Research, Belgrade)
Тhis paper presents a portion of the results obtained in a more extensive
study dealing with monitoring of the work methods and the effects of an
experimental implementation of the Trefoil pedagogical approach, developed
based on pedagogical theories by the researchers from Belgrade. The Trefoil
is based on using group work, creative play, openended tasks, critical
dialogue, research work and students’ involvement in projects for which
teachers were trained through implementation and reflexive practice. The aim
of this longitudinal study is to determine the effects of the Trefoil on
encouraging initiative, cooperation and creativity in students. Research
participants were all teachers and students of an urban primary school during
one school year. Data on students’ creative work were collected and compared
before and after the experiment, obtained by expert observation of classes
and a teacher and student questionnaire. Data were processed using one-way
analysis of variance for repeated measures and two-way mixed analysis of
variance. The results pointed to positive effects of the Trefoil approach,
which, according to qualitative data, could probably have been bigger if the
experiment had lasted longer. Different assessors noticed progress in
encouraging students’ creativity, but in different domains. The results have
confirmed the justifiability of using the Trefoil approach, provided that its
validity is tested by implementation in other educational contexts for the
purposes of further research and enhancement of the initial conception.
Keywords: encouraging students’ creativity, divergent thinking, logical and criticalthinking, creative play, research work
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