The Role of Social Education Teachers in enhancing Creative Thinking Skills among Secondary Students at Al Qanfatha District Schools From Viewpoints of students and Teachers

الملخص

The Role of Social Education Teachers in enhancing Creative Thinking Skills among Secondary Students at Al Qanfatha District Schools From Viewpoints of students and Teachers

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to identify the part social education teachers take in enhancing creative thinking skills among secondary students in Al Qanftha District schools from viewpoints of teachers and their students. Population inclusively consisted of (438) male and female teachers of social education at schools within Al Qanfatha District and (780) students. The arbitrary randomly selected sample consisted of (66) teachers (M=40, F=26) and (130) students (M=65, F=65) based on Al Qanfatha School District statistics for the academic year (1433/1434 AH). To achieve the study goals, two-part questionnaire was  designed.  Part one targeted teachers with (35) items covering four areas: freedom of opinion, acceptance of creativity, teaching methods and activities, and assessment methods. Part two targeted students with (69) items covering five skills: fluency, flexibility, originality, sensitivity to problems, and elaborations. Results showed that teachers use enhancement methods of creative thinking moderately; whereas student's use was high on the "originality and flexibility" and moderate on the "originality, sensitivity to problems and elaborations). However, there were no statistically significant differences on the areas of the scale, whereas statistically significant differences were found on the "flexibility, originality, and sensitivity to problems" areas attributed to gender in favor of males compared with females. Further, there were no statistically significant differences on the "fluency and elaborations" areas by gender. The study recommended organization of training workshops for social education teachers on employing creative thinking methods in their teaching, and motivate students to use creative thinking skills in the instructional situations.

Keywords: Creative Thinking Skills, Social Studies Teaching Methods, Social Education Teachers, Secondary School