Correlations between student teachers’ artistic creativity and their professional values Ilze Brishka, mg art Riga Teacher Training and Educational Management Academy

The problem of the study is the development of professional values of student teachers in university studio process. The aim of the study is to investigate the development of diversity and individuality as student teachers’ professional values within art curriculum. Hypothesis: Professional values of student teachers develop in the process of artistic creativity in visual art, if student obtains experience of aesthetic feelings, experience of the creative process and experience of self-efficacy.

The professional values of a teacher are personally significant ideas, objects and phenomena, what orient teacher’s professional action. According to educational actualities the criteria of teacher’s professional values are his/her orientation towards –Diversity, –Individuality, –Interaction with others and the world, –Professional autonomy.

Students are supposed to be involved in artistic creativity if they –Act in the framework of visual art (by visual and material form, culturally significant content and aesthetic focus of evaluation); –Create original products; –Act purposefully and conscious.

Pedagogical action

The process of values development of an adult person 1. Social concept of the value. 2. Direct experience of some value, in the sense of undergoing the situation in its wholeness, involving cognitive, affective and volition structures. 3. Evaluation of the emotional trend of this experience. 4. Analysis of the subjective sense of the experienced value for incorporating it into existing values settings and decision of the priority f some value as a result of it. 5. Realization of the new value in personally significant action. Bloom&Krahtwoll, 1964; Oллпoрт, 2002; Rogers, 1961; Dabrowsky, 1972; Vidnere, 1997,1999; A. Леонтъев, 1975; Столович, 1999; Франкл,1990; Д. Леонтъев, 1998). The content of values developent depends on the contents of ones experience.

Te constitutional components of art – its content, form and contexts are extremely variable and unique in each particular case. Aesthetic evaluation differentiates the art from the rest of human activities with its sensuality, subjectivity and wholeness of artistic cognition, communication and creation and interest in unique, individual appearances of the outer world and human personality. Experience of artistic creativity promotes experience of powerful emotions. Artistic creativity expands the opportunities of experience of diversity and individuality as values because of:

Experience of artistic creativity 1.Experience of art as an object of artistic action - delight, elation, enjoyment, pleasure, satisfaction passion, animation, excitement, empathic co-experience of feelings of “other”. Выготский, 1922; Dewey, 1934 Kasīrers, 1944; Eisners, 1985; Gadamers, 1986; Бoрев, 1988; Kagan, 1998; Столович, 1999; Velšs Experience of the self as the subject of an action - self- enhancement, self-efficacy, independence, freedom, power, courage, integrity, self-acceptance. Маслоу, 1970; Bandura, 1987; Cropley, Experience of creative process as subject – object’s interaction - enthusiasm, surprise, exaltation, vigilance, deep concentration together with peacefulness, security, surrender, rejecting control. Guilford, 1967; Torrance, 1993; Де Боно,1997; Edwards, 1999; Дружинин, 2000; Csikszentmihalyi,2002

Research methods Interpretative research, combining quantitative and qualitative methods, using the approach of triangulation (Mayring, 2003; Huber 2003 – 2008). Data collecting methods: questionnaire and interviews. Data proceeding methods: - for questionnaire: factor analysis, Cronbach's Alpha test, interpretation of factors, Rank of cases, Pearson correlations, crosstabs (SPSS) - for interviews: content analysis, analysis of frequencies, generalization (AQUAD6, SPSS). Basis of the research For quantitative study: student teachers in Riga Teacher Training and Educational Management academy, Latvian University and University of Daugavpils (273 students). For qualitative study: 14 students with different experiences of artistic creativity in the borders of professional studies.

Findings

Correlations

Orientation to diversity and individuality D+, I+D-, I- - There is no a one standard useful for all (R). - You can do it different way. There is not right and wrong works. Simply you should to say (ask), why he have don that thing (A). - It is easier to me to accept the diversity of children (A). - We all were different, and that was so amazing. - Each child is able to (say, draw, do something, etc.) (L, A) -To understand, that the value is – to make by myself (M) - Children can be creative, too; the teacher can give them the freedom to experiment, to say they own thoughts. - The evaluation should take into consideration the voice co a child (C) There are people (children), who can do something (say, express, learn) and who cannot (I). She is very talented, but if she does not do the same as others, she can not get a good mark (B).

Generalization after the 1st cycle of analysis

Experience of aesthetic feelings

Experience of creative process

Generalization after 2 cycle of analysis

Relation between orientation to diversity and individuality and the kind of evaluation

Conclusions Students’ experience of artistic creativity during art classes has significant interrelations with diversity and individuality as their professional values if: Students’ aesthetic experience is related to sensual perception, emotional excitement, compassion and communication of meanings. Aesthetic feelings as experience of beauty - elation, delight are not sufficient there. Students experience challenge, creative insights and sense of freedom. Enthusiasm, interest, delight, joy and reliance during the creative process are not sufficient experiences for values development. The context of the evaluation of students’ experience has there a great importance. Sensitivity towards ones feelings, subjective sense and courage are more effective as orientation to socially accepted criteria of quality.

Suggestions for fostering the development of professional values of student teachers in art classes to create the opportunity to encounter and express different emotions and feelings (not only delight and enthusiasm); to arrange the content of artistic creativity as challenging exercises of intellectual capacities (not only as free expression); not to stress professional criteria for art work, but to accent individual, subjective criteria for evaluation of their creative works; to foster reflection of individual emotional reactions and sharing its results with peers and pedagogue.

Discussion Aesthetic values and critical values in teachers’ education. Communication of emotions not only in a content of art classes, but in any other courses. Teacher as researcher, reflective practicioner, psychologist and artist.