Article

A Study on the Development and Effects of the Parent Education Program for Children\'s Creativity Improvement

Author

김경은,정옥분

Information

pp. 35~63 / 2007 Vol.14 No.1

Abstract

The present study focused upon attempts to develop the Parent Education Program to enhance children\'s creativity and to examine the effects of the program. The objective of this program is to enhance children\'s creativity by helping parents understand the importance of creativity and learn their role in fostering their children\'s creative development, for example, guiding children to use creative thinking skills and making a more open atmosphere for children to explore and learn). The program consists of 8 sessions and each session employs a variety of activities and teaching methods to engage the parents\' interest. Also, this program includes creative activities which offer children positive opportunities to express their ideas and experiences with their parents at home. The subjects of this study were 74 mothers and their kindergarten children in the Seoul, Korea area. Thirty-five mother-child pairs were assigned to the control group and 39 mother-child pairs were assigned to the experimental group. Mothers in the experimental group participated in this program for 8 sessions over the course of eight weeks. Several MANCOVAs and canonical discriminant analyses were performed for data analyses. The results of the analyses indicated that the Parent Education Program for Children\'s Creativity Improvement was effective in both promoting parents\' creativity and enhancing their children\'s creativity. Furthermore, the program was found to be very effective in helping parents understand themselves, children, and family members much better. The findings will provide a guideline for parents to understand what is important in children\'s creativity development and how to utilize effective methods for improving children\'s creativity.

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