Comparison of the effectiveness of art-play therapy and mindfulness training on the creativity of male elementary school students

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Ph.D. student in Educational Psychology, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz Branch. Iran.

2 Professor, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, University of Tabriz. Iran

3 Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz Branch.Iran

Abstract

Introduction
One of the cognitive skills of children is creativity. Creativity is a complex type of cognition that involves countless processes (Takeuchi & Jung, 2019). Creativity is a psychological process that leads to problem solving, idea generation, conceptualization, art formulation, and theorizing that is innovative and unique (Nazari & Yazdanseta, 2019).
Given today's conditions and the daily advancement of technology, it is thought that education should only focus specifically on employing and training people to use these technologies properly. But just owning and using these technologies does not help people in the world today and in the future. Today, the important issue is to train people who can acquire different types of thinking skills and face the changes that they face every day, and make appropriate decisions with the help of these skills (Badri Gargari & et al. 2014).
Play and art, due to their relevance to childhood, have received more attention from psychologists and researchers in the field of creative development. By engaging children in fun, entertaining, and enjoyable activities, children can be well helped to break free from cognitive and social inhibitions and develop their cognitive abilities. Games and artistic activities such as painting and storytelling, theater and drama are a series of enjoyable, optional, child-centered, motivational activities involving flexibility in choosing and using an object (Landreth, 2012).
Mindfulness is a method of education that is increasingly used. This treatment is a special type of short-term and immediate treatment that motivates and interested people who have just entered training or people who are in training (Crane, 2013). The goal of mindfulness is for people to become aware of their thoughts, feelings, and bodily senses and to communicate differently with them. Through mindfulness and sitting meditation exercises focusing on breathing as well as cognitive skills training, they are provided with the opportunity to automatically detect the activity of their dysfunctional cognitive processes (Piet & Hougaard, 2011).
Method
The present study was a pre-test-post-test design with a control group in terms of quasi-experimental method and type of research design. The statistical population of the present study included all sixth grade elementary school students in Buchan in the academic year 1399-1400. The sampling method in the present study was multi-stage random. First, three elementary schools in Buchan were selected by random sampling method and one of the sixth grades of each school was randomly selected. Based on Delavar's (2006) opinion that there were at least 15 students for each group in the pilot study, 45 sixth-grade elementary students (15 students from each class) were selected. Then, in one of the groups, art-rehabilitation interventions were applied randomly and in the other group, mindfulness intervention was applied and in the third group, no intervention was performed. Students' creativity in the groups was measured before and after the intervention.
Research tools
Abedi Creativity Test: (1993) Abedi tried to find a tool to measure creativity that can be performed and scored in a relatively short time while having acceptable validity and reliability. According to Haji Yakhchali (2010), based on Torrance's theory, Abedi developed a 75-item (multi-answer) test to measure creativity and revised it in 1986 at the University of California. The current form of the test was developed in 1992 by a group of students at the University of California, Los Angeles (O’neil, Abedi & Spiel Berger, 1992). Abed's creativity test materials measure the four components of fluidity, initiative, flexibility and expansion. (Kefayat, 1994) The form used in this research consists of 60 articles.
Haji Yakhchali (2010) The reliability of this test using Cronbach's alpha, halving, Spearman-Brown and Guttman methods for total score and fluid components, initiative, flexibility and expansion, respectively, 0.89, 0.74, 0.80, / 72. Has obtained 0 and 0.72.
Discussion and conclusion
The aim of this study was to determine the effect of art-play therapy and mindfulness on students' creativity and to compare the effectiveness of art-play therapy and mindfulness training on the creativity of male elementary school students. The results showed that art-play therapy is effective on the growth of elementary students' creativity. In other words, elementary students who during their training from learning activities such as creative play and group painting, drawing scrambled draws, drawing from three situations, storytelling and performing plays appropriate to the drawings or scenes created on the sandplate, garden technique Thinking, thinking and feeling hours, performing group painting or two-person group work, using puppets, these students presented divergent ideas, new solutions, divergent thoughts in comparison with other students. Findings of some studies such as Hesari (2018), Sansanwal (2014) and Garagordobil & Berueco (2011) confirm the findings of this study.
Explaining the findings of the present study, we can say that according to Guilford's theoretical foundations, we consider creativity as divergent thinking in which the child tries to reach possible solutions, avoids correct answers and generates strange, original and original ideas, and on the other hand If, according to Torance, quoting (Bahar & Ozturk, 2018), creativity is the process of becoming sensitive to a problem, searching for a solution, guessing, the content of the art-play therapy program overlaps with the theoretical foundations of creativity. In the art-play therapy program, guess the technique through learning activities and various techniques such as creative acting and group painting, drawing scrambled draws, drawing from three situations, storytelling and performing plays appropriate to the drawings or scenes created on the sand screen. What do I think about, the garden of thought technique, the hour of thinking and feeling, performing group painting or group work of two people, using puppets, playing social and family roles, performing the technique of stop now and reflect, painting ten of The happiest life events and other learning activities provided elementary students with the opportunity to break free from problem-solving stereotypes and stereotypes and to be able to think differently with the help of their peers, and such a learning environment has stimulated their creativity.
Finally, the research findings showed that the effect of art-play therapy in increasing students' creativity was greater than mindfulness training. Hamamci (2002) in his research showed that this method uses its specific strategies to play an important role in increasing creativity. Playing, on the other hand, prepares children physically to prepare them for learning and acceptance. In fact, it activates the mental and physical forces to be creative. By attending intervention sessions, students are more successful in finding original and new solutions to problems, and when children are exposed to ways to increase creativity, they prefer play and art to other methods (Mohammadpour Varandi, Hosseini Tabaghdehi & Emadiyan, 2019).

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Main Subjects

References

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