”If I were wise so, I would clean” : Children's creative processes in day nursery

It has been found usually to talk in the early childhood education in connection with the creativity about arts and skills and about play. In this treatise, the creativity is approached besides play but also from the point of view of the creativity of the everyday. The starting point for the study is the view according to which the creativity is complex interaction between a creative person and an environment. The theoretical body of the study is the Componential theory of creativity of Amabile (1996). The process which is open and product which is new and suitable or acceptable were defined creative. In the opinion of many researchers, the creativity is a phenomenon that has determined in a certain time and place so the creativity is examined from the point of view of the social constructionism. As creative processes in the day nursery it has been defined pretend play, child's involvement and children's agentive perception which is based on the Children's agentive perception theory of Reunamo (2007). The purpose of the study is to clarify how the child's personal factors and the social environment affect the creative processes of children in the day nursery. This Master's thesis is based on the Children's agentive perception uncovered study led by Jyrki Reunamo (2010) which was carried out in the spring of 2010 in Keski-Uusimaa and in Hämeenlinna and Taiwan. From the study, a name has also been used "on the sources of Orientation", a research project and development project. The study includes the children's evaluation sector, the observation sector, the children's interview sector and the evaluation sector of the pedagogic environment. 891 Children 1-7 year-old by age participated in the study. All the sectors which belong to the study of Reunamo were utilized in this treatise and the Finnish day nurseries or preschool groups which had participated in the study were marked off as the target group. The main component analysis, sum variables, the correlation coefficients, Mann-Whitney's U-test and Kruskall-Wallas test were used for the statistical examination of the quantitative material. In this treatise it was noticed, both the personal properties of the child and a social environment, that they affected all the examined creative processes which also had a significant connection with each other statistically. The definition of creativity was filled best by the participative answers. However, the number of the participative answers was only 8% in the questions concerning adults. That raised the question whether an attempt should be made to have effect so that the children's better participation also in the interaction with the adults would be possible in the educational culture of the day nursery. In the further study, the conscious building of the social environment which supports the creativity from a social constructionism point of view could indeed be an interesting task. The treatise is suitable for an examination of the interaction between the child's person and a social environment especially from the point of view of the creativity.Varhaiskasvatuksessa on luovuuden yhteydessä tavattu puhua yleensä taito- ja taideaineista sekä leikistä. Tässä tutkielmassa luovuutta lähestytään paitsi leikin niin myös arkipäivän luovuuden näkökulmasta. Tarkastelussa lähdetään liikkeelle näkemyksestä, jonka mukaan luovuus on luovan persoonan ja ympäristön välistä monimutkaista vuorovaikutusta. Tutkimuksen teoreettisena runkona käytetään Amabilen (1996) Componential theory of creativity-teoriaa. Luovaksi määriteltiin prosessi, joka on avoin ja produkti, joka on uusi sekä sopiva tai hyväksyttävä. Luovuus on monien tutkijoiden mielestä tiettyyn aikaan ja paikkaan sidottu ilmiö, joten luovuutta tarkastellaan sosiokonstruktivistisen tiedonkäsityksen näkökulmasta. Luoviksi prosesseiksi päiväkodissa on määritelty luovuus mielikuvitusleikeissä, lapsen toimintaan sitoutuneisuus ja lapsen hahmotuksen agenssi, joka perustuu Reunamon (2007) Children's agentive perception -teoriaan. Tutkimuksen tarkoitus on selvittää, miten lapsen persoonalliset tekijät sekä sosiaalinen ympäristö vaikuttavat lapsen luoviin prosesseihin päiväkodissa. Tämä pro gradu-tutkielma perustuu Jyrki Reunamon (2010) johtamaan "Children's agentive perception uncovered" -tutkimukseen, joka toteutettiin Keski-Uudellamaalla ja Hämeenlinnassa sekä Taiwanissa keväällä 2010. Tutkimuksesta on käytetty myös nimeä "Orientaation lähteillä"- tutkimus- ja kehittämishanke. Tutkimukseen kuuluu lasten arviointiosuus, havainnointiosuus, lasten haastatteluosuus ja pedagogisen ympäristön arviointiosuus. Tutkimukseen osallistui 891 iältään 1-7-vuotiasta lasta. Tässä tutkielmassa käytettiin hyväksi kaikkia Reunamon tutkimukseen kuuluvia osa-alueita ja kohderyhmäksi rajattiin tutkimukseen osallistuneet suomalaiset päiväkodit tai esiopetusryhmät. Kvantitatiivisen aineiston tilastolliseen tarkasteluun käytettiin pääkomponenttianalyysiä, summamuuttujia, korrelaatiokertoimia, Mann-Whitneyn U-testiä sekä Kruskall-Wallasin testiä. Tässä tutkielmassa havaittiin, että sekä lapsen persoonalliset ominaisuudet että sosiaalinen ympäristö vaikuttivat kaikkiin tarkasteltuihin luoviin prosesseihin, joilla oli myös tilastollisesti vähintään melkein merkitsevä yhteys toistensa kanssa. Lapsen hahmotuksen agensseista "luovuuden" määritelmän täyttivät parhaiten osallistuvat vastaukset. Osallistuvien vastausten määrä oli aikuisia koskevissa kysymyksissä kuitenkin vain 8%, mikä herätti kysymyksen siitä, pitäisikö päiväkodin kasvatuskulttuuriin pyrkiä vaikuttamaan siten, että lasten parempi osallistuminen myös vuorovaikutuksessa aikuisten kanssa mahdollistuisi. Jatkotutkimuksen kannalta luovuutta tukevan sosiaalisen ympäristön tietoinen rakentaminen sosiokonstruktivistisesta näkökulmasta voisikin olla kiinnostava tehtävä. Tutkielma soveltuu lapsen persoonan ja sosiaalisen ympäristön välisen vuorovaikutuksen tarkasteluun erityisesti luovuuden näkökulmasta

Children’s creative thinking abilities and social orientations in Finnish early childhood education and care

The study presented in this article is part of a larger study called Progressive Feedback (blogs.helsinki.fi/orientate), which is an early childhood education and care (ECEC) research and development project. The aim of this article is to find out (a) how childrens tested creative thinking abilities, fluency, originality and imagination correlated with childrens social orientations in kindergarten and (b) how childrens participative orientations occur in relation with the teacher and peers. The data consist of Reunamo's child interview tool and the Thinking Creatively in Action and Movement (TCAM) test. The data (280 children from 23 kindergartens and pre-primary schools) were gathered from two municipalities in southern Finland. The results show that the participative orientation was strongly connected with creative thinking abilities, but it was rare in social situations concerning adults. In participative orientation, children concern the situation and intend to change it.Peer reviewe

Children’s social orientations as creative processes in early childhood education and care

The purpose of this article is to study children’s social orientations as creative processes in early childhood education and care (ECEC). In this article, we focus on how children’s creative thinking abilities relate to children’s social orientations in interactive situations in ECEC. We study children’s creative thinking abilities with the Thinking Creatively in Action and Movement [TCAM] -test and children’s social orientations with the Child observation instrument of Reunamo (2007). Two hundred and eighty children in 23 ECEC institutions participated in the research. There were altogether eight randomly selected days for the observation between January and May 2015. The TCAM-test was conducted by teachers for their own group. The connections between the TCAM-test and the Child observation instrument were studied with partial correlations controlling children’s age. The results showed that children’s creative thinking abilities were associated positively with participative social orientation. An adaptive and withdrawn orientation had negative correlations with creative thinking abilities.Peer reviewe

Children’s social orientations as creative processes in early childhood education and care

The purpose of this article is to study children’s social orientations as creative processes in early childhood education and care (ECEC). In this article, we focus on how children’s creative thinking abilities relate to children’s social orientations in interactive situations in ECEC. We study children’s creative thinking abilities with the Thinking Creatively in Action and Movement [TCAM] -test and children’s social orientations with the Child observation instrument of Reunamo (2007). Two hundred and eighty children in 23 ECEC institutions participated in the research. There were altogether eight randomly selected days for the observation between January and May 2015. The TCAM-test was conducted by teachers for their own group. The connections between the TCAM-test and the Child observation instrument were studied with partial correlations controlling children’s age. The results showed that children’s creative thinking abilities were associated positively with participative social orientation. An adaptive and withdrawn orientation had negative correlations with creative thinking abilities.Peer reviewe

Kirja-arvio

Finns in the United States: A History of Settlement, Dissent, and Integration. Edited by Auvo Kostiainen. Michigan State University Press. East Lancing, Michigan 2014. 342 s. ISBN 978-1-61186-106-8. Pepicelli, Renata: Islamin huntu. Vastapaino, Tampere 2014. 256 s. ISBN 978-951-768-432-3. Davis Helberg (toim.): Esko’s Corner. An Illustrated History of Esko & Thomson Township. Esko, MN, 2013. 387 s. ISBN 978-1-887317-61-0

Children’s creative thinking abilities and social orientations in Finnish early childhood education and care

The study presented in this article is part of a larger study called Progressive Feedback (blogs.helsinki.fi/orientate), which is an early childhood education and care (ECEC) research and development project. The aim of this article is to find out (a) how childrens tested creative thinking abilities, fluency, originality and imagination correlated with childrens social orientations in kindergarten and (b) how childrens participative orientations occur in relation with the teacher and peers. The data consist of Reunamo's child interview tool and the Thinking Creatively in Action and Movement (TCAM) test. The data (280 children from 23 kindergartens and pre-primary schools) were gathered from two municipalities in southern Finland. The results show that the participative orientation was strongly connected with creative thinking abilities, but it was rare in social situations concerning adults. In participative orientation, children concern the situation and intend to change it.Peer reviewe

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for chronic prostatitis/ chronic pelvic pain syndrome : A prospective pilot study

Purpose: To evaluate the feasibility, efficacy, and safety of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in patients with treatment-resistant chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS). Methods: Eleven patients with CP/CPPS were enrolled in this prospective clinical study. rTMS was performed for 5 consecutive days in 20-minute sessions. Patients were evaluated at baseline, after treatment, and at 1, 4, 8, and 12 weeks after the last session with questionnaires concerning pain (numerical rating scale [NRS], the National Institutes of Health Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index [NIH-CPSI], and the Short Form-36 [SF-36]), urinary symptoms (NIH-CPSI, Danish Prostatic Symptom Score [DAN-PSS-1]), quality of life (NIH-CPSI, SF-36), and psychometrics (Beck Depression Index [BDI]). Telephone-based interviews were used to evaluate side effects, subjective response, and changes in drug consumption. Results: All patients completed the planned treatment and follow-up according to protocol. No patients experienced serious side effects or significant pain increase during or after treatment. Mild transient tension headache responsive to oral pain medication was reported by 2 patients. Decreased pain was observed on the NRS after treatment and at 1 and 8 weeks (P = 0.019, P = 0.006, P = 0.042, respectively) and on the NIH-CPSI pain domain at 1 week (P = 0.04). Improvement in lower urinary tract symptoms was observed after treatment in the NIH-CPSI urinary domain (P = 0.02) but not with the DAN-PSS-1. No significant changes in the BDI were observed. Nine patients reported a positive overall subjective response (82%) and 6 patients (55%) were able to reduce pain medication. Higher age was associated with lower NRS scores after treatment (R = 0.605, P = 0.048) and at 8 weeks (R = 0.659, P = 0.028). Conclusions: rTMS for patients with CP/CPPS seemed to be well tolerated, at least moderately effective in pain reduction, and might be of interest in patients with chronic pelvic pain resistant to conventional treatment. These findings remain to be confirmed by a randomized trial.publishedVersionPeer reviewe