The development of creativity in Chilean kindergarten and school children

Barraza, Paulo; Preiss, David D.; Pardo, Marcela

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore the development of creativity in Chilean kindergarten and school children. For this, we evaluated non-verbal divergent and convergent thinking skills in a sample of 320 Chilean kindergarten, second-, fourth- and sixth-grade school children. We found that kindergarten and second-grade children showed a lower performance in creative fluency and originality than fourth-grade and sixth-grade children. In addition, we found that kindergarten and second-grade children had a low performance in creative elaboration, which worsened in the fourth and sixth grades. We did not find differences between the different educational levels in convergent thinking skills. Our results contradict previous international studies that report a stable development of creativity throughout the first few years of schooling, with a transitory slump in the fourth or sixth grade, revealing an early slump of creative skills in Chilean children, which rebound after the fourth grade. We discuss the potential relationship between the academization and rigidization of Chilean early childhood education and the early slump in creativity.

Más información

Título según WOS: The development of creativity in Chilean kindergarten and school children
Título según SCOPUS: The development of creativity in Chilean kindergarten and school children / Desarrollo de la creatividad en párvulos y escolares chilenos
Título de la Revista: ESTUDIOS DE PSICOLOGIA
Volumen: 40
Número: 3
Editorial: ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
Fecha de publicación: 2019
Página de inicio: 608
Página final: 634
Idioma: English
DOI:

10.1080/02109395.2019.1655220

Notas: ISI, SCOPUS