Parents’ Roles and the Creative Potentials of Primary School Pupils in Ekiti State, Nigeria ()
1. Introduction
Creativity is required for sustainability in the industry, business centers, in school, at home and in our daily activities. Creativity is an indispensable factor that is Involved in economic growth in modern society [1]. It is also a process of producing something original and worthwhile [2]. In addition, [3] viewed creativity as an outcome that is novel, highly qualitative and appropriate to the required task. Furthermore, [4] referred to creativity as the originality or novelty that is involved in the final product of some ideas. Therefore, creativity can be described as the ability to think or reason in other to produce something attractive.
Based on the above definitions, it can be deduced that creative children have the potential to work hard and find solutions to some of their problems. Hence, the quest of the creator is often geared towards originality, problem-solving, productivity, and worthy outcomes [2]. All these can however be realized if they are well supported by their parents.
Parents are persons who bring up and care for the children. One of the proper roles of the parents is to provide encouragement, support and access to the activities that enable the children to master certain tasks. Parents are the children’s first teachers and therefore should also develop their creativity throughout life. Most theorists of child development have agreed that children are naturally creative and the role of the parents is to provide encouragement and support for their children. Therefore, parents influence and motivate the children and allow them to play, because playing is fundamental to creativity. [5] reported that a playful child can easily become creative. [6] also wrote that children can develop thinking and sensory learning through engagement with creative activities and that it is essential that they are offered an opportunity to engage with their creativity in the early stages of their education. [7] and [8] agreed with this line of thought by stating that it is an engagement with creative activities that promote children’s abilities to think about new ideas, express themselves, identify issues, and solve various problems. [9] believed that activities that enhance creativity and imagination are what lead children into embracing divergent forms of thinking. This can in turn lead to innovation through the processing of unique ideas and experiences. [10] Argued that creativity is present in early childhood and they needed to be developed on it. From all these points of view, it is evident that engaging children in creativity is essentially an important milestone in the development of creative thinkers and innovation from childhood to adulthood. [9] believed that if creativity is not developed during childhood years, it is not likely to be developed in later life. [11] wrote that children should be nurtured towards developing their creative abilities with their desire to engage more and more with creativity and thus become more and more creative right from the primary school level.
A primary school in Ekiti State, Nigeria is a place where children receive elementary education from the age of about five (5) to twelve (12) coming after pre-school and before secondary school. Pupils in the state nowadays are growing up in a highly visual world, surrounded by the images of television, videos, advertising display and other media. Visual art has not only provided these experiences but has also offered the means of helping pupils to understand and consolidate what they learn. Looking at a number of studies, we found that in order to promote creativity among pupils teachers also need to acquaint themselves with what it means to be creative as part of the professional learning process. The teachers themselves need to be creative in other to develop and support a creative learning environment for their pupils. This development incorporates both the physical environment of the classroom and the teaching environment. The school has been seen as privilege context for promoting creativity in order to enhance social and individual progress [12] and [13]. In the school context, teachers who are partners to parents are sources of information as well as role models for their pupils with respect to strategies and behaviors. They possess the responsibility for transmitting declarative and procedural knowledge [14]. Knowing that the curriculum can be an intended opportunity for fostering creativity teachers should be the main mediator between it and what is practised in the classroom [14]. Alongside the parents, creative teachers can encourage and infuse creative activities in children. In school a child’s creative ability can be measured through; Fluency, Originality, Flexibility, and Elaboration.
Fluency is described as the total number of responses to given problems or stimuli. It is measured by calculating the total number of ideas given out by respondents to a divergent thinking exercise [15]. Fluency is the production of multiple problems, ideas, alternatives or solutions. It has been shown that the more ideas we produce, the more likely we are to find a useful idea or solution.
Originality is the ability to generate new, different and unique ideas that others are not likely to generate [16]. It means getting away from the obvious and commonplace or breaking away from routine bound thinking [17]. Originality is out to measure the unusualness and uniqueness of responses to given stimuli.
Flexibility is the number of and/or uniqueness of categories of responses to given stimuli. It can also be regarded as a change in the meaning of words or interpretation given to something. It thus shows the number of categories that can be derived from the examinee responses [16]. Flexibility is the quality of being bent turned or twists without breaking, or the ability to create different categories of ideas and to perceive an idea from different points of view.
Elaboration is the ability to expand on an idea by giving details information, or the ability to create an intricate/elaborate plan. It is the ability to extend ideas within a specific category of responses to given stimuli. That is, it scores the ability to express further the purpose of the responses [15]. It is the process of embellishing an idea by adding details. It helps create new meanings and better understandings of things.
It is essential, therefore, to find out the creative potentials of the children in Ekiti state primary schools and determine the roles of their parents in developing their creativity.
2. Statement of the Problem
It appears that many parents in Ekiti State, Nigeria serve as a barrier to their children especially when they are trying to be creative through play. Some parents seem to be ignorant of this because of the perception they have about creativity. They believe it is a waste of time to engage in drawing, painting, molding and creating something attractive. It seems some parents prefer their children to become medical doctors, lawyers, bankers accountants, pilots, lecturers and other professionals without being mindful of the interests of the children. Parents are expected to explore and develop the creative thinking of their children by providing the resources they need for creative expression, make home a Petri dish for creativity, and allow kids to have freedom and autonomy to explore their ideas and do what they want. They are also expected to encourage children to read for pleasure and participate in arts.
It is also perceived that the influence of parents Ekiti State, Nigeria in supporting the creativity potentials of their children is downgrading. It seems parents believe that creativity is meant for low academic achievers, the school dropouts and the youth having curriculum challenges. In Ekiti State, Nigeria, it appears pupils in the entire primary schools have low interest in creative activities. The problem of low interest can therefore be solved by first finding out what the creative potentials of the children look like as well as what transpires at home with the parents who are the primary creativity developer and career initiators.
3. Purpose of the Study
This study examined the influence of parents’ role on the creative potentials of primary school pupils in Ekiti State, Nigeria. Specifically, this study sought to:
1) Determine the creative potentials of primary school pupils in Ekiti-State.
2) Investigate the influence of parents on the creative ability of primary school pupils.
4. Research Questions
The research sought to answer the following questions:
1) What are the creative potentials of the primary school pupils in Ekiti State?
2) What is the influence of parents on creative potentials of primary school pupils in Ekiti State?
5. Methodology
The study employed a descriptive research design of the survey type. A purposive random sampling technique was used to select a total of 350 participants among primary school pupils in Ado Local Government Area of Ekiti State, Nigeria (being the State capital). The instrument used for data collection was a structured Questionnaire. The instrument was made up of three main sections, that is section A, B and C. Section A provides personal information on the pupils; such as their school and gender. Section B consisted of 10 items and sought information on the pupils’ creative potentials. While section C also consisted of 10 items and sought information on parents’ influence on creativity potentials of the children. The instrument contained Yes or No options to which pupils are expected to respond as appropriate. The instrument was subjected to face and content validity, while the reliability coefficient of 0.72 was achieved using test retest method.
Data were collected by administering the instruments on the pupils through some Research Assistants and their teachers. Data collected from the study were analyzed using frequency counts and percentages.
6. Results
6.1. Research Question 1
What are the creative potentials of the primary school pupils in Ekiti State, Nigeria?
The analysis based on creative potentials of pupils in Ekiti State Primary schools is presented in Table 1 below.
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Table 1. Frequency and percentage of pupils’ creative potentials.
Table 1 shows that the pupils do engage in all the creative activities outlined from items 1 to 8 and 10 with those who engage in them ranging from 203 (58.0%) to 315 (90.0%). Although 166 (47.4%) of the respondents said they influence others to follow their ideas, while 184 (52.6%) of the students showed negative response to this as contained in item 9. The table also reveals that 68.6% of the respondents can come up with new ideas, while 31.331.4% of them cannot come up with new ideas. In addition, 90% of the respondents can easily build on others ideas while 10% of them negated the opinion. It is also revealed that 58% of the respondents can challenge the chosen problem in appositive way, while 42% negated the opinion. Also, 67.4% of the respondents can shape the ideas of others in a new way, while 32.6% negated the opinion. In addition, 85.4% can solve problems by looking at them from a different perspective, while 14.6% negate the opinion. The table shows further that 62.6% can work with others to bring out new ideas, while 37.4% negated the opinion. It can also be observed that while 76% of the respondents can easily see how to extend and build on a good idea, 24% cannot. In addition, while 75.4% of the respondents can step back from a problem and see it in a bigger way, 24.6% find it difficult to do. Finally, while 58.6% as seen in the table, can find out the root cause of a problem, 41.4% cannot.
6.2. Research Question 2
What is the influence of parents on creative potentials of primary school pupils in Ekiti State?
The analysis based on the influence of parents on creativity of pupils in Ekiti State Primary schools is presented as shown in Table 2 below.
Table 2 shows the influence of parents on creativity of the pupils. The table shows that the parents have influence on the creative activities of the pupils as outline in items 1 to 7, 9 and 10. The pupils who indicated that their creativity is influenced by their parents range from 182 (52.0%) to 304 (86.9%). Although 159 (45.4%) of the respondents said their creativity is influenced by their parents, while 191 (54.6%) of the pupils indicated that their creativity is not influenced by their parents. From the table, 55.4% of the respondents indicated that their parents do encourage them to carry out practical activities at home, while 44.6% negated the opinion. It is also revealed that 60.6% of the parents do watch their children when they play objects, while 39.3% do not. It is also revealed that 73.4% of the parents usually buy toys and other play materials for their children, while 26.6% of the respondents negated the opinion. From the table, while 86.9% indicated that their parents want them to offer subjects based on their talents, 13.1% indicated that their parents do not. It is also revealed that 61.4% of the parents give their children free hands to relate with friends, while 38.6% negate the opinion. In addition, while 73.4% of the parents do advise their children to offer subject of their choice, 26.6% of the parents fail to do so. It can also be seen that 74% of the respondents indicated that their parents do often look forward to
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Table 2. Influence of parents on creative potentials of primary school pupils in Ekiti State, Nigeria.
what they will become in future, while 26% of them indicated that their parents do not. Furthermore, while just 45.4% of the respondents indicated that their parents are interested in seeing them draw on a rough sheet, 54.6% of them opined that their parents do not. The table also reveals that 60.6% of the respondents opined that their parents like them to build objects with papers or materials, while 39.4% negated the opinion. Finally, the table shows that that 52% of the respondents indicated that their parents do normally force them to read at leisure time, while 48% negated the opinion.
7. Discussion
The result on creative potentials of primary school pupils in Ekiti State, Nigeria showed that the pupils engaged in creative activities. Although the finding of the study showed that the pupils exhibited a negative response in influencing others to engage in creativity.
On their engagement on creative activity, the result of the findings agreed with that of sharp [2] that children who are creative have the quality to work hard continually by improving on existing ideas and find solutions to prevalent societal and national problems. The study hence supported the expression of the scholar that creativity process involves a number of components which include: Imagination, Problem solving, Originality, Productivity, and Capacity to produce worthy and valuable outcomes. The engagement of the children in playful activities as found in this study was in line with the findings and reports of some scholars such as [5] - [10]. [5] Reported that a playful child is seen as an individual who can easily be creative. [6] also expressed that children can develop thinking and sensory learning through engagement with creative activities and that it is essential they are offered an opportunity to engage with their creativity in the early stages of their education. [7] and [8] who also agreed with the line of thought stated that it is an engagement with creative activities that promotes children’s abilities to think about new ideas, express themselves, identify issues and solve various problems. In case of [9], the scholar believed that activities that enhance creativity and imagination are what lead children into embracing divergent forms of thinking that in turn leads to innovation through the processing of unique ideas and experiences. In order to cap it up, [10] argued that creativity is present in early childhood and they needed to be developed on it. On the other hand, [9] believed that if creativity is not engaged with during the naturally creative childhood years, no development can take place in later years.
Despite the involvement of the children in creative activities, the negative attitudes of the pupils to influence their peers who are regarded as part of their social environment as found in this study could negate the opinions of [18]. According to [18], social environment can motivate pupils extrinsically. The author also expressed that social environment could enhance the motivation of team work, diversity shelter, group work, freedom at works good supervision and managerial support.
Also, finding from the study revealed that parents had influence on the creative activities of the pupils. Thus the finding corroborated that of [19] who further revealed that parents who are teachers at home can build on children’s play by providing effective toys which are safe and suited to the child’s age, interests and abilities. The finding also supported the opinion of [2] that children are more likely to be creative if they come from the family that lay much emphasis on creativity. The reason is that a parent who is creative in a particular skill is going to train his child to be more creative in same skill. In addition, the willingness of the parents to buy toys and other play materials for the children as found in this study is an indication that the children will most likely be very creative in future because creativity development in child begins with the use of toys as a toddler. According to [19], Block play can provide a foundation for learning about problem solving basic mathematics problems and understanding of science concepts. Also, in most family, financial status improves with time. The financial improvement can therefore enable them to acquire TV characterized toys and other technological equipment. These are needed to motivate and enhance creativity in the children at this age [18]. As a result of this rapid growth to ensure a successful future for children, higher and tougher standards of learning are demanded for them. Hence children are compulsorily required to have access to new information and knowledge in a fast and easy way as discoveries and inventions are up at a rapid rate. This will enable them dwell in environments that promote creativity [20].
However, the study found that most parents do not support the children when they engage in drawing. The need to set some time apart to listen to music, and engage in drawings, painting negated the suggestion of [1] that the total design depicts the total number of relevant drawing the children are able to produce within the given time and the design must be relevant to the required specifications. It also negated the observation of [21] in a study that children are often seen playing with drawings and moulding of objects and that if care is taken to encourage and develop them in this line, they would develop in creativity and their creativity would help enhance sustainable development especially in technical and vocational education and training (TVET).
8. Conclusions and Recommendation
From the study, it was found that the children in Ekiti state actually engaged in activities that could enhance their creative development. It was also found that their parents do influence their creativity but the children themselves have not actually interacted with their peer group as expected. More so, the parents have not been encouraging their children to engage much in drawing during play. These two aspects, however, call for further investigation.
Based on the findings and in spite of the fact that creativity is required for sustainability in every facet of life, the following recommendations are made:
1) Parents should make sure they develop the creative thinking skills of their children by providing resources they need for creative expression.
2) They should encourage them to play with their peers and they should also be motivated to engage in drawings.
3) The Ministry of education should lay emphasis on the importance of creativity in all primary schools. They should also ensure instructional resources are channeled to all primary schools. Such materials include: visual arts, drawing materials, paints, colors, prints, fabric and fibers.
9. Suggestion for Further Study
Arising from the findings of this study, the followings are suggested for further Investigation:
There is a need to carry out a study on the level of interactions among peer groups to enhance creativity development among primary school children in Ekiti state.
It is expedient to find out why parents in Ekiti State, Nigeria do not encourage their children to engage in drawing during play.
Acknowledgements
We wish to acknowledge all the Research Assistants and the teachers who helped in collecting data for this study. The pupils who willingly served as participants for the study are equally appreciated.