Cultivating Social-Emotional Learning and Deeper Learning Skills through the Design and Implementation of Creative and Improvisational Activities in Science Education

Abstract

Cultivating Social-Emotional Learning and Deeper Learning skills are some of the central skills of the future, according to the OECD report ‘Future of Education and Skills 2030’. These skills should start to be developed by the kindergarten and end up in Secondary Education, even in Higher Education. This presentation refers to the results of a conducted doctoral dissertation with the subject “Creativity and Improvisation in Primary School Science Learning and their contribution to the development of Social – Emotional and Deeper Learning Skills”. The research was conducted during the academic year 2019-2020 and the participants were 80 primary school students (grades 4,5 and 6), 3 researchers, and 3 art teachers. During the pandemic, we used the distant learning platform (e-class) from the Hellenic School Network. The methodological framework used was Educational Designed-Based Research. The scope of this research was to create an interconnection of improvisation and creativity through methodological approaches of Art and Science during the teaching in Science Classes. Besides, the purpose of this dissertation was the development of a new pedagogical framework that integrates the dimensions of Improvisation and Creativity in the field of science teaching in Primary School, in such a way as to promote Social-Emotional and Deeper Learning Skills. To achieve the objectives, we designed prototype toolboxes for students, teachers, and researchers where the various activities in the 4 phases of the research were described in detail: a) students' initial ideas, b) scientific knowledge, c) artistic expression, d) evaluation.