DEVELOPMENT OF CREATIVE ABILITIES THROUGH ARTS EDUCATION

The paper examines possibilities for enhancing creativity in primary school children through Arts education. Specifically, this study investigates the impact of visual, auditory and tactile stimuli (VAT stimuli)[1] on the development of creative thinking in children when these aids are carefully selected and suitable for use for a particular teaching topic within the Arts education curriculum. The study was conducted in Serbia, through an experimental two-term programme called The Development of Creativity by Employing VAT Stimuli, which included 270 first and second-year primary school pupils (7-8 year-olds). The impact of the experimental programme was assessed according to the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT) – figural form A. This study found that the use of VAT stimuli in Arts education contributed significantly to developing and cultivating pupils’ creative abilities, and that the effect of the programme had a stronger impact on the 2nd year pupils.[1] Visual stimulus – discussion and observation of an artwork as a stimulus for artistic expression; Auditory aid – instrumental composition as a stimulus for artistic expression; Tactile stimulus – finger painting.