Creative Motivation Research Articles

SUCH FORMS AND METHODS OF MOTIVATION OF PRACTITIONERS IN THE SPHERE OF YOUR EDUCATION

It is important to create a modern management system capable of responding to dynamic changes in the outside world. This system should include taking into account the internal resources and needs of the institution. It is also important to develop educational and scientific processes in which employees can actively participate. This is vital, as the effectiveness of the functions of higher education institutions depends on it. The competitiveness of the higher educational institution of the company providing educational services is ensured by qualified innovative employees of the institution. This is due to the fact that most of the managerial responsibilities of higher education institutions involve the appointment of employees who meet the established requirements for their positions; assessment of their efficiency as employees; motivation and remuneration of employees. The motivation of employees to improve the quality of the work of teachers and scientists is one of the key components of the development of a higher educational institution. The purposeof the study is to study the functional features of management of the motivation of employees of higher education institutions. The results.The specificity of the activities of scientific and pedagogical workers is characterized by a creative, research, innovative nature, which has an educational and communicative focus. Therefore, taking into account the creative motives of behavior is important for the effective management of a higher educational institution. The innovative focus of work involves the use of the latest information technology tools, communication channels and educational platforms. Management of motivation for the development of professional competence of scientific and pedagogical workers is based on adherence to a person-oriented approach. The factor of remuneration as one of the material means of motivation is effective if it performs not only a reproductive, but also a stimulating function. Therefore, in order to encourage highly qualified employees to work for many years in an educational institution, it is necessary to provide them with a competitive salary. Material rewards for high achievements in work should exceed the amount of compensation for the costs of educational and scientific activities in order to stimulate employees to further realize their own scientific and teaching potential. An important component of the motivational system is the style of management, according to which the interests of employees are prioritized for the needs of the higher educational institution, therefore management is aimed at harmonizing personal and organizational interests. Having satisfied the need for optimal working conditions, the employee seeks to satisfy higher needs, in particular, the need for recognition. Therefore, the determining aspect of motivation management in a higher educational institution should be the proportional dependence of the motivational reward (material or non-material) on the efforts made by the employee to achieve performance results. In the modern management of a higher education institution, it is important to use motivation as one of the effective ways to ensure personnel potential. By carrying out systematic measures of internal and external management motivation, the higher educational institution not only attracts highly qualified employees, but also ensures their interest in effective work in the institution. Effective management of labor motivation requires a complex, flexible and open system of labor motivation management. This is due to the fact that a flexible and open system is needed to harmonize and optimize the needs of both the teaching and research staff and the higher education institution. It is also necessary to achieve mutually beneficial development goals. Effective management of motivation is based on the creation of a wide range of intangible and tangible motivational tools. This helps higher education institutions to compete with other educational services in domestic and international markets. The creation of a flexible and complex system requires the creation of additional types of activities.

Giving Ideas Some Legs or Legs Some Ideas? Children's Motor Creativity Is Enhanced by Physical Activity Enrichment: Direct and Mediated Paths.

Approaches to foster motor creativity differ according to whether creative movements are assumed to be enacted creative ideas, or solutions to emerging motor problems that arise from task and environmental constraints. The twofold aim of the current study was to investigate whether (1) an enriched physical education (PE) intervention delivered with a joint constraints-led and cognitive stimulation approach fosters motor creativity, and the responsiveness to the intervention is moderated by baseline motor and cognitive skills and sex; (2) the intervention may benefit motor creativity through gains in motor coordination, executive function, and creative thinking. Ninety-five children, aged 6–9 years, participated in a 6-month group randomized trial with specialist-led enriched PE vs. generalist-led conventional PE. Before and after the intervention, Bertsch’s Test of Motor Creativity, Movement Assessment Battery for Children, Random Number Generation task and Torrance Test of Creative Thinking were administered. Linear mixed models were run accounting for the random effects of data clusters. Multiple mediation analysis was performed to assess whether motor coordination, executive function and creative thinking mediated any improvement of motor creativity. Results showed that (1) specialist-led enriched PE, compared to generalist-led conventional practice, elicited a more pronounced improvement in all motor creativity dimensions (fluency, flexibility, and originality) independently of baseline levels of motor and cognitive skills and sex; and (2) improved motor creativity was partially mediated by improved motor coordination and, as regards motor flexibility, also by improved inhibitory ability. In conclusion, enriching PE with tailored manipulations of constraints and variability may enhance the ability to create multiple and original task-pertinent movements both directly and through indirect paths. The results are discussed extending to motor creativity a theoretical framework that distinguishes different creativity modes. The intervention may have fostered the generation of creative movements directly through the exposure to variation in constraints, activating the sensorimotor ‘flow’ mode of creativity that bypasses higher-order cognition, but also indirectly through a systematic and conscious convergence on solutions, activating the ‘deliberate’ mode of creativity that relies on inhibition to reject common or task-inappropriate movement categories.

Stimulating High School Student Creativity, Motivation, and Mathematics Performance with Classes Based on Creativity Techniques

Background: Several countries and organisations highlight creativity when advocating an education connected to the current moment of scientific and technological progress we live, especially in the mathematics field. Objectives: We aim to answer the following questions: (a) Is senior high school students’ creativity, motivation, and mathematics performance triad positively influenced by extracurricular mathematics classes based on creativity techniques? And (b) What are the different students’ perceptions of mathematics based on the type of classes they received throughout the course (conventional classes and classes based on creativity techniques)? Design: To this end, we structured an experimental study to compare the results obtained from conventional classes to a control group and from classes based on creativity techniques to an experimental group. Settings and participants: The sample consisted of 41 senior high school students of a public school in the Federal District, Brazil, randomly selected after wide dissemination. Data collection and analysis: Initially, students underwent pre-tests (creativity in mathematics, motivation in mathematics, and performance in mathematics). Then, they participated in mathematics classes (conventional to the control group and based on creativity techniques to the experimental group). At the end of each class, they completed one step of the logbook. Finally, they were submitted to post-tests for direct comparison with the tests initially performed and participated in a conversation roundtable. Thus, the analysis included quantitative aspects of the results of the tests; and qualitative aspects of the study of the material written in the diaries and oral speeches during the conversation roundtable. Results: Although both groups increased their scores for the three variables investigated, statistically significant results were perceived only with the experimental group, which had all variables increased. We also found that the students recognised the classes based on creativity techniques as being good. Conclusions: This suggests that the class model investigated in this research may favour students’ creative thinking ability and motivation, consequently increasing their performance in mathematics.

Study on motor fitness, motor creativity & persistency among football, cricket and kho-kho players

Man has faced numerous problems since the beginning of life. They have solved the problems by the help of Physical Capacity and mental capacity viz., intelligence creativity etc. It can never say that the creative genius only born but can be manifest through proper congenial environments. Motor creativity is the physical expression of the creativity. When a child play it can be considered as the expression of creativeness in his own world of movement and actions. The physical aspects of motor creativity are only possible through motor movements. The ability of motor movement has been measured through motor ability test. Persistency of an individual mostly depends on mental power as well as it depends on motor capacity. 60 boys from 22 to 25 years were selected as the subject of the study among which 20 were football, 20 Kho-Kho and 20 cricket plays. All the subjects were taken from state level players in their respective games. The purpose of the study was to find relationship among persistency, motor fitness and motor creativity, whether motor creativity was dependent on persistency or on motor fitness or on both persistency and motor fitness together and whether persistency, motor fitness and motor creativity has any influence on performance of different nature of games. Motor creativity was measured by a newly constructed test by the researcher. The motor fitness of the subjects was measured through Indian Motor Fitness Test. The persistency of the subjects was measured through square puzzle test. In case of statistical procedure, Mean, Sd, ‘t’- test and correlation was done. The result shows that in motor fitness Kho-Kho players were better than other two groups and in motor creativity Kho-Kho players were also better than football and cricket group but in case of persistency cricket players were better than other two groups. The motor fitness, motor creativity and persistency were related to each other.

Creative Self-Efficacy and Its Relationship to Mental Motivation Among Outstanding Students at King Saud University

The study aimed at investigating the relationship between creative self-efficacy and mental motivation, and the ability of the dimensions of creative self-efficacy to predict mental motivation. It also explored any significant differences between both creative self-efficacy and mental motivation according to gender, academic major or the interaction between these variables among the sample of the study. To achieve this, the descriptive correlational method was used. The sample consisted of (250) students (109 males and 141 females). The following tools were administered: Creative Self-Efficacy Scale and California Measure of Mental Motivation which was translated by the researchers. The results of the study showed that there was a significant and positive relationship between self-efficacy, mental motivation and their dimensions. The results also indicated that mental motivation can be predicted by the two dimensions of creative self-efficacy. Furthermore, the results indicated that there was no significant difference in the mean ratings of creative self-efficacy and mental motivation attributed to gender, academic major, or their interaction among the study sample. The study concluded with a number of recommendations, including developing school curriculum which incorporate some aspects that promote both critical thinking and creative performance; creating training programs which develop the level of self-esteem, self-confidence and problem-solving skills among the academically outstanding students, and which promote “mental focus” that is one of the mental motivation dimensions; and conducting further studies that investigate the difference between creative self-efficacy and mental motivation according to gender and academic major.

The Role of Blockchain Technologies in the Sustainable Development of Students’ Learning Process

Technological evolution has contributed to considerable changes in the learning methods used today. If a few years ago, before the technological boom, students relied only on their memory capacity, on notes on sheets of paper and written materials (in the form of course materials, books, or textbooks), today the process of learning is significantly facilitated by the means and techniques involved in the use of technology, such as artificial intelligence, smartphones, and tablets, which are rapidly replacing bulky desktop computers and outdated textbooks used in the learning process. Moreover, blockchain technology can also be used as a motivational factor for developing learning abilities by implementing a system that can bring students credit points convertible into cryptocurrencies or online badges. Studies conducted in the field show that students’ motivation for learning and creativity is significantly improved with the help of this reward system. In this article, two specialized studies were conducted (in Romania), one on the perception of teachers in the university environment towards the use of new technologies in the learning process (artificial intelligence, smartphones, and tablets), and the other on the perception of students on the technological integration of blockchain (by implementing a system that can bring students credit points convertible into cryptocurrencies or online badges to certify their knowledge) in the learning process and measuring their satisfaction.

Creative Teaching as a Component of the New Standard-Based Curriculum in Ghana: Curriculum Rushed or Curriculum Planned?

The study was about the creative nurturing behaviors of in-service teachers in Ghana. Using the descriptive cross-sectional survey design, a sample of 768 (out of 1,321) in-service teachers were surveyed using online Google forms. The data for the study were collected with an adapted version of the Sharma and Sharma (2018) creativity nurturing behavior scale (15-items; α=.79). The data were descriptively and inferentially analyzed. Overall, the study found that majority of respondents exhibited low levels of creativity nurturing behaviors. Specifically, most of the respondents had moderate levels of creative curiosity and creative motivation, but some respondents had low levels of creative abstractions and critical thinking. Again, the study revealed that male and female respondents did not differ in their creative nurturing behaviors. Finally, differences were not established in creativity nurturing behaviors of in-service teachers based on the experience. In-service teachers were found to have insufficient knowledge on creative teaching. Therefore, it was recommended that in-service teachers need to be re-trained in the core competent areas of the new standard-based curriculum.

Professional competence of future educators: theoretical approaches to its formation on the basis of competence approach

The modern preschool educational establishment has been actively becoming an "institution of socialization", and the educator must be an example for children and have the appropriate level of professional competence. It has been established that from the psychological and pedagogical point of view a professionally competent educator has deep knowledge, has developed pedagogical abilities, perfect professional skills, formed professional self-awareness and pedagogical thinking, as well as skills of self-learning and self-improvement. It has been found that the main characteristics of the professional competence of future educators are: perfect mastery of theoretical knowledge; pedagogical skills; self-improvement and creative work on oneself; mastering cultural, ethno-spiritual potential; using of the newest methods of training and education of children of preschool age. There are five main functions in the professional activity of an educator: organization, planning, control and assistance, pedagogical analysis. To the range of main roles of an educator we include: teaching, helping children to acquire new knowledge, and educating on the basis of creative motivation. An important role in the professional competence of educators has given to personal qualities (openness, friendliness, empathy, sincerity). A modern educator must be an innovative researcher, organizer, facilitator, consultant, and coach.
 The leading role in the formation of professional competence of future educators has been played by the competence approach. This approach is a fundamental methodological guideline, because it allows you to make a holistic, integrated view about the activities of the educator. Its implementation will provide knowledge, activity, and motivational readiness, promote the formation of creativity and encourage reflection. The competency approach will allow students to improve the methodology of implementation of didactic, educational, developmental and socializing interactive technologies in preschool educational establishments.

МУЗИЧНИЙ РИТМ: КОНЦЕПТУАЛЬНІСТЬ МЕТОДІВ НАВЧАННЯ

The article is devoted to the consideration of methods of studying musical rhythm in the context of professional music education. An analysis of quasi-scientific materials, which affect negatively the process of formation of aspiring musicians, was carried out. In particular, it refers to the imitation of the educational process with unjustified replacement of concepts regarding the study of schemes for the temporal division of note durations in rhythmic progression and their replacement with material objects, measuring devices or products (ruler, apple, cake, etc.), which lead to negative learning results and deformation ideas about musical time. Approaches that demonstrate the simplification of the metrorhythmic component of modern musical trends without taking into account genre and stylistic culture are considered; common mistakes in the interpretation of rhythmic models in the music-theoretical aspect and their connection with musical terminology. The issue of "standardization" of musical time with the use of a metronome is raised separately, as a result of which the student’s will is completely subjugated to the click, which develops the phobia of a concert performer who plays music without a metronome. Work with a metronome should be designed so that the effectiveness of professional growth is ensured by a creative approach based on the process of technological activation, the inclusion of consciousness in the feeling of the flow of musical time, and not the idealization of an auxiliary device (metronome) as a "guide" of rhythm. The article proposes to expand the essence of musical metro rhythm in its philosophical meaning (the concept of "binary" and "ternary"), referring to the researches of specialists of the 20th century (B. Asaf’ev, M. Kharlap, V. Kholopova), as well as innovative metrorhythmic methods through inclusion of motor and emotional activity of the performer (S. Makievsky). The modern educational process needs to revise the archaic methods of studying musical rhythm. The possibility of such an update in the educational process will occur only through the introduction of the concept of a metaphorical "silent" rhythm and intonation image, its presence in relationship with emotions and creative motivation, which will certainly lead to the enrichment of the musician’s performance skills.

О переходных формах «угасания» экономических отношений в теоретической модели ноономики

The Coronavirus Crisis and the Fourth Industrial Revolution, as the main drivers of global trend changes, have called for new scientific approaches to understanding the “new normal.” Theories based on the values of methodological individualism have shown their limitations and even their insolvency in the face of the new challenges. The virus was most successful in its spread where it encountered an individualism that had degenerated into egoism. The emergence of Noonomy, among other concepts, was a reaction to the insufficient potential of existing theories in the face of the challenges of the new era. The theoretical model of Noonomy relies on a perfect technology that provides citizens with the necessary benefits of life and frees them from the need for forced labor in production, and on new people, with creative motivation at the forefront and free from individualism. The article focuses on the fact that the transition from the current state of the economy, economic science and economic man to Noonomy and creative man is a great distance from the transitional states. The necessity of their research represents a global scientific task. The author justifies the necessity of such research, highlights some existing transitional forms and notes the emergence of new forms based on an evolving reality.

On the transitional forms of “fading” economic relations in the theoretical model of Noonomy

The Coronavirus Crisis and the Fourth Industrial Revolution, as the main drivers of global trend changes, have called for new scientific approaches to understanding the “new normal.” Theories based on the values of methodological individualism have shown their limitations and even their insolvency in the face of the new challenges. The virus was most successful in its spread where it encountered an individualism that had degenerated into egoism. The emergence of Noonomy, among other concepts, was a reaction to the insufficient potential of existing theories in the face of the challenges of the new era. The theoretical model of Noonomy relies on a perfect technology that provides citizens with the necessary benefits of life and frees them from the need for forced labor in production, and on new people, with creative motivation at the forefront and free from individualism. The article focuses on the fact that the transition from the current state of the economy, economic science and economic man to Noonomy and creative man is a great distance from the transitional states. The necessity of their research represents a global scientific task. The author justifies the necessity of such research, highlights some existing transitional forms and notes the emergence of new forms based on an evolving reality.

О переходных формах «угасания» экономических отношений в теоретической модели ноономики

The Coronavirus Crisis and the Fourth Industrial Revolution, as the main drivers of global trend changes, have called for new scientific approaches to understanding the “new normal.” Theories based on the values of methodological individualism have shown their limitations and even their insolvency in the face of the new challenges. The virus was most successful in its spread where it encountered an individualism that had degenerated into egoism. The emergence of Noonomy, among other concepts, was a reaction to the insufficient potential of existing theories in the face of the challenges of the new era. The theoretical model of Noonomy relies on a perfect technology that provides citizens with the necessary benefits of life and frees them from the need for forced labor in production, and on new people, with creative motivation at the forefront and free from individualism. The article focuses on the fact that the transition from the current state of the economy, economic science and economic man to Noonomy and creative man is a great distance from the transitional states. The necessity of their research represents a global scientific task. The author justifies the necessity of such research, highlights some existing transitional forms and notes the emergence of new forms based on an evolving reality.

The specific characteristics of the "new Bosnian narrative" as exemplified by Karim Zaimović's short stories book Tajna džema od malina

The article is an attempt to describe the specifics of the „new Bosnian narrative” as exemplified by Karim Zaimovic’s short stories collected in the book Tajna džema od malina. The text synthetically presents the new generation of prose writers clearly referring to the heritage of the so-called „narrative Bosnia” (J. Kršić). The generation of writers contemporary to Zaimovic, which dominated the literary scene in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the last decade of the 20th century and at the beginning of the 21st century, was united by a creative motivation generated by common experiences, which was a reaction to the tragedy of the homeland war. The article briefly characterizes the „new narrative Bosnia”, highlighting the great tradition of narrative (pripovijetka) in local literature. Narrative/Short story is considered to be the most important and valued genre, which in its meaning goes far beyond purely literary boundaries – it has played and still plays an important role in the cultural, social, political and ideological context. In the text, it is shown that Zaimović’s stories, compared with (anti)war writing, are distinguished by: the way of constructing scenes that make up the story adapted from comic art, the presence of fantastic elements known from the work of „Borges writers”, as well as a characteristic, humorous style –where the author deals with the absurdity of war by the use of grotesque and satire, and describes the Sarajevo apocalypse using numerous metaphors and allegories. Even though, Zaimović’s texts cannot be treated as a model or the most representative example of “the new Bosnian narrative“, their unconventional way of presentation of the main theme as well as structural and compositional innovation have earned them an iconic status. The circumstances of the stories, and above all the fate of the young writer, made him a tragic symbol of the drama of war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Research on the Creativity of High School Students in Da Nang City

Creativity is now said to be an important and top priority in education today. This is an important personality quality of a person expressed through thoughts and actions, especially ideas or products, solutions that a person offers to a problem, and creativity is the main factor that helps a person stand out or be different from others. The study was conducted on 222 students from 2 groups of gifted schools and non-gifted high schools in Da Nang city in order to describe the reality of students' awareness and creativity level, find out about the expressions, their constitutive elements of creativity and analyze the subjective and objective factors that affect high school students' creativity. Research results show that 80% of students are creative at an average level. One special thing is that factors of academic ability, age, or gender do not completely affect students' creativity. Moreover, factors that directly affect the creativity of students come mainly from the intrinsic motivation of the students themselves, the school and family environment is just the foundation for promoting students' creative motivation. From the above results, the study proposes some measures that partially affect the educational methods of schools and families, as well as directly affect the survey subjects.

The colours of the Higgs boson: a study in creativity and science motivation among high-school students in Italy

With the increasing shift from STEM to STEAM education, arts-based approaches to science teaching and learning are considered promising for aligning school science curricula with the development of twenty-first century skills, including creativity. Yet the impact of STEAM practices on student creativity and specifically on how the latter is associated with science learning outcomes have thus far received scarce empirical support. This paper contributes to this line of research by reporting on a two-wave quantitative study that examines the effect of a long-term STEAM intervention on two cognitive processes associated with creativity (act, flow) and their interrelationships with intrinsic and extrinsic components of science motivation. Using pre- and post-survey data from 175 high-school students in Italy, results show an overall positive effect of the intervention both on the act subscale of creativity and science career motivation, whereas a negative effect is found on self-efficacy. Gender differences in the above effects are also observed. Further, results provide support for the mediating role of self-efficacy in the relationship between creativity and science career motivation. Implications for the design of STEAM learning environments are discussed.

Psychological empowerment and employees' creativity in Vietnam telecommunications enterprises: the mediating role of creative process engagement and intrinsic motivation

PurposeThe objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between psychological empowerment and employee creativity with the mediating role of creative process engagement and intrinsic motivation by testing the research model.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from in-depth interviews and surveys of 420 Vietnamese telecommunications enterprises employees. To test models and hypotheses, the collected data has been processed through Cronbach's alpha analysis, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) using SPSS 22.0 and AMOS 24.0 tools.FindingsThe results confirm that psychological empowerment has a positive direct and indirect relationship through creative process engagement and intrinsic motivation with employee creativity.Research limitations/implicationsThe main limitation of this paper is that a full study of the impact of leadership style on psychological empowerment and psychological empowerment to employee creativity should be conducted in the future at Vietnamese telecommunications enterprises.Practical implicationsTelecommunications enterprises managers who want to stimulate employee creativity need to pay attention to empowering workers and creating conditions for them to participate in the creative process when doing work.Originality/valueThe main contribution of this research is to apply theories of psychological empowerment, self-determination and composition theory of creativity to understand the relationship between psychological empowerment, creative process engagement, intrinsic motivation and employee creativity of telecommunications enterprises employees in the context of a developing country in Asia.

Idyllic story in the creation of modern nations narratives, on the example of German, Jewish and Ukrainian painting

The purpose of the article is to identify the features of idyllic artistic plots related to German, Jewish and Ukrainian national narrative. Try to evaluate their motivating mechanism. The methodology is the use of ideological and plot analysis, methods of comparison and generalization. The scientific novelty is to expand the understanding of the plot content of some works of German, Jewish and Ukrainian art, in the context of their nation - creative motivation. Conclusions. The period of creation of modern nations became a great challenge for art. An important motivating role belongs to the creation of the image of the "ideal being", the mandate to which the new community promised. Thus, the nation-creative plot is, in one way or another, connected with sacralization sentiments. German painting in the Romantic era operated with paintings of idyll, which, however, contains memories of the Middle Ages as an era of even greater perfection. Thus arose the motivating potential of "return" to the epic of the past. Jewish art culture is characterized by a tradition of associating the ideal being with the holy city of Jerusalem, a "return" to which also has motivating potential. In Ukrainian art, there are also plots of natural idyll, but the situation of "ideal existence" is connected with the inner state of man - the warrior "Cossack Mamaу", who gains personal freedom for creativity. As a result of the study, it was found that idyllic plots associated with the creation of modern national narratives in German, Jewish and Ukrainian painting have a number of common and distinctive features. Common features include the presence of sacred content and solidarity of the surrounding community. Distinctive features are different vector of orientation of the motivating plot. In art related to the German narrative of ideal nation existence, vector can be described as epoch-centric, with the Jewish narrative as city-centric, and with Ukrainian as anthropocentric.

The Impact of Training and Motivation on Employee Performance in the Banking Sector

The concept of Training, Motivation, and Performance are the variables examined under the study to evaluate their effect in the Banking Sector. Productivity is one of the most significant elements that influence the organization's general performance, which compromises with different elements like training, attitude, motivation, and work environment for creativity contribute to the overall success of the employees. The current examination explores the impact of worker proficiency and efficiency of training and motivation. A questionnaire was administered to employees of the banking sector to identify the perceived level of training and motivation that emphasizes the overall performance. The three variables were estimated on a five-point Likert scale choice. Five were the most important (strongly agree), and one being the least important (strongly disagree). The sample of the questionnaire schedule was self-prepared. The study result shows that training and motivation positively impact the effectiveness and efficiency of the employees. Also, the study features the training and development procedure of the financial area that should utilize to proper workers and increment their performance and analyzes the needs of training and motivation in the workplace.

Teaching strategies for promoting motor creativity and motor skill proficiency in early childhood

Existing research provides ambiguous evidence for associations between motor competency and motor creativity. Therefore, this study examined the association between motor skill proficiency and motor creativity. The Test of Gross Motor Development (second edition) and Bertsch's motor creativity test were used to assess motor skill proficiency and motor creativity among 39 children aged five to six. Results revealed that motor proficiency and motor creativity are not interrelated traits. Therefore, it is necessary to use different teaching strategies to promote these traits. Teaching with direct instructions and reproduction of demonstrated movement is probably the most appropriate to acquaint children with motor skills. Learning through play with less explicit teaching instructions and emphasis on motivating children to find novel and original solutions to the motor tasks is probably more suitable for facilitating motor creativity.

Receptive Vocabulary Acquisition in Pre-Primary Education through Soft-Content and Language Integrated Learning

Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) has become the focus of Foreign Language (FL) research within the last decades. CLIL provides a more complete, naturalistic, and meaningful context to FL learning, which has proven to brings many benefits to learners, such as a higher motivation and promotion of creativity, and better results in receptive skills, vocabulary, morphology and fluency. Nevertheless, most CLIL research has focused on primary and secondary level students and, thus, more research is needed with younger learners, namely, pre-primary students. The present study examines the learning of FL vocabulary in pre-primary learners following a soft-CLIL program, as compared to their same age peers following Formal Instruction (FI) of English. Over the course of six months, pre-primary students of two grades, namely 4- and 5-year-old students (N=155), took part in such program, aiming at teaching two curricular preschool units, traditionally taught in the mother tongue (L1), in English in the FL sessions. A longitudinal study was conducted, and students were administered a general vocabulary level pre-test, as well as a target words receptive vocabulary post-test after the two units had been worked on. The focus of the research was on receptive vocabulary acquisition, but age and word frequency effects were also analyzed. Results showed positive tendencies in receptive vocabulary development through soft-CLIL, although not statistically significant. A significant frequency effect was found, indicating that high-frequency words are recalled more easily than lower-frequency ones, but no significant differences were found when comparing learners from the two grades.