A Study on Perception Types of Creative Experiential Activities by Elementary School Teachers

Objectives Creative experiential activities characterized by autonomy have an important influence on how teachers perceive them. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to reveal the types and characteristics of elementary school teachers' perception of creative experiential activities. Methods For this purpose, Q methodology was used. A total of 31 Q samples were used, and Q classification was conducted on 34 elementary school teachers. Results First, the perceptions of creative experience activities were categorized into four types, and all types agreed that it is a time to realize student autonomy, a time to build relationships with friends, a time to cover content not covered in the main subjects, and a time to help students pursue their dreams and careers. On the other hand, all types disagreed that it is a time to invite non-curricular teachers or lecturers to teach, a time to allow teachers to take a break, and a time to fill in the lack time of main subjects . Second, according to the characteristics of the four types, they were named as ‘Avoiding experiential activities due to practical constraints’, ‘Student-centered time based on autonomy’, ‘Teacher-led time’, and ‘Time to practice extracurricular topics’. Conclusions These findings have several educational implications. First, there is a need to simplify the administrative and financial procedures for experiential activities and to provide training to facilitate their implementation. Second, it is necessary to promote sharing of creative experience activity class cases. Third, it is necessary to look at each other's educational views with an open attitude of respect and understanding.