A Qualitative Meta-analysis of Elementary School Teachers’ Experience in Creative-Experiential Activities

Objective: Using a qualitative meta-analysis, this study examines whether elementary school teachers' experiences in organizing and operating creative experiential activities are being implemented in actual school sites as intended and proposes ways to internalize the quality of these activities. Methods: Eight domestic qualitative studies on the said experience were analyzed in a larger framework of curriculum organization, implementation, and evaluation according to Novlit and Hare’s (1998) seven-step qualitative meta-analysis approach. Results: Elementary school teachers had conflicting views on teacher autonomy in organizing, managing, and evaluating creative experiential activities. Further, they differed in their experiences in different areas of creative experiential and out-of-school activities. The study also elicited opinions on how to evaluate creative experiential activities and improve professional development related activities. Conclusions: Suggestions were made for improving the creative experiential activity curriculum and follow-up research, such as providing opportunities to cultivate teacher expertise related to creative experiential activities, exploring teacher and student experiences by activity area and alternative creative experience evaluation measures.