Dr. Keang-Ieng [Peggy] Vong
Assistant Professor
Faculty of Education
University of Macau
Av. Padre Tomás Pereira,
S.J. Taipa
Macao
China
Office telephone number: 853-3978732
Fax number: 853-28831695
e-mail: kvong2000@yahoo.co.uk
Developing creativity and promoting social harmony – the relationship between
government, school and parents’ perceptions of children’s creativity in Macao-SAR
in China
Abstract
The promotion of creativity in young children has been included in the agenda of
the educational authorities in mainland China since 2001. Since then, attempts to
implement this policy have appeared in different forms. The educational bureaus take
measures by publishing documents and guidelines on the subject. While some
kindergartens endeavour to restructure their programmes in order to accommodate the
development of creativity, most practitioners are not yet ready to embrace this idea.
Based on an ethnographic study, this article argues that there are gaps amongst the
government’s, practitioners’ and parents’ views of creativity and means to foster such
ability in young children. It also highlights the fact that the observed phenomenon might
be explained in terms of the social hierarchy that has been thriving in the Chinese
culture for centuries. Finally, it suggests that a reciprocal relationship amongst the three
parties is yet to be built in order to form a strong support for the development of
children’s creativity in this southern Chinese city.
Keywords:
parental involvement
conceptions of creativity
Chinese cultural values
1
Developing creativity and promoting social harmony – the relationship between
government, school and parents’ perceptions of children’s creativity in Macao-SAR
in China
Setting the Scene – Educational Policies from Central to Regional
For China, the significance of fostering creativity in her new generations has
become a priority, alongside other issues (such as maintaining economic growth and
improving environmental protection), as stated in the Eleventh Five-Year Plan
(1)
announced in March, 2006. The Minister of Science and Technology declared in a
press conference held in the same year that China is determined to become an
“innovation-oriented country”.
Innovation is seen as one major way to bring wealth to
China and improve the lives of her people.
According to two official documents (2) that govern the educational development of
China, creativity has become an important aspect of education in China since 2001. As
one of the Special Administrative Regions of China, the Macao-SAR (3) government has
also recognised the important mission of promoting creative thinking in society,
particularly through education. Over the past few years, schools in Macao-SAR have
attempted to actualise these expectations of the government.
Whether the kind of
creativity fostered meets the government’s expectations or not is yet to be investigated.
Nonetheless, it is observed that the government’s strategies in promoting creativity are
not systematic.
In spite of some educational activities, there is no follow-up on how
2
creativity is being interpreted by teachers, not to mention parents.
More important, the
strategies employed by parents, who are the most significant figures in children’s social
world, to foster children’s creativity have not been systematically studied.
Parental Involvement in Education
The call for parental involvement in their children’s learning has been observed in
different societies as reflected in their current early childhood curricula (e.g. the Te
Whariki – Early Childhood Curriculum in New Zealand (1996); the Curriculum
Guidance for the Foundation Stage in Great Britain (2000); the Guidelines for
Kindergarten Education (Trial Version) in China (2001)).
In fact, parent-staff
communication, amongst other dimensions, has been considered an indicator of quality
child care in the United States (Ceglowski, 2004).
1) Local Policies of Home-School Partnership: Macao-SAR
In Macao, home-school partnership and the Parent and Guardian Association is
rooted in the Law numbered 11/91/M after it was reviewed and revised by the former
Portuguese Governor in 1993 (Taipa Educational Activity Centre, p. 23).
This law
states the regulations governing the rights and responsibilities of the Parent and
Guardian Association or, as it is also known, the Parent’s Association, in local schools.
3
One of the aims of such an association is that “it should safeguard and promote the
benefits of its members in matters relating to its members’ offspring and the educational
issues of those being educated” (p. 24, my translation). The rights and responsibilities
include the following:
-
“The Parent’s Association offers help in the formulation of educational policies
through its representatives in the schools” ;
-
“The kind of help mentioned above is by means of consultation, especially by
giving comments and opinions pertaining to the programmes and suggestions in
educational planning, educational management and educational organization”
(pp. 23-24).
Since 2001, the Policy Addresses of the Macao-SAR Chief Administrator have
mentioned the role of home-school partnership in children’s education.
In addition,
the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau of Macao-SAR has produced several
documents and guidebooks on home-school partnership for parents and teachers.
In
short, such partnership is governed by law and is on the agenda of the current Special
Administrative Government.
2) The Chinese Home-School Relationship and the Promotion of Creative Thinking
However, parental participation is not that straightforward. Morrow and Malin
4
(2004) discussed the issues pertaining to power relationships and the psychological
threat that practitioners feel about “losing their own status” when parents gain more say
in the curriculum (p. 170).
The uneasiness regarding empowering parents in the
implementation of curriculum and having to take their perspectives on early childhood
education into account might be even more complex in cultures where a social hierarchy
is well defined and hundreds of years old.
Within the Chinese traditions, the government has absolute power over the
common people. Under the influence of Confucianism, Chinese parents have also
always placed high value on education as a means to contribute to the country and bring
honour to the family (Yu, 1996 cited in Aguinis & Roth).
Chinese parents have
traditionally relied heavily on teachers when it comes to their children’s education as
teachers are supposed to be knowledgeable individuals (Ieong, 1998: 17).
Chinese parents have a lot of respect for teachers.
Therefore,
It is not surprising that the teachers
are not accustomed to taking parents’ ideas of education into consideration.
Taken
together, a distance maintained by the Chinese social hierarchy has always existed
amongst the government, teachers and parents.
As I have noted, since the beginning of this millennium fostering creativity in
children’s minds has become a key issue in education.
Nonetheless, creativity had not
received much attention in the Chinese education system in the past.
Its promotion has
5
to be well supported by all parties involved in children’s education and development so
as to make a difference between the “old” and the “new” educational practices.
The
fact that the Chinese social hierarchy has operated for hundreds of years might imply
that there is no simple answer in narrowing the distance amongst the three parties.
Gaps in Theory and Practice
An in-depth ethnographic study on how creativity may be fostered in children was
carried out in 2002.
The study aimed at understanding Chinese parents’ interpretations
of learning and creativity as well as Chinese kindergarten practitioners’ interpretations
of these two educational concepts.
It also examined the implementation of such
concepts in the “new” pedagogy that these practitioners have developed in recent years
to foster creativity in children.
One government kindergarten (i.e., public kindergarten)
in each of the two southern cities, namely Macao-SAR and Zhuhai-SER, took part in
this study. Data were collected within an ethnographic framework and by means of
participant observation, semi-structured interviews, daily journals, visual data and
documentation of children’s worksheets, exercise books and notices for parents.
Analyses of teachers’ guidebooks produced by the local Education and Youth Affairs
Bureau were also carried out.
As a researcher and teacher trainer who shares with the
parents and practitioners the same Chinese culture and the larger working environment,
6
I spent two days each week over a five-month period in 2001 at two 5- and 6-year-old
children’s classrooms joining classroom activities and interviewing parents and teachers,
formally and informally. For the purpose of this article, only the data collected in
Macao-SAR that pertain to interpretations of the meaning of creativity, methods
employed to foster this capacity in children and the government’s expectations were
presented here.
Even though the study was conducted in 2001, there have been no substantial
changes in the local government’s approach to promote creativity in kindergartens
except that they have organised various seminars and workshops on the topic and
encouraged private kindergartens to experiment with the ‘new’ pedagogy. Instead, the
Education and Affairs Bureau has been active in other matters such as establishing the
new law (no. 6/2006) for ‘Lei de Bases do Sistema Educativo Não Superior’ or
for
Outlining
the
Non-Higher
Education
System’
(my
‘Law
translation)
(http://www.dsej.gov.mo) and currently promoting small-class teaching schemes.
1) One-Way Conceptual Transmission
Findings show that since its significance was highlighted in 2001, the flow of
information on creativity was initiated by the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau.
They aim at educating both teachers and parents about their ideas of creativity.
1.1) From Governmental Department to Schools and Teachers
7
For teachers, seminars and workshops are organised to address what creativity is
and how it should be fostered, printed matter on the “Teaching for Creativity” Approach
is published to state and summarise the “what” and “how” of creativity and sharing
sessions are hosted by public kindergartens to demonstrate the teaching methods they
have experimented with in order to achieve this goal.
Hence, public kindergartens
have become role models for the teaching of creative strategies and those sharing
sessions are still organised periodically.
1.2) From Governmental Department to Parents
For parents, the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau has also organised seminars to
disseminate their idea of creativity (usually inviting the same speaker as in seminars for
teachers).
Printed matter for teachers is also available for parents at different
Educational Activity Centres run by the same bureau. Parent-child activities (e.g.,
reading storybooks, physical movements) are organised by those centres so as to
facilitate parent-child relationships as well as to promote creative activities and games.
All these activities and this information are free, and messages are usually passed on
from schools to parents as well.
1.3) From School and Teachers to Parents
At the school level, teachers make use of Parents’ Days to inform parents of what
creativity is (usually reiterating the official interpretation of creativity) and encourage
8
them to impose less restriction on children’s thinking. The teachers introduce the idea
of creativity through displaying children’s artwork (e.g., drawings and collages) all over
the school.
Meanwhile, Open Days are taken as opportunities to present children’s
three-dimensional artwork (usually made of junk or recycled materials) to parents and
explain to them the creativeness of the children’s work.
These findings reflect that in Macao-SAR the idea of creativity flows in a one-way
fashion, i.e., from the governmental department to the schools and then down to the
families.
The one-way transmission of what counts as creativity reflects the
government’s efforts in promoting creative thinking in Macao-SAR and educating
teachers and parents as well. But these measures might not be as effective as the
government thinks.
2) Disparity in the Understanding of Creativity
Despite these efforts, the study found disparity amongst these three groups in terms
of their understanding of creativity, especially in terms of the strategies by which
creativity should be fostered in children.
According to the Education and Youth
Affairs Bureau, creativity is “an ability which comprises the five elements of divergent
thinking…: sensitivity, fluency, flexibility, originality and elaboration” (my translation).
The bureau also advocates a teaching environment that allows room for children to
9
express their personal feelings and ideas and encourages individual thinking. As
observed from the themes and contents of the seminars organised and the printed matter
published, the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau’s interpretation of creativity has a
Western tone which originated from theories of American scholars (e.g., R. J. Sternberg,
1987; J. P. Guilford, 1968 and E. P. Torrance, 1964) on creativity.
This ‘official’
definition of creativity is rather straightforward and formal, placing emphasis on lifting
restrictions on children’s thinking.
However, the practitioners’ interpretations are rather mixed. The head teacher can
recite the “official” definition of creativity while the teachers focus on different aspects
of creativity.
Class Teacher A:
Class Teacher B:
…it should be something relatively more distinctive, or not
coming from a restrictive way of doing things…not afraid of
making mistakes, not worrying too much whether it resembles
something or not…not “boxing” oneself.
…the ability to imitate, [but] imitation cannot be in entirety,
everything results from means of thinking while
imitating…creativity needs other people’s recognition, …if not,
you will be afraid to carry on with that
According to these interviews, it seems that at the school level in Macao-SAR creativity
is still associated with imitation and gaining social recognition even though the role of
imitation (which reflects the significance of teachers’ modeling role) has been carefully
reduced.
10
Parents interviewed for this study are from similar backgrounds and are rather
active in terms of participating in the events and activities organised by the kindergarten.
Despite the fact that the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau and the schools have
endeavoured to inform parents what creativity is, all remembered hearing about the term
creativity from very different sources.
Parent A: Here in this school, there is a feeling of creativity.
Parent B: The pediatrician has mentioned that, also on TV.
Parent C: Creativity? Yes, I have the impression, I have read about it in books.
But when asked what creativity means to them, the answers varied considerably.
Parent A:
I don’t know what it is, because it’s so illusory.
Parent B:
It’s from things that children have come into contact with and then
give them more thought. It’s not just reflections from the mirror,
more thinking is needed, to create new things, to express their ideas.
Parent C:
Make something. In the process of making or [if] there is a
problem, how one solves it, just like that. Children’s creativity is
more freestyle… This is because what they think is more simple; if
teachers or parents offer assistance to inspire his [or her] creativity,
it should be more successful.
To these parents, creativity is either too illusory to understand or it is related to problem
solving. Their ideas of creativity did not reflect the official or teachers’ interpretation
of this human capacity.
Meanwhile, adults’ role in children’s development of creative
ideas was highlighted.
These findings suggest that the meaning of creativity is rather
11
varied in Macao-SAR despite the government’s efforts in promoting what they think
creativity is.
3) Disparity in the Strategies to Foster Creativity
The teachers’ guidebook advocates that teachers should use “creative thinking
strategies, together with the curriculum, to allow students to apply their imagination,
and foster their thinking ability, which embodies sensitivity, fluency, flexibility,
originality, and elaboration” (p. 33).
Together with the conceptions that children
should be encouraged to express their own ideas and support individual thinking, the
creative thinking strategies recommended can be summarised as follows:

Ask – apply questioning techniques during discussions and provide guidance for
thinking;

Think – give children time to think about those questions;

Practice – put ideas into the production of outcomes;

Evaluate – give children opportunities to reflect on their ideas and the quality of
their work.
This systematic approach suggested for stimulating children’s creative thinking provides
teachers with a “formula” as a means to foster creativity in children.
It has been
adopted as a method by most of the public kindergartens in Macao-SAR is then
12
demonstrated for the private kindergartens and parents.
There was evidence showing that the actual strategies teachers use in classrooms
still give the teachers’ part an important role.
These teachers felt that to provide
guidance or a frame of reference for children was an important component in their
strategies.
Besides focusing on allowing children to express their own ideas, the
strategies highlight the importance of group spirit and harmony in classrooms.
Class Teacher A:
…besides letting them do it, sin san [teachers] have to give
them some information on the side, information which guides
them to observe events and objects, whether correct or not,
which is better, and let them choose. In a lesson, besides
creativity, children have to learn other skills; creativity can be
learned through artwork, so can being part of a group and
getting along with others
Class Teacher B:
Nothing is needed but a
environment will influence her
“frame”,…the
surrounding
The importance of this point, which could affect the social harmony of Macao-SAR, has
not been recognised by the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau.
As for the parents, their strategies they used with their children were related to
everyday decisions, games and house chores.
The strategies these parents have
suggested are often neglected by teachers, who have a curriculum to follow and
progress reports to complete.
Parent A: At this school, there is no fixed way to draw anything, it’s fine. I follow
13
the school’s approach.
Parent B: Not indulgence, but let him make decisions for trivial things in our
everyday life…
Parent C: It all boils down to games in everyday life, to guide him…Then there are
simple house chores, mopping the floor, let him mop in his own style, it
is also a kind of creativeness. Like this sort of thing; before Chinese
New Year, we buy the Chinese red papers [with blessing words], and let
him put them up in the house wherever he wants to.
These parents’ interpretations of creativity refer to the problem-solving abilities that we
all employ in our everyday lives. What they have suggested shares similarities with
the lifewide theory of Craft (2002).
Again, there is no evidence showing that the
Education and Youth Affairs Bureau has taken other possible interpretations of
creativity into consideration.
Discussion
Is Home-School Partnership in Macao-SAR Idealised?
It is generally accepted that, influenced by Confucianism, harmony in the Chinese
family is maintained by a social hierarchy of relationships (Li, 1998). According to the
filial piety system, which “is a cultural value indigenous to China that serves as a
guiding principle for socialization and intergeneration conduct…”(Ho, 1996, cited in
Aguinis & Roth), hierarchical ranking of authority is a central concept across familial,
educational and political situations (Aguinis & Roth). In Macao, filial piety is
14
emphasised and taught even in Chinese lessons at non-Chinese schools in Macao (Liu,
2002: 52). Resulting from the social hierarchy that forms the norms of behaviours for
the Chinese (Chao, 1994), the power distance that exists between individuals possessing
related social roles (e.g., father-son, teacher-student) is recognised and acknowledged
by most Chinese people (Hofstede, 2001). Within the filial piety framework, seniors
are entitled to have authority over younger persons; for instance, fathers have authority
over sons and teachers have authority over students.
Aguinis and Roth note that the
traditional Chinese term for teachers (sen shen in Mandarin and sin san in Cantonese)
literally means “born early” and that that alone makes teachers deserve respect and
deference. The special role of teachers has earned this social group a high status in
Chinese societies. Teachers are highly respected for their knowledge and expertise in
teaching (Ieong, 1998:17). They are regarded as models in both learning and conduct
for their students (Yuan, 1984).
In exchange, they are expected to shoulder the
responsibility for students’ learning and moral development (Jiao Yu, cited in O’Connor,
1991; D.Y.F. Ho, 1996).
These emic or indigenous concepts reflect the fact that
Chinese teachers enjoy a high social status in Chinese societies. Siu (1992) compares
the social status of parents and teachers and points out that teachers are authority figures
second only to a child’s parents.
Chinese teachers are often described as strict or authoritarian (I.T. Ho, 2001).
15
Using Hong Kong and mainland Chinese teachers as examples and citing the academic
achievements of Chinese students, I.T. Ho (2001) argued that the student-centred
orientation in the West might “appear irrelevant in the training of Asian teachers” (p. 99).
It is widely observed that a teacher-centred approach is still practised and student
compliance is still expected in modern Chinese societies (I.T. Ho, 2001). Under the
moral principles described above, Chinese teachers are expected to be passionate about
their profession, which could imply that imposing strict demands on children is
necessary (Ieong, 1998: 172). The notion of authoritarianism is sometimes taken to
mean more than teacher-centred pedagogy or strict disciplines in classroom
management, however, connoting a kind of power at the expense of another person. In
Chinese terms, on the other hand, authoritarianism also implies responsibility, concern,
guidance, etc. on the superiors’ part (Chao, 1994).
For Chinese students, an
authoritarian person is equivalent to or close to a parent figure and an authoritarian
approach implies that the one with authority (parent or teacher) has absolute say in or
conception of the issue at hand while the inferior (child or student) has to conform or
comply. Chinese teachers’ sense of authority might have developed from the trust that
parents have placed in them or from their possession of knowledge. At any rate, the
conception of teachers’ authority is deeply rooted in Chinese culture.
Empowerment has a different implication from authoritarianism. In Webster’s
16
dictionary (Neufeldt, 1991), it means to give power or authority to. The Chambers
Dictionary (1993) defines empowerment as giving individuals the power to make
decisions in matters relating to themselves, especially in relation to self-development
(cited in Morrow & Malin, 2004; their article offers a detailed discussion of the
definition of empowerment).
In her article about empowering parents of Down
syndrome children, Sue Buckley perceives empowerment as ‘the need to provide
parents with the knowledge and skills they need to be in control in this new situation …’
(p. 2). Despite the various interpretations of empowerment, as long as the term is used
in school-home partnerships, it implies that parents should be considered more or less as
equals to teachers and should have some say in their children’s education.
Buckley
argues that ‘the ideal relationship [between parent and helper] is a partnership, not a
dictatorship in which the professional, by virtue of knowledge, is assumed to be
superior’ (p. 3).
However, the actualisation of this concept might not be as easy as it
seems in Chinese societies, where the social hierarchy is still an integral part of people’s
lives.
Hence, the government officers might not be aware that the teachers’ ideas of
creativity and how it could be fostered should be taken into account.
Likewise,
teachers might not recognise that parents have their own interpretation of creativity and
how it could be nurtured in children.
As suggested by the data collected for this study, the interpretation of a certain
17
educational concept, which did not receive much attention in the past, only comes from
the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau. Even though teachers and parents have indeed
understood this concept from different perspectives, their interpretation of this “new”
concept, namely creativity, has not been consulted.
As a result, the Education and
Youth Affairs Bureau and even the teachers’ definitions and views of creativity are still
incomplete.
The local or home-grown understanding of creativity will definitely enrich the
government department’s interpretation of creativity, which is based on Western theories
and understandings of creativity.
In contrast to the statements outlined by the Parent
Association Handbook, parents’ role in children’s education has not been fully
recognised by either the schools or the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau. Placing the
participating parents’ views of creativity into the framework would help to correct this
oversight.
Conclusion
While home-school partnership is crucial in children’s development, this article
argues that a more balanced triadic relationship amongst government, school and home
should be built.
Based on data regarding the government’s policies and parents’ and
teachers’ understanding and approaches to fostering creativity, this article shows that the
18
meaning of creativity is passed on from those in the superior position to those in the
inferior position (e.g., from the education bureau to teachers; from teachers to parents).
The phenomenon observed might be attributed to the Chinese social hierarchy, which is
deeply influenced by Confucianism. Moreover, the ways suggested or adopted by each
of the three parties to foster creativity in children differed considerably.
This article
argues that the government should consider the practitioners’ and parents’ interpretation
of creativity as the different perspectives will help enrich the understanding of creativity
in the local context.
In China, the Guidelines for Kindergarten Education – Trial Version was first
published in 2001 and is still in effect today.
In Macao-SAR, even though several
demonstrations of the ‘new’ pedagogy to foster creativity have been organised by the
Education and Affairs Bureau between 2003 and 2006, there has not been any official
publication on the approach to foster creativity in children except the printed matter
analysed in this study.
An increasing number of kindergartens have fulfilled the
expectations of the Parent Association Handbook in that they have set up parent
associations or parent-teacher associations.
However, given that the Chinese social
hierarchy is deeply ingrained in people’s everyday lives, the parents’ role in education
might not be as significant as the Parent Association Handbook has outlined.
Initiation should still come from the government but narrowing the gap in
19
understanding such a “new” concept will remain a challenge for the Education
Department.
Total word count for text: 3947
Endnotes
1
A policy-making system learned from the former USSR. The First Five-Year Plan
was
launched in 1953.
2
About the Decision on Educational Reforms and Development for Foundational
Education – Trial Version (in Chinese) and the Guidelines for Kindergarten
Education – Trial Version (in Chinese).
3
The sovereignty of Macao was handed over by Portugal to the People’s Republic of
China in December, 1999, and Macao was renamed Macao-SAR.
20
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