Assessment of opportunities available to school children for the development of divergent thinking ability

Divergent thinking skills are very important in solving problems and generating novel ideas.In today’s context, divergent thinking skills can help children develop novel solutions to everyday problems including those relating to their mental health and well-being. Home environment has been found to be critical factor for development of divergent thinking skills. The present research was carried out to assess the home environment of sampled school age children from J&K State of Indiato look for opportunities available to them for the development of divergent thinking ability. The sample unit for the present study comprised 200 homes of selected children who were categorized as High Performer (100) and Low Performer (100) on the basis of their performance on Divergent Production Ability Test (DPAT) in Phase I of the study.A self devised rating Scale was used to assess home environment of selected children to look for opportunities available to them for the development of divergent thinking ability. The categories covered in the rating scale are as follows:(i) Material available at home i.e. reference material like magazines, books, newspaper, clay, musical instruments, paints, play things etc. (ii) activities conducted at home like excursions, story telling, dramatic play, paper folding, imaginative play, reproduction of artwork etc. The results of the study revealed that there was difference in the material available and used by children for performing activities at home (Group wise). Statistically, significant difference was observed among HP and LP children with regard to availability of unstructured material, educational material, electronic goods, natural material, musical instruments and play material.When compared across gender, it was found that there was significant difference between boys and girls with respect to overall availability of unstructured material at their homes whereas insignificant difference was seen on overall availability of other materials. The difference was also statistically significant among boys and girls with regard to activities related to technology, unstructured material, natural material, educational material and visual art activities except excursion activities performed by them. The study has implications for children, parents, teachers and professionals in the field of child development and can be used to provide inputs for enhancement of creative thinking skills among children.