APPROACHES TO DEVELOPING CREATIVITY ACCORDING TO THE 4 FOUNDATIONS OF MINDFULNESS OF TEACHERS AT THE ANG THONG PROVINCIAL SPECIAL EDUCATION CENTER

Abstract

The objectives of this research article were 1) to study the creativity of special education teachers in Ang Thong Province, 2) to study the methods for developing creativity according to the Four Foundations of Mindfulness of special education teachers in Ang Thong Province, 3) to propose guidelines for developing creativity according to the Four Foundations of Mindfulness of special education teachers in Ang Thong Province. It was an integrated research method between quantitative and qualitative research. It consisted of quantitative research as a questionnaire was used for 194 special education center teachers in Ang Thong province. Data were analyzed with basic statistics: frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation. In term of qualitative research, interviewed a group of administrators and teachers of 5 people. Data were analyzed by content analysis. The results showed that; 1) Creativity of special education teachers in Ang Thong Province in overall, it was at a high level. When considering each aspect, it was found that all three aspects were at a high level, namely, fluent thinking, flexible thinking and initiative with the ability to think quickly to solve problems in operation, immediately flexible thinking, able to try to think many things freely, had a novel idea different from ordinary thinking. 2) The results of the study of creative development methods according to the Four Foundations of Mindfulness of special education teachers in Ang Thong Province. In terms of flexible thinking, which was the lowest aspect of the level of creativity. In the least two items, namely: (1) Thoughts in details to decorate or expand the main idea for a more complete meaning with physical consideration, having perseverance, discernment, mindfulness, learning external things to considering the truth, seeing the mind, seeing the Dharma, having thought in detail to decorate or expand the main idea to have a more complete meaning. (2) Ability to think and solve immediate problems in a timely manner, be mindful in order to solve immediate problems fluently in the situation, practicing the Four Foundations of Mindfulness principles initially required the use of mindfulness as a basis for practice, having the ability to think and solve immediate problems in a timely manner by using other skills to help solve problems. 3) Propose a guideline for creative development according to the Four Foundations of Mindfulness of special education teachers in Ang Thong Province, emphasizing flexibility in thinking, i.e. being able to try to think many things independently, always listen to other people's opinions with reason, able to think of various and adapted from one thing to many things well, consider the body perseverance, discernment, mindfulness, learning external things to consider the truth, contemplating the mind and seeing the Dharma, having thoughts in detail in order to decorate and solve immediate problems fluently and in a timely manner, having a process for solving problems appropriately with the arising problems, using reason for making decisions, not sticking to traditional problem solving methods, bringing other skills to help problems solving, having consciousness as the basis for thinking of reasonable ways to solve problems.