Dr. Majed M. Al-Ali
Supervisor of Scholastic Activities, Educational Activities Dept., Ministry of education
Ardiyah City , P.O: 77, C.N: 92551
State of Kuwait
Phone: 00-( 965) – 9765 – 200
E.mail: majed_alalii@hotmail.com, psychologest@hotmail.com
Abstract
This study was conducted based on the desire of the Administration of Scholastic Activities in The State of Kuwait to evaluate the reality of the various fields of creative scholastic activities in the secondary school. The rationale underlying this study is that students’ mental maturity entails teachers with the same level of creativity and inclination to innovation in order to cope with the ever-occurring educational changes. This is important since some school administrations are still unconvinced with the educational and psychological significance of scholastic activities, and consequently they hinder the implementation of activity programs. Besides, some teachers and school activity supervisors are not specialists and funds for scholastic activities are sufficient.
The aforementioned reasons constituted the desire of the Administration of Scholastic Activities in The State of Kuwait to improve the condition of creative school activities and eliminate whatever obstacles their effective application in schools. More specifically, the present study addressed the following question: “Do creative scholastic activities perform the desired educational role in the Kuwaiti secondary schools?” That is, the study sought to explore the reality of scholastic activities, and diagnose whatever obstacles their application and propose how to eliminate such obstacles, so activities can play their desired educational role.
The Concept of Scholastic Activities
Shaw (1990) found that the concept of scholastic activities refers to any activity performed inside or outside school and relate to the school educational aims. Some researchers view scholastic activities as part of the curriculum. Others see them equivalent to the curriculum. Another team of researchers view them as relevant to education without investigating their relation to the school curriculum.
There has been no consensus among researchers as to what the term school activities refers to. The researchers have wondered whether school activities refer to the activities that do not relate to study courses such as scientific and cultural groups, the activities that relate to study courses such as experiments, or the activities organized separately as study courses? Likewise, the researchers have used different terms to refer to scholastic activities, e.g., additional classroom activities, the out-of-classroom activities, the non-classroom activities, the accompanying curricular activities.
Scholastic activities have been given different definitions by different researchers. Shahatah (1992) defined them as “practice that affects the students’ mental, kinetic, psychological and social performance. This practice has various fields and satisfies the students’ physical, psychological and social needs. It, therefore, helps with the development of the student’s personality”. Johnson (1964) defined them as the activities originated in the students’ spontaneous interests and practiced beyond the school day without retribution. Another definition given by Al-Reshidi (1997) states that scholastic activities mean the programs that address the learner and the mental and physical effort s/he exerts in the activities that suit his/her abilities, inclinations and interests both inside and outside school. This, according to Al-Reshidi, helps students to enrich their experience and acquire desired skills and attitudes which develop their personalities and satisfy the growth requirements and the requirements of the country’s progress.
Scholastic activities, according to Hamad (1995), constitute an element of the school curriculum represented in mental, kinetic and social aspects, and help with the achievement of the educational aims by considering the learners’ characteristics and their growth requirements and providing them with opportunities for educational, cultural and social practices. Shahatah (1993) mentioned that Scholastic activities remain part of the philosophy of the modern school since they help with the development of habits, skills, value and thinking techniques that are necessary for the completion of schooling.
Perhaps the lack of consensus on the concept of scholastic activities is due to the multiplicity of scholastic activities. The definitions of scholastic activities are as varied as the activities themselves. There is the activity that accompanies the subject matter in order to deepen scientific concepts associating behavioral patterns that students are supposed to accomplish after undergoing specific experience(Adams) 1984.
There is also the activity performed by groups of students in order to promote them in the fields of literature, arts, sports and scientific research. This latter type is more inclusive as to human and material resources and more attractive to the students. This type is the one around which various competitions are held and prizes and appreciation activities are given to enhance talents and make the talented students feel self-confident.
Amabile (1983) mentioned that different visualizations and educational functions attributed to scholastic activities are therefore the rationale for the lack of one comprehensive definition of scholastic activities.
In the present study, scholastic activities are operationally defined as the set of educational practices performed by students inside and outside school based on the nature of the activity. These activities are organized and supervised by both the school administration and specialists in order to help the student to develop comprehensively, i.e., cognitively, socially, physically and morally. School activities aim at getting the students to experience life affairs and exploring their creative potentials. They seek to teach the students the fundamentals of leadership, obedience, cooperation and the spirit of teamwork.
The Importance of School Activities
Shahatah ( 1992) mentioned that Activity means motion and motion involves work and work in turn leads to growth. Activity is therefore important for the development of personality. Many educational aims are achieved as by-products of performing activities inside and outside schools. Thus, good education requires favorable settings for the performance of scholastic activities since they are necessary for growth. The students who participate in scholastic activities positively are characterized with activity, the spirit of leadership, emotional stability, successful social interaction, the ability to make informed decisions, perseverance, satisfaction with life, the ability to promote relationships with others, and potential for creativity. Mehrabian (1995).
Arieti (1976) wrote that non-classroom activities also inculcate in the students positive attitudes like punctuality, disciple, cleanliness, respect for others, and the conversation of public property
The importance of scholastic activities are summarized in the following points:
1. Providing the students with the experience and skills that are necessary for life.
2. Enhancing the students’ talents and abilities.
3. Revealing professional inclinations in students, which can help with professional guidance in the future.
4. Inculcating the collective spirit in the students and training them on leadership, mutual understanding and collaborative work.
5. Training the students on overcoming the problems encountered everywhere.
6. Education the students with the ability to cope and respond to different patterns of behavior.
The Functions of Scholastic Activities
Scholastic activities perform the following functions:
A. The Psychological Function
Activities develop inclinations, talents and the ability to adapt. They constitute a motive for learning and develop self-confidence.
B. The Social Function
Activities help the students to establish intimate relationships with others and inculcate in them the values of responsibility, cooperation, respect for others’ opinions and conformity with laws. Activities involve students in group work, which develops in them social skills and values. These skills and values are developed in the students as they involve in the group work where they collaboratively and enthusiastically plan, set goals and implement ideas.
C. The Educational Function
Activities provide concrete and direct experiences, and they entail interaction with the components of the activity, which helps with the learning of knowledge and skills and the gratification of the motive to do research. Activities strengthen the motive to learn and enhance the students’ scholastic achievement. They encourage the students’ active role in learning, allow for personal experience and help the students to learn many skills and attitudes that can not be learnt from formal education. Runco (1991) mentioned that activities strengthen the spirit of research and enthusiasm for work. They also help the students to discover and promote their abilities and inclinations. Finally, the activities make possible self-learning, life-long learning and problem solving.
D. The Achievement Function
Rayan (1985 ) mentioned that Scholastic activities concern with the educational experiences included in formal education in order to help the students to develop the different dimensions of personality. Research found a significant positive correlation between performing school activities and scholastic achievement.
E. The Recreational Function
This function is represented in art programs, school trips, games, celebration and competitions.
F. The Remedial Function
Scholastic activities help with the remedy of many psychological disorders such as introversion, shyness, speech disorders, etc.
G. The Economical Function
This function is represented in the students’ making use of time in doing something useful, encouraging respect for work and raising the level of performance.
General Aims of Scholastic Activities
Researchers concurred on several general aims of scholastic activities, which, if achieved, can affect the outcomes of education, positively. Among these general aims are:
- Producing a generation of students who interact with their environment effectively.
- Developing the collective spirit and overcoming egoism.
- Developing desired behaviors, e.g., self-reliance, initiative, innovation, creativity, observation and perseverance.
- Developing the ability to make informed decisions and the sense of responsibility.
- Training the students on political affairs, e.g., applying for student boards, participating in electing student boards and self-judgment.
- Getting used to planning for and implementing group work.
- Enjoying oneself through the gratification and the development of skills, interests and inclinations.
- Professional guidance and respect for manual work.
- Participating in some aspects of school administration and solving some student and administrative problems.
It is obvious that these general aims can help achieve:
- Students’ active role in learning.
- Positive citizenship.
Scholastic Activities and Their Constitutional System of Ministry of Education in The State of Kuwait
The Ministry of Education in the State of Kuwait has placed a great emphasis on school activities since the beginning of formal schooling. School activities encompass the cultural, sporting, artistic, social and scientific activities performed in schools. They also encompass the exhibitions and the celebrations that used to be held by schools based on individual initiatives on the part of schools without planning, guidance or evaluation on the part of the ministry. In 1962, the ministry established a school activities department whose purpose is to supervise:
Social, cultural and artistic school activities.
A broadcasting program called “With Students”.
The programs of the summer clubs.
With the quantitative expansion in education, the scholastic activities department was converted into a supervisory, but the content of the actual work remained as it used to be without promotion. Al-Reshidi (1997 ) asserted that In 1965, the supervisory was converted into an administration. With this change, the concept of school activities has developed and the activities began to concern for the comprehensive development of the students. Yet, actual practice remained limited to the achievement of the requirements of the school work. Activity supervisors’ remained to concern for activity groups that included the students who had hobbies and inclinations, and the aptitude to group work. Thus, the activities remained limited to the students with special talents and inclinations. Not all the students were included in the activities. This frustrated the aim of generalizing activities to all the students. Sayed (2000) mentioned that The administration of the scholastic activities used to be the responsibility of the assistant vice minister for student affairs till 13/9/1986 when it became the responsibility of the assistant vice minister for social and psychological service. Since then, the philosophy of scholastic activities has been determined in that “the individual should acquire his/her experiences through practice and consideration of real problems, and that the experience is the source of knowledge and experience keeps growing with practice opportunities. This philosophy should be considered in the organization of non-classroom activities.
The Aims of Scholastic Activities in State of Kuwait
Ahmad (2005 ) mentioned that In November 1987, the Scholastic Activities Follow-up office of the ministry of education in State of Kuwait issued a document identifying the following aims of school activities:
1. Bringing up learners to believe in religious values and identify the principles of Islam and the details of its comprehensive method.
2. Deepening belongingness to the country and taking pride in the Arabic family, sticking to religious principles, and respecting the principles of international understanding and cooperation.
3. Providing the learners with opportunities to practice scientific thinking and developing their abilities of innovation and creativity.
4. Enhancing the principles of democracy by providing the learners with the opportunity to express their opinions and attend to others opinions.
5. Training learners on collaborative work, planning, identifying responsibilities and behaving in various situations.
6. Helping learners to acquire the skills of self-learning and making them aware of the fact that life is a lifelong process.
7. Developing positive attitudes towards manual work and workers.
8. Providing learners with opportunities to make use of their leisure time.
9. Developing mental abilities and environmental skills, which helps mental and physical growth.
10. Addressing individual differences and nurturing talents.
11. Bringing up learners to sense art and beauty.
12. Achieving the psychomotor balance in learners and training them on overcoming various problems.
13. Making learners aware of their environment and training them in participating in solving its problems.
14. Varying activities in order to achieve the learner’s comprehensive growth within the requirements of the society.
15. Helping in diagnosing, preventing and treating learners’ problems.
Activities are therefore supposed to prepare the learner to life and to interact with the environment. There have been many changes in life in Kuwait since 1986. Many economical, political and social changes took place, changing life completely. All the components of education also underwent many changes since globalization necessitated that education be restructured to reflect the ever-increasing educational innovations. Accordingly, a need arose for aims that can help the student find a place in the world of culture and information networks; aims that make the student interact effectively with such a scientific world with its various components.
The Dimensions of Scholastic Activities
Researchers of scholastic activities in have concurred that the state of Kuwait adopts a four-dimension system for activities. That is, activity programs are centered on four dimensions. Of these four dimensions, the researchers have agreed on the following three dimensions:
The cultural dimension.
The social dimension.
The artistic dimension.
They diverged on the fourth dimension which some researchers named the scientific dimension as Abdellah (1990) Bashir( 1990) and others named the sporting dimension as Galal (1995) If the purpose of organizing activities in dimensions is to put common groups of activities under separate dimensions, then the scholastic activities should be categorized in five groups: the cultural, the social, the artistic, the scientific and the sporting dimensions.
1. The Cultural Dimension: This dimension includes the programs of the groups whose activities relate to the development of knowledge, experience, awareness, and literary production in an organized framework. Examples of these groups are the group of the school press, the group of the library, the group of the activities of the Arabic language (handwriting, verse writing, story writing, reading poetry, acting and school broadcasting), and the group of the religious activities (the group of the mosque, and the Quran memorization group)
2. The Social Dimension: This dimension includes the programs of the groups whose activities relate to the development of social skills, values and attitudes. Examples of these groups are the group of the friends of the sick people, the group of school trips, the group of cooperation, the group of school exhibitions, and the group of cutting down consumption.
3. The Artistic Dimension: This dimension includes the programs of the groups whose activities allow the students to practice activities like playing music, singing and drawing. It includes the groups of music, drawing, hand-made products and theatrical work.
4. The Scientific Dimension: It includes the programs of the groups whose activities address scientific thinking and research. Examples of these groups are the science club (this includes various groups), the agriculture group, the scientific projects group, the research group, and audio-visual presentations group.
5. The Sporting Dimension: This encompasses the groups whose activities address physical skills. Of these groups are ball teams (football, basketball and handball), swimming teams and scouts.
It is noteworthy that this categorization, though useful for organizational purposes, does not mean that activities are separate in the actual reality. All types of activities serve the same purposes. Besides, the same purpose can be fulfilled through more than one activity type. A theatrical performance, for instance, can involve participants the acting group, the electricity group, etc. That the group and the practice of the various groups are different does not mean that the aim is different. All the activities interact whether in aims and/or practices. Categorization is useful only for the purposes of planning, implementation, follow-up and organization.
An activity achieves the desired aim if given positive elements are secured. These elements or components include the group, the activity supervisor and the organization of the group work:
Components of Scholastic Activities
1. Ali (2004) asserted that the members of the group: Members of a group are the thinking minds that give the activity meaning and structure. Members join groups that satisfy their inclinations and personal desires. This makes members work positively as individuals and as members of the group.
2. The activity supervisor: The activity supervisor can be a teacher from the school or a specialist who is delegated to school during the time of the activity. What is most required for a supervisor is that s/he should be convinced of the educational significance of the activity. He should have a strong educational background and he should be specialized in what he supervises in order to direct the students well, detect their potentials and help them develop these potentials.
3. The program of the group activity: This program is determined by both the activity supervisor and the students within the organizational rules established by official administrations since any work in the field of schooling has a given place in the whole educational system. Sometimes these rules obstacle the practice of the activity and the successful supervisor is the one who can converse policy makers and persuade them to modify the activity and refine its practice.
4. The organization of work inside the group: This is determined by the supervisor and the group members who all coincide on every detail, e.g., the meeting times and places, and the final product of the activity. They all participate in setting a flexible schedule of the group’s work (Ali) 1990.
The Non-Classroom Activity Groups in Kuwaiti Public Schools
Majed ( 2000 ) asserted that the factors determining the success of scholastic activity groups include:
- Clearly stated and viable aims.
- Students willing to achieve the desired aim.
- A specialized supervisor who is convinced of the aim.
- A good organization that suits the students’ abilities.
- An educational program that governs the work of the group.
- A sensible administration that is aware of the educational role of the activity.
- Positive planning of the group work.
- The Levels of planning the Activity Program.
Jaber (2002) wrote that scholastic activities are not the responsibility of the activity supervisor alone. Rather, they are planned at various levels that interact and complement each other. These levels are as follows:
1. The ministry: Planning at this level covers all the educational stages according to educational, economic and artistic considerations. Functions performed at this level include the training of activity supervisors, follow-up and evaluation that aims at enhancing the advantages and eliminating the disadvantages. Plans generated at this level are continuously adapted and improved based on the actual practice.
2. The school: The school implements the plan developed by the ministry, follows the implementation of the activity, provides the specialized supervisor, eliminates whatever obstacles the activity, and provide the ministry with periodical reports on the activity and the degree to which it meets the desired aims.
3. The supervisor: The supervisor develops the activity general plan, provides the resources needed for the implementation of the activity, implements the defined plan with the students, follow the implementation of the activity by the students, and evaluates the performance of the group from time to time.
4. The students: The students set more defined plans and aims for the activity in the light of the general plan. They identify the specific methods to meet the aims of the activity. They also evaluate their own performance, whereas the supervisor provides them with support and guidance.
These four levels of planning are performed in the light of several criteria. Some of these criteria are: the desired aim, the nature of the students, the human and material resources, the degree to which the activity is related to the educational aims, the degree to which the activity satisfies the students’ inclinations, the cost of the activity, the timetable, the availability of specialized supervisors, the time allocated to the activity, and awareness among school administrative staff.
The Method
Participants
The number of the participants in the present study was 977 male and female students from Kuwaiti Secondary schools. The age average of the participants was 17.3 with a standard deviation of 1.96.
Materials
1. A questionnaire to survey students’ opinions about creative scholastic activities. It consisted of five questions and eight options for each question. The students were to read the questions and tick the options that reflect their inclinations and interests. Besides, the questionnaire included an essay question where the students were to write about the problems that obstacle the implementation of school activities.
2. A questionnaire to survey students’ opinions about the suitable times for the creative scholastic activities. It consisted of 10 items with four options for each.
3. A questionnaire to survey activity supervisors’ opinions about scholastic creative activities. It consisted of 9 questions reflecting the supervisors’ opinions about the various components of school activities such as the aims of school activities, the time allocated to the activity, the funds allocated to the activity, etc. the respondent was to read the question and tick one of four options.
Procedure
Once selected, the participants completed the materials after establishing their validity and reliability statistically. A number of activity supervisors, teachers, psychological workers and researchers helped with the administration of the instruments. Administration, scoring and feeding the data in SPSS program took about 2 months.
Results
Descriptive Statistics
The participants were stratified according to the educational zone and the gender. As to the gender, the female students composed 61% of the whole number of the participants while the percentage of the male students was 39%. This is listed in table (1), which shows the distribution of the participants according to the educational zone and the gender.
Table (1): The Distribution of the Participants
According to Educational Zone and The Gender
The responses of the participants (students, activity supervisors and administrative staff) were treated statistically using the SPSS program. This revealed the following findings concerning the three questionnaires administered in the present study:
1. The Responses of The Students to The Five-Question Questionnaire:
Question 1: Which Creative Scholastic Activities Receive More Interest From School Administrations?
Frequencies and percentages were computed to identify the creative school activities that receive more interest from school administrations. This is presented in table (2):
Table (2): Frequencies and Percentages of
Students’ Responses About The Creative Scholastic
Activities That School Administrations Emphasize on
As shown in the above table, the creative scholastic activity that receive the most emphasis from school administrations is the sporting and scouting activities (36%), followed by the religious activities (25%), the cultural activities (17%), the social activities (13%), the computing (3%), the practical activities (2%), and finally the artistic activities (1%).
Question 2: Which Creative Scholastic Activities are More Practiced by The Students During This School Year?
Frequencies and percentages were computed to identify the creative scholastic activities that are more practiced by the students during this school year. These results are presented in table (3):
Table (3): Frequencies and Percentages of
Students’ Responses About The Creative Scholastic
Activities That more Practiced by The Students
It obvious from table (3) that the most practiced creative scholastic activities are the sporting and scouting activities (25%), followed by the cultural activities (24%), the artistic activities (7%), and the computing activities (6%). The practical activities received the least rating (3%). (See table (3) for the other percentages.
Question 3: What are The Factors That Affect The Students’ Selection of Creative School Activities?
To identify the factors that affect the students’ selection of creative school activities, frequencies and percentages were computed. Table (4) below presents these results:
Table (4): Frequencies and Percentages of
Students’ Responses About The Factors That
Affect Their Selection of Creative Scholastic Activities
As indicated in the above table, 73% of the students attributed their selection of given creative school activities to their inclinations and interests. The factor that has the least influence on the students’ selection of activities proved to be parental recommendation.
Question 4: How many lessons Should be Allocated to Creative Scholastic Activities?
The identification of the ideal number of periods that should be allocated to creative scholastic activities from the students’ perspective was achieved by computing frequencies and percentages. This is shown in table (5):
Table (5): Frequencies and Percentages of
Students’ Responses About the Ideal Number of Periods
that Should be Allocated to Creative Scholastic Activities
Table (5) shows that the largest number of students (32%) saw that two lessons a week for creative scholastic activities are enough. That the activities be allocated a full day or one period a week was preferred by 27% and 21% respectively. Eight percent of the students recommended more than two lessons a week.
Question 5: What are the Effects of Performing Creative Scholastic Activities?
Means and standard deviation were computed to investigate the students’ opinions about the effects of performing creative scholastic activities. This is listed in table (6) below:
Table (6): Means and Standard Deviations
of Students’ Responses About the Effects
of Performing Creative Scholastic Activities
As shown in the above table, the means of agreement to the statements ranged from 52-84 and the standard deviation ranged from 23-26. The statements that received the highest agreement are those relating to training on group work and cooperation, the enhancement of scientific thinking, and the enhancement of loyalty to the country (m = 84, 80, 79 respectively). The means of the statements relating to the negative effects of activities on the family’s budget and the interference with the achievement of assignments were 57 and 52 respectively, which are low compared with the other means.
The Essay Question: What are The Problems That Obstacle The Implementation of Scholastic Activities?
The students’ written responses to the above question revealed the following are the problems that obstacle the implementation of scholastic activities:
Lack of awareness of the educational value of the activities.
Using the periods allocated to activities for more academic study.
The insufficiency of the time allocated to activities.
Lack of activities that satisfy students’ inclinations.
The inappropriateness of the times allocated to activities.
Lack of cooperation between parents and activity supervisors.
Limited material resources and apparatus.
The fact that activities are not innovated, which makes them tedious.
The inability to include all the group members in the activity.
Lack of material and spiritual retributions for encouragement.
Lack of well-prepared settings for activities.
2. The Responses of The Students to The Questionnaire on The Suitable Times When Activities are to be Performed:
Frequencies and percentages were computed to detect the students’ preferences as to the suitable times when activities are to be performed. These results are shown in the following table:
Table (7): Frequencies and Percentages
of Students’ Responses about the Suitable
Times when Activities are to be Performed
A look at the above table shows that 50% of the students preferred that the activities be performed during the school day and 20% selected Thursday, which is a formal vacation. The percentage of the students who preferred the beginning of the school day for the performance of activities was 16%. Besides, the students, in their written responses to the essay question, defined other times for activities: a day at the end of the week and after the school day.
3. The Results of The Supervisors’ opinions About Creative Scholastic Activities:
The items of the questionnaire administered to explore the supervisors’ opinions about creative scholastic activities represented the dimensions of (1) the realization of the desired aims, (2) the time of performing the activity, (3) the number of periods allocated to activities, (4) the selection of the activity supervisor, (5) the funds allocated to activities, (6) students’ interest in the activities, (7) the follow-up on the part of the activity supervisor, (8) the follow-op on part of the school administration, and (9) the method used in distributing the students on the activities:
(1) The realization of the desired aims:
Means of appropriateness were very high in regard to the responses of the supervisors of the cultural, sporting/scouting and artistic (manual product) activities. They were high in regard to the responses of religious, social, scientific and practical activities. The means of appropriateness of the responses of the computing activity supervisors were moderate.
(2) The time of performing the activities:
The sewing activity proved to have a very high mean of appropriateness. Means of appropriateness ranged from very high to average concerning the other artistic activities and the religious, social, scientific and sporting/scouting activities. Practical and computing activities were rated as average.
(3) The number of lessons allocated to activities:
The sewing activity received the highest mean of appropriateness. The other artistic activities and the religious, cultural and practical activities were rated from very high to average. The computing, sporting/scouting and scientific activities were rated as average. The mummification activity was attributed a low mean of appropriateness.
(4) The selection of the activity supervisor:
The highest level of appropriateness was attributed to the music activity. Means of appropriateness were high as to the other artistic activities and the religious, sporting/scouting and computing activities. The scientific, practical, cultural and social activities were rated from high to average.
(5) The funds allocated to activities:
The music activity was rated high. The other artistic activities were rated average. The ratings were average in regard to the computing, sporting/scouting, religious, scientific, practical, cultural, and social activities. Only the bees raising activity was given a low rating.
(6) Students’ interest in the activities:
The activities of football, folk dance and scouting received very high ratings. The other sporting/scouting activities and the computing activities received high ratings. The religious activities were given moderate ratings. The ratings ranged from high to average as to the practical, scientific, cultural, social and artistic activities.
(7) The follow-up on the part of the activity supervisor:
The activities of scouting and the female guides were given very high ratings, whereas most sporting/scouting and computing activities were given high ratings. The ratings of appropriateness ranged from high to average for all the artistic, practical, cultural and social activities. The football activity, all the religious activities and most scientific activities received average ratings. The mummification activity received a low rating.
(8) The follow-op on part of the school administration:
Scouting and the female guide activities came first. Most sporting/scouting and the computing, artistic, practical, and religious activities got high ratings of appropriateness. As to the cultural, social and scientific activities, the appropriateness ratings ranged from high to average. The football activity was attributed an average rating.
(9) The method used in distributing the students on the activities:
Appropriateness ratings for all activities ranged from high to average except the computing activities that received high ratings.
The study revealed that the best methods to evaluate the effectiveness of creative scholastic activities from the activity supervisors’ opinions are as follows:
1. Through national and international competitions (the supervisors of the computing, cultural, sporting, scouting, practical and scientific activities).
2. Students’ participation (the supervisors of the religious and scientific activities).
3. Holding exhibitions (the supervisors of the computing, cultural, practical and scientific activities).
4. Continuous visits from activity supervisors and activity principals and evaluating the groups’ products (the supervisors of the computing, social, artistic and scientific activities).
5. Getting students to carry out projects that can show their skills (the supervisors of the cultural and scientific activities).
6. Surveying the opinions of the activity supervisors (the supervisors of the social activities).
7. Evaluating activities weekly or monthly (the supervisors of the cultural and scientific activities).
8. Giving every student a project to carry out and testing him/her in it (the supervisors of the social, sporting and scouting activities).
The study found that the most important problems that obstacle the implementation of scholastic activities as desired by activity supervisors are as follows:
1. The absence of a technical, consultative body to evaluate the outcome of the activities (the supervisors of the computing activity).
2. Lack of resources and apparatus that are required for the performance of the activities (the supervisors of the computing, cultural, artistic, scientific and practical activities).
3. Lack of awareness and interest among students (the supervisors of the religious, social and scientific activities).
4. Lack of interest among the supervision staff (the supervisors of the religious activities).
5. Lack of coordination between academic assignments and the activities.
6. The incorrect distribution of students on the activities (the supervisors of social, sporting/scouting, scientific and practical activities).
7. The unsuccessful selection of activity supervisors (the supervisors of the computing activity).
8. Lack of funds (the supervisors of the social, sporting/scouting and scientific activities).
9. Lack of well-equipped settings (the supervisors of the cultural, social, sporting/scouting, scientific and practical activities).
10. Lack of material and spiritual retributions (the supervisors of the social, artistic, scientific and practical activities).
11. The imbalanced distribution of the students on the activities (the supervisors of the computing activity).
12. The insufficiency of the time allocated to the activities (the supervisors of the social, sporting/scouting, scientific and practical activities).
13. Lack of family encouragement (the supervisors of the cultural, artistic, scientific and practical activities).
14. Lack of specialized supervisors (the supervisors of the cultural, artistic, scientific and practical activities).
15. Lack of the understanding of the significance of school activities among students, and some supervisors, parents, and administrative staff (the supervisors of the sporting/scouting, scientific and practical activities).
The activity supervisors proposed the following solutions to the above mentioned problems:
1. Increasing the interest of school administrations in following activities and raising the awareness of students, teachers and parents (the supervisors of the cultural, artistic, scientific, practical, computing and sporting/scouting activities).
2. Providing schools with the required resources and equipment (the supervisors of the cultural, computing, scientific, practical and artistic activities).
3. Employing specialized activity supervisors who are convinced with the significance of activities (the supervisors of the computing, scientific, practical and artistic activities).
4. The participation of public welfare and charity institutions in providing retributions to students and supervisors and making parents share some of the cost of the activities (the supervisors of the social and scientific activities).
5. Providing well-equipped settings for the implementation of the activities (the supervisors of the computing, cultural, social, scientific and practical activities).
6. Coordination among activity supervisors in the selection of students in the various activities (the supervisors of the scientific, practical and sporting/scouting activities).
7. Allocating sufficient time for activities (the supervisors of the sporting/scouting and social activities).
8. Making membership in activity groups optional, i.e., the students should not be imposed to join given groups (the supervisors of the computing activity).
9. Providing suitable retributions (the supervisors of the social, scientific, practical and sporting/scouting activities).
10. Increasing the funds allocated to activities (the supervisors of the sporting/scouting activities).
The activity supervisors identified the following as obstacles to the solution of the problems they face in the field:
The absence of research that identifies the advantages and disadvantages of school activities.
Lack of innovation in scholastic activities, which makes them tedious.
Lack of a well-defined plan for scholastic activities in the Ministry of Education.
The limited authority given to school administrations in regard to the supervision of activities.
Lack of communication between the responsible bodies in the ministry and activity supervisors, which keeps the suffering of the activity supervisors unnoticed.
Lack of interest in the activities on the part of students since activities do not affect academic success and evaluation.
Lack of follow-up on the part of school administrations.
Discussion
According to the data obtained from the application of the three questionnaires on students and activity supervisors, the results differed from one questionnaire to another and from a sample to another. As to the five-question questionnaire that was applied on the students, it revealed that the sporting/scouting activities receive the greatest emphasis on the part of school administration compared with the other activities. Several interpretations can be given to this finding. First, sporting/scouting activities assimilate a larger number of the students who are prone and motivated to practice the various sporting/scouting games. Second, the sense of achievement and triumph the students get when they win makes more students join these activities. Wishing to enhance this sense of achievement in the students and to be included among active schools is a third reason why school administrations pay special attention to sporting/scouting activities. Fourth, the high popularity of sporting/scouting activities can be due to the fact that the practice of sports is not limited to closed places where intricate rules are to be followed like cultural and artistic activities. Fifth, these activities attract the public, which makes them attractive to students. Sixth, these activities extend to other countries through the international participation, which gives students useful and amusing experience.
The low level of attention the school administrations pay to the scientific, computing and artistic activities can be due to the fact that such activities require expensive equipment and resources that cannot be available to schools, and if they are available they can be primitive.
The students’ responses revealed that the most important factor that determines their selection of school activities is personal inclinations. The least important factor was revealed to be parents’ inclinations. This signifies that students’ selection of activities is mainly affected by their personal interests and their conviction with the significance of the activities. This also signifies that students can decide activity affiliations for themselves without the interference of their parents.
As to the best time to perform scholastic activities, half of the sample preferred that activities be performed during the school day, so activities can relieve the students from the intensive academic study. The penetration of activities among academic classes helps to keep the students physically and mentally fit for academic study. Besides, activities can be related to the study curriculum, which gives activities a role in the curriculum.
As to the number of periods that should be allocated to school activities, one third (approx) of the sample saw two lessons a week as sufficient. A smaller portion of the sample preferred that a complete day be allocated to scholastic activities. A further smaller portion of the sample saw that there should be more than two periods a week for activities. The reason for this variation in the students’ preferences as to the number of the lessons to be given to activities is that some schools make good use of the existing times allocated to activities, which makes a number of the students satisfied with the existing time system. Some other schools use some of the activity lessons for further academic support and/or revision. That is, they sacrifice activities for the sake of academic study, which gives the students the sense that one lessons a week for activities is not enough. Furthermore, some activities require more than two lessons a week like football matches and theatrical performances.
As to the effects of performing school activities, the training on group work and cooperation with others, the development of the ability of scientific thinking, and strengthening loyalty to the country received the highest level of agreement. This indicates that the students are aware of significance and positive reflections of activities on the development of the various aspects of personality.
Based on these results, the researcher noticed that scholastic activities, whether general or creative, have many positive psychological and educational reflections.
Gibbs (1991) asserted that they develop the different aspects of the learner’s personality, which enables him/her to meet the requirements of his/her environment on one side and the academic achievement on the other side. It is therefore a psychological and educational necessity to place the due emphasis on school activities in all grades.
Runco (1994) asserted that outcomes of many classroom and non-classroom activities enhance the learners’ psychological well-being and help them acquire many creative skills and behaviors. The scholastic activities constitute a richer context for the detection of learners’ creative potentials than academic study that places the most emphasis on the theoretical aspect. Besides, scholastic activities make possible the detection and development of the gifted and creative learners.
There should be cooperation and coordination between the Ministry of Education and the various governmental and non-governmental sectors in the society in order to promote the reality of scholastic activities. Gustafson (1991) mentioned that the school alone cannot achieve its creative aims without the cooperation of the institutions and the sectors of the society or without making use of the international experiences in the field of school activities. That representatives from the scholastic activities field attend international workshops and conferences on school activities is of paramount importance for the development of the various aspects of school activities.
Recommendations
In the light of the results of the present study, the following recommendations are offered:
Developing programs to eliminate the problems that obstacle the implementation of school activities.
Developing new activity programs in the light of the innovations in the field.
Researching the problems that obstacle the implementation of scholastic activities and proposing applicable solutions to them.
Holding periodical meetings, so activity principals from the Ministry of Education and activity supervisors can meet to discuss and plan for the promotion of school activities.
Organizing annual exhibitions where products of student activities can be sold for the benefit of the students themselves.
Getting mass media to participate by spreading awareness of the importance of school activities everywhere in the society.
Establishing well-equipped places where activities are performed when building new schools.
Increasing the funds allocated to scholastic activities and finding new funding resources.
Evaluating and modifying the aims of scholastic activities (the latest formulation of the aims was in 1986) in the light of the innovations in the field.
Holding workshops to increase awareness of the educational importance of scholastic activities among supervisors and administrative staff.
Holding workshops to increase awareness of the educational importance of school activities among newly employed supervisors.
Providing manuals to clarify the nature and importance of school activities and the role they play in the development of the student’s personality.
Making use of the specialized experiences of the parents who wish to volunteer to support activities, i.e., sewing and making ships.
Linking the non-classroom activities with the institutions of the society in the form of visits to the institutions, training programs or part-time jobs for students according to the student’ skills and age and in coordination between the institutions and the activity administration in the Ministry of Education.
References
Abdellah, A. (1990). Educational systems and the creativity. Jordan: The Student Press.
Adamas, J. (1984). Conceptual blockbusting: A guide to better ideas (3rd ed). Reading, MA: Addison-wesley.
Ahmad, A. (2005). Creativity in the school. Kuwait: The Future Press.
Ali, B. (2004). Creativity and talented. Kuwait: Academic Press.
Ali, M. (1990).The history of ministry of education. Kuwait: Ministry Press.
Al-Rashidi, B. (1997). The evaluation of education system. Kuwait: Kuwait University Press.
Amabile,T. (1983).The social psychology of creativity. New York: Springer-Verlag.
Arieti, S. (1976). Creativity: The magic synthesis. New York: Basic Book.
Bashir, R. (1990). The educational psychology. Kuwait: Training Center Pres.
Galal, S. (1995). The activities and the education. Egypt: The Researches Press.
Gibbs, R. (1991). Metaphor as constrait on individual creativity. Creativity Research Journal, 4, 86-88.
Gustafson, R. (1991). The effect of alcohol on the quantity of creative production. Psychological Report, 69, 83-90
Hamad, A. (1995). Methodology the work in the evaluation of the curriculum. Kuwait: Kuwait Press.
Jaber, B. (2002).Scholastic programs and the education. Kuwait: The Sky Press.
Johnson, A. (1964). The scholastic activities in the secondary school. London: University Press.
Majed, M.A. (2000). The psychology of creativity. Training Center Lectures. Kuwait: Ministry of Education Press.
Mehrabian, A. (1995). Theory and evidence bearing on a scale of trait reusability. Current Psychology, 14, 3-28.
Rayan, F. (1985). The scholastic activities. Kuwait: Sciences Press.
Runco, M.A. (1991). Divergent thinking. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Runco, M.A. (1994). Problem finding, Problem solving, and creativity. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Sayed, Z.(2000). Report of scholastic activities.Researches Center.Kuwait: Ministry of Education Press.
Shahatah, H. (1992). The scholastic activities. Cairo: Egypt Press.
Shahatah, H. (1993). The teaching of Arabic language between the theory and applying. Cairo: Al-Ahram Press.
Shaw, G. (1990). Laterality, implicit memory and attention disorder. Educational Study, 17, 15-32.