Abstract:

Many techniques and educational methods have been developed to encourage children's creative thinking. These techniques aim at different creative processes and outcomes, such as generating innovative solutions, developing new ideas, and creating new products or systems. SCAMPER (Directed Brainstorming) is an enjoyable brainstorming activity that can be used to develop individuals' creativity and innovative thinking skills. The SCAMPER technique has seven steps with questions that encourage the development of a creative product or idea. The question patterns in each step support children's creativity, enable them to think differently, and improve their problem-solving skills. The aim of the research is to examine preschool teachers' views on the SCAMPER (Directed Brainstorming) technique usage in educational processes. The research was conducted with a qualitative research method. The study group of the research consisted of twenty-two preschool teachers working in the public independent kindergartens and kindergartens within primary schools in Adıyaman city center in the 2021-2022 academic year and who were voluntary participants in this research. "Individual Interview Form" was used for teachers' views on the SCAMPER technique. The qualitative data obtained were analyzed by the content analysis method. Based on the findings obtained from the study, it was revealed that preschool teachers had positive opinions regarding the SCAMPER technique. In their statements regarding the SCAMPER technique, teachers stated that it is a process based on a concept of flexible, creative thinking allowing the use of ideas/thoughts, brainstorming, generating new ideas, reformatting, a series of thinking methods, and that it is fun. As a result of the content analysis in the study, it was observed that teachers applied the SCAMPER technique in story completion/drama activities, in receiving opinions separately, in the problem-solving process, in screening different ideas, and in arousing curiosity. Furthermore, it was concluded that getting to know the child, creating a pleasant learning environment, being attention-grabbing, and supporting imagination are positive contributions of the technique for the teacher. In this regard, it is suggested that an activity pool can be created for examples of activities using the SCAMPER technique, and these activities can be shared with preschool teachers.

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