The Influence of Project Teaching on The Creativity and Achievement of Students in The Mastery of Social Contents in The Subject of Nature and Society

Creativity is the point where all the contradictions of contemporary social development are summarized, refracted and reflected. That's why the question arises: "Is school a place that (doesn't) encourage creativity?" Creativity as a psychological, social and pedagogical phenomenon has an extremely positive impact on the overall development of a child or, in the case of a school, a student. The project teaching method calls for the school to be open and to connect to a greater extent with the environment that surrounds it, in order to improve students' independence and creativity, self-initiative, responsibility, cooperation, the ability to apply information and communication technologies as well as digital teaching tools as a source knowledge. This article presents the project method as a means of encouraging students' creativity in the teaching of the subject Nature and Society, intended for the 3rd grade of elementary school. By reviewing the relevant literature, and then by experimental research on a hand sample of students, we determined the acceptable possibilities and some effects of the application of this method. At the same time, we also opened numerous questions that should be addressed later in order to further encourage the development of creativity through project-based teaching. Literature Banjai, S., Perrotta, C., Cranmer, S. (2010). Creative and Innovative Good Practices in Compulsory Education in Europe, Collection and Descriptive Analysis of 10 Good Practices of Creativity and Innovation in Compulsory Education in the EU27, European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Prospective Technological Studies. Luxembourg Publications Office of the European Union.Available at: http://is.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pages/EAP/iceac:html (25.02.2020). Gavrić, Z. (2018). Project teaching - manual for teachers.Klett, Logos, Freska, Belgrade. Gibson, H. (2005). What Creativity Isn't: The Presumptions of Instrumental and Individual Justifications for Creativity in Education. British Journal of Educational Studies, 53/2: 148-167. Guilford, J.P. (1971). The Nature of Human Intelligence. London: McGraw-Hill. Đorđević, T. (2013).Creativity as a professional competence of higher education teachers. Master thesis, University of Niš, Faculty of Philosophy, Niš. Janković, A. (2012). The impact of information and communication technology on the achievements of students in the teaching of nature and society.Doctoral dissertation.Kragujevac: University of Kragujevac. Janković, A. (2015). Contemporary models of obvious teaching in the field of knowledge of nature and society. Novi Sad: City Library. Jukić, S. (2001). Teaching in which the student thinks. Vršac: College for Teacher Education. Jukić, S. (2005). Didactic-methodical fragments. Vršac: College for Teacher Education. Kvaschev, R. (1971). Developing creative abilities in students. Belgrade: institute for publishing textbooks of the Socialist Republic of Serbia. Kvaschev, R. (1981). Psychology of creativity. Belgrade: Institute for textbooks and teaching aids. Maksić, S. (2006).Encouraging creativity in school. Belgrade: Institute for Pedagogical Research. Pavlović, J., Maksić, S. (2014). Implicit theories of creativity of elementary school teachers: a case study, Psychology, Vol.47(4), 465-483. Belgrade: Association of Psychologists of Serbia. Luggage, S. (2018).The project method as a factor in encouraging students' creativity.Doctoral dissertation. University of Belgrade, Faculty of Teachers, http://www.uf.bg.ac.rs/wp-content/uploads/doktorati/Snezana_Prtljaga.pdf read. 27. XI 2022. Šefer, J. (2005).Creative activities in thematic teaching. Belgrade: Institute for Pedagogical Research. Šefer, J. (2012).Creative behavior. In: Creativity, initiative and cooperation, a new approach in education, Part I: 11–42. Belgrade: Institute for Pedagogical Research.