| المستخلص: |
Creative people are the means for a country to remain competitive, no less so than for Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom has immense natural resources, and this extends to its human capital: exceptional people who are necessary to assist its growth and harness its potential for the 21st century. This growth requires knowledge and skills from all Saudis in order to maintain and advance the country’s position in the global community. Consequently, the main aim of this study is to determine the differences between rural and urban Saudi male students in regard to creative thinking and cognitive style. An additional aim is to review the opinions of education professionals (teachers, principals, and supervisors) in regards to the creativity level of students in rural and urban schools and the factors that impact on the creativity of students. The research for this thesis incorporated a mixed method approach in two separate studies. The first study utilized a quantitative approach and involved the administration of the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT) TTCT Figural B and Matching Familiar Figural Test (MFFT) to assess creative thinking and reflective-impulsive style. The sample comprised grade 10 male students at six secondary schools – three from the city of Makkah (120 students) and three from rural locations (120 students), all aged between 15 and 17 years. To evaluate the test response data, multiple analyses of variance (MANOVA) and one-way ANOVA were used. The second study utilized a qualitative approach. This study used semi-structured interviews with a selection of education professionals: including 15 male teachers from the rural setting; 15 male teachers from the urban setting; 5 male supervisors from the Makkah Department of Education; 6 male principals from rural schools; and 6 male principals from urban schools. The quantitative findings show that students in urban schools scored higher in the TTCT characteristics than rural students. It also showed urban students were more reflective than the rural students. Further, there is a positive relationship between creative thinking and reflective style. The qualitative research finds that education professionals perceive that the urban environment has a more positive influence on a student’s creativity than that offered by the rural environment. Greater maturity and motivation are also factors that influence creative thinking in students. In conclusion, characteristics such as home situation, educational administration practices, school location, and teacher experience level play important roles in facilitating students to be creative. Overall, the Saudi system of education should allocate substantially more resources to rural schools to improve opportunities for the students in these schools to achieve their creative potential.
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