An Action Research Study Aimed at Designing and Implementing an Innovative Unit of Instruction Within the Context of Developing Innovative Thinking Skills Among Primary School Students

Abstract

Employing an action research approach, this study investigated the effectiveness of the implementation of a unit of instruction that combined the design thinking approach and the new primary curriculum at a primary school in Trinidad and Tobago. Data were collected through the researcher’s journal, student-generated work, and observations of nine Infant-level students during the implementation of the unit. Analysis of the data revealed 10 factors that posed challenges to the implementation of innovative thinking in the classroom, including: 1) teacher training, 2) teacher confidence, 3) teacher’s belief about students’ ability, 4) postcolonial philosophy, 5) learners’ traits and 6) teacher’s misconceptions.