THE IMPACT OF TEACHING THROUGH GREEN SCHOOL ENVIRONMENTS AND STEAM EDUCATION ON STUDENTS' CREATIVE THINKING SKILLS

This article examines the impact of teaching through green school environments and STEAM education on students’ creative thinking skills. The study is based on a narrative review of recent and foundational literature on green learning spaces, outdoor and nature-based education, STEAM pedagogy, and creativity-supporting educational environments. The reviewed literature suggests that green school environments can enhance the emotional and cognitive conditions that support creativity by improving attention, restoration, engagement, and openness to learning, while STEAM education promotes creativity more directly through interdisciplinary inquiry, arts integration, design-based learning, and problem-solving activities. The findings indicate that the combination of green school environments and STEAM education may provide especially favorable conditions for the development of students’ creative thinking skills. Green settings contribute supportive and motivating physical contexts, whereas STEAM offers structured pedagogical opportunities for originality, imagination, collaboration, and innovation. At the same time, the literature shows that outcomes may vary depending on learner age, school resources, teacher preparedness, and the way creativity is defined and assessed. Overall, the article concludes that integrating environmentally enriched learning spaces with interdisciplinary teaching can support more creative, student-centered, and future-oriented education.