In the beginning I had such a hard time trying to find a topic to write about. I walked around outside, and observed everything yet I couldn’t find anything that sparked my interest at the moment. My mom always told me that when I was younger I constantly asked questions so I wondered why I was having difficulty finding a question to ask now. Later on that day two of my cousins came to my house one is five years old and the other is eight years old. My five year old cousin continually asked questions and I could see his older sister was really getting annoyed by it, yet I remembered a time when she was in his shoes and I wondered why that changed. Then my five year old cousin told me about how much he loved school and my older cousin told me she hated school now. These observations have brought me to the conclusion that as children move up to higher levels of education their curiosity and creativity starts to diminish. This is because schools don’t do enough to cultivate curiosity and creativity.
When a child first enters kindergarten, after they get over they get over being shy and nervous everything is dandy. They might say the ABC’s and count a couple times a day but mostly it’s all about having fun and expressing yourself. I have never heard a five year old tell me they don’t like going to school. Yet as children grow older and move into higher grades the idea of “having fun” and “expressing yourself” become a distant memory. Teachers start to look for specific answers and give you specific ways to find your answers. The child who tries to find a different approach to questions is soon labeled as a “trouble-maker”
I think that is because creativity and curiosity is seen as something that is “cute” and acceptable in younger c...
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...many others decided that formal education wasn’t for them. It’s sad that this led to them dropping out because I feel like school has something for everyone if it is implemented properly. Yet the point I’m trying to make here is that they still became successful. They relied on their creativity and curiosity to lead them in whatever career they wanted to pursue and things worked out great for them. I strongly believe that we would have a lot more success stories like these if creativity and curiosity were cultivated in schools.
Works Cited
“The creativity crisis”, Newsweek, October 12th 2013
Tegagno, Deborah, Moran, James, and Sawyers, Janet Creativity in Early Childhood Classrooms United States, 1991, print
Todd B. Kashdan, Ph.D , “3 ideas to prevent schools from killing creativity, curiosity, and critical thinking” Psychology today October 13th, 2013
Shaughnessy, M. F., & Wakefield, J. F. (2003). Creativity: Assessment. In N. Piotrowski & T. Irons-Georges (Eds.), Magill's encyclopedia of social science:Psychology (pp. 459-463). Pasadena, CA: Salem Press.
Amongst the many arguments that Gatto makes in his article, one of the ones that stands out the most is the one that schooling is created to deteriorate any type of originality in an individual. Gatto argues that not only does school train kids to think they should “consume nonstop” but “even better” it “encouraged them not to think at all” (Gatto154). Gatto believes that schools are creating absent minded individuals that can only think about consuming so that the businesses are the only one benefitting. Critical thinking once again gives the solution to such accusation. Critical thinking can create more open minded individual or students rather than absent minded ones .When students truly reflect and analyze information they are doing more than memorizing it, they are understanding it and finding where they can apply it in their everyday lives. The students are expanding their horizons and developing various ways of thinking and seeing situation rather than just the same fixed positions all the time. A school with open minded individuals can create a better atmosphere too because the students will feel more comfortable expressing original new ideas without the fear of being mocked or ridiculed. Open minded individuals can propose new ideas that can benefit the class as a whole such as a new insightful way of seeing a poem or an idea for a
Robinson, Ken. “How Schools Kill Creativity.” Online video clip. TED. Ted, Feb 2006. Web. 26 March 2014.
Creativity in was defined by National Advisory Committee for Creativity and Culture in Education (NACCC 1999) by 4 main characteristics. The first is the use of imagination thinking or behaviour concerned with original or unusual ideas or actions. Second is using imagination to pursue a purpose relating to using imagination for purpose and having resilience to keep reinventing this. Third is originality; this is not only in reference to historic originality of anything gone before, but It can be personal originality or peer originality. Forth is judging value; explained as evaluating an imaginative activities worth in relation to a task. Wilson (2009) notes the increase of creativities stature in education and pedagogy from beyond the foundation subjects and arts during the last century. Robinson (2013) argues that modern education is still based around conformity and does not foster children’s natural inquisitiveness or creativity. My view is that education has progressed from the Victorian didactic ways of teaching, heavily influenced by the behaviourist theorist Skinner (Moore & Quintrel 2000). We are now concerned with developing the whole child as appose to simply imparting knowledge, repeating and demanding a correct response. This notion of developing the whole child, concerned with social and emotional qualities as well as academia, was central to the highly influential Every Child Matters (ECM) agenda (DfES 2004). ECM’s outcomes and aims, with respect to children’s enjoyment and achievement, highlight the importance of personal and social development.
The American system of education is considered to be one of the most progressive in the world. One of the surveys on attitudes toward teaching around the world found that the United States is unique in its strong emphasis on "good teaching." My experience at State College has helped me to understand better how this system works, and what methods and techniques American teachers use to motivate their students for creative and active learning. However, I can also see that this system doesn’t work perfectly in every classroom. Reading Ernest Boyer’s article “Creativity in the Classroom” helped me with my understanding of the main problem that nowadays exists with the American college education system. According to the author, the problem is that teachers and students don’t see each other as one team doing the same business; therefore, in most classrooms the process of learning becomes a boring procedure instead of being mind-blowing. Moreover, reading this article, I could analyze the reasons of this problem that the author identifies through my own experiences at State College.
Elder, Linda. “The 18th International Conference on Critical Thinking and Educational Reform.” 18th International Conference on Critical Thinking. 4 Aug. 1998. The Center for Critical Thinking <http://www.criticalthinking.org/University/univcomm/conf/conftext.nclk>.
Shaughnessy, M. F., & Wakefield, J. F. (2003). Creativity: Assessment. In N. Piotrowski & T. Irons-Georges (Eds.), Magill's encyclopedia of social science:Psychology (pp. 459-463). Pasadena, CA: Salem Press.
What they neglect to realize is that most problems are unpredictable. So when a student faces a challenge not taught in the classroom, they will be incapable of solving or getting out of the situation. Once the formula does not work, creativity becomes a necessity. Some even fear the mere thought of imagination, since new possibilities open up the risk of failure or not being accepted. Students hold back their curiosity once they realize that teachers are unwilling to answer their question if it differs even slightly from the curriculum. These are the exact reasons our youth’s power to create fades. The value of creativity is beyond words; our society thrives on innovation. Take the stereotypical example of Bill Gates—he became a billionaire with the help of his creative thinking. So why would creativity not be the heart of our education system? Simply because there is not enough time or enough people willing to put in the
To get better education, thinking and learning power comes from our hearts and minds. As Ho says in the article “We Should Cherish Our Children Freedom to Think,” American schools provide opportunities to students and a path to achieve their creativity, which “people tend to dismiss or take for granted” (2007, p.113). Moreover, he also raised a question if American education system is so wretchedly lower in merit, “why is it that this is still the country of innovation” (Ho, P.113)? Kie Ho believes that creativity and freedom to think is the essential part in American education system. If students use critical thinking skill to develop creativity, they can better understand the material and evaluate their own behavior and characteristics. In many other countries, education inhibited the children’s freedom to think and that repressed the development of students’ activities.
This shows how much society has changed since the 1900’s. Modern-day children are worse in almost every aspect of creative thinking when compared to previous generations. Society is hurting children’s imagination by not being supportive of outside time and social connections. With modern electronic devices, kids seldomly need to leave the house in order to be entertained. The lack of play time and social interactions severely hamper the development of children’s creativity. In summary, society is developing into something that lacks encouragement of creativity, and that is a major
According to Google, creativity is defined as “the use of the imagination or original ideas, especially in the production of an artistic work.” In his TED Talk, which is one of “the most popular talks of all time”, Sir Ken Robinson discusses how public education systems degrade creativity as an essential component within the academic growth of all students. Robinson is a creativity expert and an author who writes books about creativity in school systems. His expertise in the field of school systems and creativity justifies his opinion on the subject. Robinson concentrates on the significance of creativity by creating a variety of strong arguments. His main contention is that “creativity now is as important in education as literacy” (Robinson).
In this notable Ted Talk video "Do schools kill creativity?", Sir Ken Robinson discusses how public education systems demolish creativity because they believe it is essential to the academic growth and success of students. Robinson created a broad arrange of arguments to persuade the viewers to take action on this highly ignored issue, and he primarily focuses on how important creativity is. There are classes within schools that help utilize creativity, but they are not taken seriously by adults in society. Therefore, the value of creative knowledge decreases. Robinson uses an unusual combination of pathos and ethos to make an enjoyable dispute for implementing an education system that nurtures rather than eats away at creativity.
I knew very early in life that I enjoyed working with children; I am drawn to their eagerness to learn, their trusting nature, and their inquisitive minds. It has always been a joy for me to be around children, who are eager to learn. Children are thrilled when an adult takes time to read to them. After hearing a story only a couple of times, they are like a tape recorder set on replay. Their thirst for knowledge is overwhelming. At the elementary level, children also tend to have a very trusting nature. They rely heavily on their elders for guidance. Most children are very honest with their feelings and don't try to hide them. This is a crucial time in a child's life; it is a time when teachers and parents should be molding them for the future. It seems their minds are always working on something which makes them extremely inquisitive. Their curiosities seem never to be satisfied. Children are always asking "why?" even when they know the answer. The inquisitive child wants to know the how's, when's, and where's of everything.
People are often impressed by the creativity and innovation that sprouts from the minds of children. Children often think of solutions to every day problems using a uniquely creative approach. They are able to look beyond what is thought to be impossible. They are constantly trying to make sense of the world around them and ask many questions. They extend their thought processes to allow them to "think outside the box". Do we lose our creativity as we grow older? Are children more creative than adults?
Creative Arts in early childhood education refers to children’s participation in a variety of activities that engage their minds, bodies and senses (Sinclair, Jeanneret & O’Toole, 2012; Kearns, 2017); to inspire all children with the opportunity for creative and imaginative expression. Duffy (2006) and Sinclair et al. (2012) state that creativity is the process where children use their imagination to problem solve, develop new ideas, independence and flexibility to accomplish tasks. Furthermore, when educators foster creativity, they are assisting children in making meaning through play and developing their growing capacity to communicate, collaborate and think critically to meet the demands of life in the 21st century (Duffy, 2006; Korn-Bursztyn, 2012; Sinclair et al., 2012).