July 6th, 2010 
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Creativity in Education Part I
CAN SCHOOLS PROMOTE CREATIVITY?
Have you ever wondered?
I had a great desire to ask this question from the pundits of education,
But instead. I thought I shall make an attempt myself
What the hell! A
Anyways, most of the experts talk too much, and the past two months or so. I have been reading a lot of stuff on the internet Tagged “creativity in Education”.
But what have I got to show you:
Nothing, ZILCH, Zero!!
Gas!!!
LOT OF WORDS!!!
And of course Some U TUBE VIDEOS!!!!!
(By the way they don’t run smoothly on my system!)
But the bottom line is, and this I say from my painful experience in schools:
· SCHOOLS KILL CREATIVITY AS THE BASIC DESIGN OF SCHOOLS PRESUPPOSES CONFORMITY
· THAT A REGIMEN IS REQUIRED FOR LEARNING
· THERE IS NOT A FREEDOM TO EXPLORE!
And then we wonder why schools kill creativity!!!
There are many ways to bring CREATIVITY IN EDUCATION….
Yes, there are innovative ways like:
Poetry
Graffiti
Crosswords
Role Plays
Story Building
Out of box thinking
Right Brain creative Games
But merely talking about creativity in education - like most academic heavy weights do, including on the web sites is certainly not the answer !
SOME UNHAPPY EXPERIENCES
Schools are meant to educate and make ordinary mortals into exalted human beings!
This must be a quote from my fertile and hyper-imaginative brain!
As for schools, and the entire education system, is striving to make better wage-earners!
When we talk of the ‘old-fashioned’ things like creativity, imaginativeness and originality-we seem to forget that the schools are factories of mass production.
They produce only that product which is required by the end-users
-The corporate/commercial sector in this case!
So why do we even talk of exalted things!!!
Let us bow down to the market deities!!!
Or is there still hope?
Can we alter this mass-production syndrome! And come back to where we started!
Can we start making better human beings – in Schools!
Can Creativity be nurtured in schools?
I went to a few schools as a trainer a short while ago and this is what I have to report:
Students simply love out of box teaching. But schools don’t like it as a rule!
Teachers were addressed by me in a workshop on right brain creativity, but they were adamant. Or shall I say militant, in opposing the ‘creative’ approach to teaching. They felt this would seriously hamper the syllabus-completion! (Which they said was the primary goal of each subject teacher)
High profile teachers of senior classes felt that out of box teaching methodology would fail to prepare students for a competitive edge!
School administration felt that right brain creativity was a good idea for a summer camp workshop-not as a regular curriculum based activity!
Students do not know where to lean. So they choose to go with the system. They go for coaching etc. But in their hearts they KNOW that a novel method of teaching is desirable. And yet they can’t say it!!! Pressure of the academia!!!!!
Is there hope for Creativity in Education???
THE PITFALLS
When education in our society is seen as a passport for a job, then how can we ever think of bringing creativity in education?
We have changed the meaning of education. It was meant to impart knowledge. Now it is meant to prepare hi fidelity repeaters!
We seem to have altered the definition of creativity and innovativeness as well!
While creativity, originality or innovativeness – all of these in a way – mean that a person “thinks” and then comes up with ideas/solutions– modern concept of creativity could well mean that a student is “creative” in grasping or repeating!!! Alas!!!
About the Author
CresTech provides software testing
training,software testing, corporate trainings and
IT certifications & workshops on HP LoadRunner,
WinRunner, ISTQB, CSTE, QA, QC, IBM Rational, QTP,
RFT and many more. CresTech has operations in all
major cities in India including Delhi, NCR, Noida,
Gurgaon, Jaipur.
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