Creativity In Education

Large numbers leave school with the bitter taste of defeat in them, not having mastered even  moderately well those basic skills which society demands, much less having become people 
who rejoice in the exercise of creative intelligence.

- Margaret Donaldson, Children’s Minds

 

Creativity if one of the most intrinsic human traits but when it comes to defining it, we often go tripping. Creativity means a different way of thinking and doing things. According to Sternberg, Creativity is a cluster of skills that are needed to produce ideas that are both original and valuable. Creativity is considered to be a precondition for invention and innovation. It is the driving force behind every successful idea and it also provides a deeper understanding of concepts. When teachers employ a creative form of teaching, they develop individuals who are capable of exploring their varied interests utilizing their own strengths.

As such, creativity is a key element that translates into technological and scientific leaps, in some cases also leading to significant financial rewards on a global level. On individual level, creativity plays an important role in determining how individuals solve problems and address challenges in their lives and careers. Creativity is one of the few important areas of development on which several of the so called gen Z skills frameworks agree.

The systematic cultivating of creativity is a part of liberal humanistic approach to education that dates back to the ancient world but the idea of modern creativity emerged in the 1920’s. With the birth of psychology in the culminating years of the 19th century, models in the western world shifted to focus more intently on the individual, and our unique capabilities and personalities.

Whilst we are expected to be creative in order to live a meaningful life, these skills are not formally or commonly taught, Creativity is usually put together with other soft skills like communication and teamwork: Great to have, though not as important as trigonometry or laws of motion. It is argued that today's schools instead of fostering it are actually bringing children's creativity to an end. Considering the cut throat entrepreneurial culture in which we are currently immersed, I believe that creativity will be the most sought after characteristic of working professionals in the future. However, for that to happen, the way these skills are nurtured should change radically, something that the current NEP 2020 also lays emphasis on.

The advancements in, machine learning and artificial intelligence is already changing the job market.  Jobs which once needed a skilled person in the post can now be easily done by machines and robots. Soon, there will be very few things which machines cannot do and there are some skills which remain uniquely human. Creativity and creative thinking appear to be beyond the scope of AI. These are the skills we need to be focusing on developing. In this way we are preparing students of today for the jobs of tomorrow, jobs that are currently non-existent.

 

There can be a variety of reasons why incorporating creativity as a part of school curriculum can be beneficial for the student as well as the society he is a part of. Increasing motivation levels is one of them. A number of research studies have established a positive correlation between creativity and motivation level of individual. Also, creative learning process helps individuals to connect new information to the prior knowledge they already posses, which in turn increases the chances of long term retention of knowledge. Encouraging creativity and innovation in individuals can help them express opinions and emotions through various means like dance, music, art projects, or any other way. This allows the emotional development of students and enables them to recognize their hidden potentials.  By making the course curriculum creative especially subjects like Mathematics and Physics, the understanding and learning of the subjects goes beyond books. The creative process involves a lot of trial and error. Productive struggle — a gentler term for failure — builds resilience, teaching students to push through difficulty to reach success.

  

We need to incorporate creativity as an integral part of schooling and have to assist the students to develop their own rationale. Instead of focusing on the right answer, we have to give them the space and liberty to communicate various ideas, and give numerous solutions.

Is it really necessary to sacrifice students’ creativity and well-being for the sake of learning attainment and generating a work force capable of driving the economy forwards?”

YantroMitra LearningTechnologies Private Ltd, an Ed-tech company emphasises on learning rather that teaching. STEAM education makes classroom education more experiential. Do it yourself is the way students learn by trial and error method, it helps develop resilience in students, this way students learn to accept failure. Students, through STEAM learning program, learn alternative ways of solving a problem, overcoming the roadblocks in completing the task using all possible methods, techniques and creative ways. This helps in developing out of box thinking and a problem-solving mindset.

Sukomal is a young researcher and content writer at YantroMitra Learning Technologies Pvt Ltd. She is an aspiring psychologist and loves trying everything out of the box. In her spare time, she likes to travel and also learn various dance forms of different cultures.