Continual Innovation

CAN SCHOOLS PROMOTE CREATIVITY?

Have you ever wondered?

I had a fantastic 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 a lot, and the past two months or so. I have been reading a lot of stuff on the web 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 do not 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 Fundamental DESIGN OF SCHOOLS PRESUPPOSES CONFORMITY

· THAT A REGIMEN IS Needed FOR Learning

· THERE IS NOT A FREEDOM TO EXPLORE!

And then we wonder why schools kill creativity!!!

There are several methods to bring CREATIVITY IN EDUCATION….

Yes, there are innovative techniques like:

Poetry

Graffiti

Crosswords

Role Plays

Story Building

Out of box thinking

Correct Brain creative Games

But merely talking about creativity in education - like most academic heavy weights do, including on the web websites 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 much better wage-earners!

When we talk of the ‘old-fashioned’ issues 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 marketplace deities!!!

Or is there still hope?

Can we alter this mass-production syndrome! And come back to where we started!

Can we begin making greater human beings – in Schools!

Can Creativity be nurtured in schools?

I went to a couple of schools as a trainer a short even though ago and this is what I have to report:

Students merely love out of box teaching. But schools don’t like it as a rule!

Teachers were addressed by me in a workshop on appropriate 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 objective 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 proper brain creativity was a very good concept for a summer camp workshop-not as a normal 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 believe 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 appear 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!!!

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