I completed my schooling in the 1990s and since then, technology has paced rather frantically to create a deeply interconnected world – one where information can influence people across the globe in a matter of minutes.
Despite this rapid change, our understanding on human creativity has remained almost unchanged. At the core of this chapter lies a simple but urgent argument- the need to deliberately cultivate creative potential both within our education systems and in day today life.
“It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.”
-Albert Einstein
Our Current System of Schooling:
Today, schooling is often considered as a natural order of life where everything starts and progresses through kindergarten followed by twelve years of formal schooling. However, this model of learning has largely emerged in response to the market’s need for industrialization.
In earlier times, the concept of structured schooling was typically reserved for the privileged. Most of the other people at those times, invested their time in learning new crafts or developing practical skills that supported their livelihood. At that point, life unfolded primarily in the countryside, shaped by the seasonal rhythms where very few travelled across cities as part of trade or even commercial purposes.
But, all this drastically changed, once industrialization began. A sudden wave of migration from the countryside to cities started and people started to work in factories and emerging industries. From this sudden shift arose a new economic order and a community that aspired to see the coming generations to become highly educated and turn to professional jobs like doctors, engineers, financiers, managers, entrepreneurs and business leaders.
Education to Serve the Industrial World:
As the demand grew with industrial structures, systems were established to train and qualify the workforce. Manual labour was supported by compulsory elementary education, while a smaller segment of the population pursued secondary or higher education to prepare for white-collar roles. Elementary schooling emphasized basic literacy and numeracy skills, whereas secondary and higher education followed academic curricula designed for administrative and professional careers.
So, in essence, while the fundamental purpose of education is to help students develop and transform themselves for their future, the reality looks quite different. Today, the demand for intellectual and knowledge-based jobs has grown phenomenally, resulting in an overwhelming emphasis on STEM disciplines.
Our educational systems were therefore designed and continually adjusted to meet the needs of the industrial world. However, as the global population has quadrupled over the past century, the urgency to create new avenues for work, purpose and new ways of living has become undeniable. This sustained preoccupation with a singular or standardized model of education must evolve. We must reimagine and cultivate alternative possibilities; ones that recognize and nurture the diverse abilities, talents and interests inherent in human beings and in doing so, open broader horizons of opportunity for future generations.
Different Students Learn Different Disciplines at Different Paces:
As strict compliance and linear systems function effectively in the industrial world, they do not translate as well to the field of education. Organizing children solely by age assumes uniformity based on birth year alone, overlooking the reality that learners within the same age group possess diverse interests, learning orientations and developmental rhythms shaped by their individual traits and environments.
An intense focus on limited subjects and certain narrowly defined abilities often sidelines students whose talents and interests lie beyond these boundaries. And as a result, many children may have a decline in self-esteem and confidence in life.
Although standardized systems & strict compliance are necessary in the current industrial world, where efficiency relies on predesigned products and processes, the same approach does not suit the dynamic & complex nature of human development.
Children are inherently imaginative and creative. An overly compliance-driven school culture risks suppressing these vital capacities, turning schooling into an exotelic experience. Education, therefore, must embrace a much more learner-centric approach – one that recognizes and builds on students’ prior knowledge & exposure, enabling teachers to guide learning effectively, while engaging each child’s unique interests. Such an approach not only deepens understanding but also sparks curiosity and fosters intrinsic motivation.
Passion Drives Creative & Innovative Teaching:
“A passionate teacher can awaken joy in their students and leave a positive impression that lasts a lifetime.”
We want to teach passionately, but what if passion is simply not there?
Across the world, at teacher retreats, conferences and even speakers at seminars often emphasize on how important it is for educators to bring passion into their work. All teachers genuinely want to help their students learn and do well in every subject. But even after a thought-provoking speech that made us extremely motivated, the energy can fade off following the very moment the speaker leaves the stage.
Why? Because we don’t always know how to discover and nurture our own passion for teaching.
As I mentioned in an earlier chapter- ‘Flexibility in Teaching Styles’, a teacher must inspire and engage learners by wearing multiple hats: tutor, facilitator, subject-matter expert, examiner and coach. It’s not just about finding passion in teaching; it’s also about sustaining that passion while navigating the many roles a teacher must play.
Academicians who have invested years into improving the teaching process have broken it down for us to become powerfully passionate teachers.
- Firstly, we need to identify the subjects we are genuinely passionate about teaching. Is it History, Literature, Mathematics, or another discipline?
- Secondly, we need to check what it is about being a teacher that drives us. For Ex: – Are we excited to engage students who are not reluctant to attend school? Do we thrive on motivating children to bring out their best? Are we passionate about helping our students discover their unique skills and talents, etc.?
- Thirdly, we should consider our passions outside of work and explore how we can incorporate them into teaching. For instance, if we love music, how can we bring that interest into the classroom to enhance learning?
- Fourthly, are we flexible in the many roles a teacher must play? Teaching isn’t just about delivering content or setting exams. We need to adapt our styles depending on the learner’s stage, acting as a tutor, facilitator, coach, or guide as needed. Awareness of this flexibility allows us to support our students effectively.
- Fifthly, do we have the process or system in place that would give us the necessary information about the learner, like the learning orientation, optimum learning space, interest, ecosystem, etc.? If not, it’s essential to adopt tools that help us gather this information and transform learning more closely. Modern EdTech companies like SchoolWizard are designed to support educators in achieving this. www.schoolwizardapp.com
As they say, when you are passion-filled, you also become more personally fulfilled as an educator.
Misconception that only some are creative:
“My starting point is that everyone has huge creative capacities as a natural result of being a human being. The challenge is to develop them. A culture of creativity has to involve everybody, not just a select few.“
– Sir Ken Robinson
Just because we celebrate a few extraordinary minds like Steve Jobs, Picasso, or Albert Einstein doesn’t mean others aren’t creative. Our culture often divides people into “creative” and “non-creative”, largely because we tend to associate creativity with only a few fields- arts, design, sculpture, advertising and the like. In reality, creativity can emerge in any discipline, as long as it fully engages our minds and imagination.
An optimum discovery journey for the creative side of a child requires attention in the following areas:
| Ecosystem (School, Home, Ethnicity, Society) 🡪 Which generates varied interests in a child |
| Conducive environment 🡪 Helps acquire & groom skills necessary to express their talent. |
| Opportunities to assess performance🡪 Creative flow starts when they start imagining possibilities to perform better. |
| Process of developing or applying an original idea 🡪 Triggers Creativity or Creative energy flow in the child |
Restoring Creativity as a Priority in Education:
To teach creativity means making lessons fun and engaging for students. It also means creating an environment where students feel safe to share their thoughts and ideas. Often we hear kids say, “This subject is boring. “While teachers usually respond to this by saying, “The child is not interested.”
This paradox is something that we really need to fix this problem.
One of the biggest challenges that our educational system face today is the culture of conformity, where students are standardised for operational efficiency. Experiential and multi-dimensional learning can bring in a significant difference to this, only if we create learning spaces that truly support the learner.
Many educators now feel constrained by the rigid structures of standardized education. Policies imposed in the name of efficiency or economic priorities have limited teachers’ discretion in what and how to teach. As a result, both teacher and student creativity is often stifled, despite its critical importance to meaningful learning.
“Those who have the ability to imagine new services, new opportunities and new ways to recruit work are the new untouchables. Those with the imagination to invent smarter ways to do old jobs, energy-saving ways to provide new services, new ways to attract old customers, or new ways to combine existing technologies will thrive.“
-Thomas Loren Friedman – Author (World is Flat)
We don’t just need a world where more children graduate from school; we need a world where a greater percentage of children are truly and rightly educated. Achieving this requires recognizing that human learning cannot thrive when it is purely linear or standardized. On the contrary, learning must be diverse, organic and, above all, creative, nurturing each child’s unique potential and imagination.
Beyond Standardization: Cultivating Creative Learners is just beginning; don’t miss out on what’s next in Part 2…
Reference: – Teach like a Pirate – Dave Burgess; Experiential Learning – David Kolb; Out of Our Minds – Ken Robinson.