The Role Of Creativity In Student Learning In The 21st Century

Are we underestimating the importance of creativity? Many times children are not encouraged at home to be creative, either because their parents restrict their ideas, fill their decisions with pessimism, or simply do not pay attention to this matter. However, creativity is a skill that makes the human being flexible and resourceful as well as helping them see problems differently and identify solutions more easily. Many times education will directly contradict creativity. It destroys the innovation of ideas, and stifles the imagination, while claiming it is “teaching.” Sometimes entering a classroom becomes the closest thing to entering a time machine since our teaching methods differ very little from those of ancient Rome over 2000 years ago. In Ted Talk “How Schools Kills Creativity” by Ken Robinson and the article “Let Teenagers Try Adulthood” by Leon Botstein, two different opinions about the current educational system are presented. While Robinson believes that the schooling system should work to promote creativity, Botstein says that the concept of a high and middle school is useless and should be abolished. However they both agree on reform. As a parent, I have always been concerned about my daughters’ education, and have always believed, like Robinson and Botstein, that our educational system needs a change.

Creativity is an abstract concept that is crucial as part of our advancements of mankind whether that be in the scientific fields with new inventions and research or in the artistic fields with new paintings and amazing portraits, but most people do not understand that the gift of creativity can be a crucial source of innovative ideas. As a result of the need of creativity, schools must include creativity as part of the daily curriculum that students learn. Students already spent seven hours a day at school, exposing them to a class that helps them efficiently and correctly use creativity would be beneficial to not only students but to all members of society. Places of education such as high schools must include classes in creativity in order to create

As children continue their education, they are forced to suppress their creativity and strictly follow uniform ideas that have been used throughout generations. This concept leaves children no room for exploration despite its effectiveness in schools. Students need to learn that it is acceptable to solve problems using different methods. They must break free from the confines and uniform traditions of society; they must think for themselves. Countless novels and movies revolve around the idea of being unique and the importance of defying normality; however, its portrayal in real life is counterintuitive. The question remains: how can we depict a concept so universal without knowing how to first hand use it ourselves? Students need to learn that being unique is the first step to successes, and that creativity helps form a world of endless

In the novel "What the Best College Students Do" by Ken Bain he states that learning is not only discovering new abilities, it is putting a creative twist into it (p. 4). He places Paul Baker (a professor that taught Integration of Abilities) in this story because he emphasizes what Bain is trying to convey (pp. 2-3). Baker states that "This is a class in discovering your own creative ability and all you will have to help you with your discovery is yourself and getting acquainted with the way you work" (p. 4). Everybody has different viewpoints because everyone has different backgrounds, therefore, creativity is not only a want it is a necessity. To deeply learn something, students needs to have a

The beauty of creativity is that it is abstract, yet ubiquitous: in art, music or how one decides to compose an essay. However, creativity has recently been declining among the human population. According to an article, named, “The Creativity Crisis,” by Newsweek.com in July 2010, authors, Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman, state, “the Torrance Test … indicates that the public’s “creativity quotient” has steadily crept downward since 1990” (Prompt 1). Bronson and Merryman report that the test, which evaluates one’s creativity, had been dispensed to myriads of people across the globe, and have concluded that creativity has been slowly diminishing. Kyung Hee Kim, professor at the College of William and Mary, also comments that this is most prevalent and grave among students from kindergarten through sixth grade (Prompt 1). Consequently, society, or in this case, the world fears that current students and future generations will not be nourished with the creativity required to thrive as individuals, affecting the world as a whole. Ultimately, this poses the question whether a creative thinking class, which solely focuses on the education of creativity, should be taught in the school. This school should impose a creative thinking class, due to the fact creativity is a vital element for the future and is the solution to the creative crisis.

The present is always changing into a better future. There have been many jobs in the past that do not even exist now due to the presence of technology. Nowadays, technology has become a major part of our lives and created a huge change in this world, and gives an opportunity for children to enhance their creativity and adapt to change quickly. In Cathy Davidson’s article, “Project Classroom Makeover”, Davidson discusses how vital the process of unlearning is to students and present education system. Unlearning discourages students from learning in a fashion that has all the pre-set directions, and gives independence to students so that they can explore with creativity. The process of unlearning is quite beneficial as it gives an opportunity for contemporary America to enhance creativity, embrace change, and become more independant.

Furthermore, connections can be made between subjects to develop prior knowledge which pupils have gained with new information that teachers need children to acquire. Similarly, adopting a cross – curricular approach allows the recognition of several opinions and helps teachers ‘to build more knowledgeable, lasting and transferable understandings of the world’ (Barnes, 2015: 261). There are various strategies which can be used to teach thinking and learning effectively. These strategies can assist teachers in planning and delivering lessons which allow creative outcomes to be achieved. Further on in this assignment creative approaches will be shared to suggest how they may be used in the classroom alongside a variety of

In a society where everything is constantly shifting and changing, it is essential for education to move away from teaching facts and figures to educating to inspire curiosity and creativity. The need for creativity in the classroom matters more than ever in our society. "Creativity is no longer seen as just being for artists and musicians .It's a crucial skill for everybody to master. "the following three articles were elaborated critique Department thinking, creativity and observation of contact,

In this age of high-stakes standardized testing the idea of creativity in the classroom has become less and less popular. Susan W. Cress and Daniel T. Holm present a compelling case study for keeping creativity in the classroom in “Creative Endeavors: Inspiring Creativity in a First Grade Classroom” published online April 1, 2015 in the Early Childhood Education Journal.

Creativity is all about the 21st century skills and the future students. One form of creativity they will use is brainstorming. It includes elaborating, analyzing refining, and evaluating ideas to improve and maximize creative efforts (Syrett, 2002). Creativity involves originality, and working with peers to come up with ideas. It will allow you to fail and work on what went wrong and recreate it. They will have the tools that are needed to be creative. Creativity is an important aspect for every student to

“Do Schools Kill Creativity?” by ken Robinson is a very powerful speech, as well as a good insight on the other side of the spectrum. Mr. Robinson begins his speech he mentions the amount of creativity we as humans have and how we have no such idea where we are headed in the future. Ken makes a point that we are educating and have been educating people to be prepared for the future. He asks why. We do not know what the next few years bring, how do we educate people properly for it. As Mr. Robinson continues he makes a point that creativity should be as important as literacy within education. Throughout the speech he gives countless examples where simple creativity and being different has brought people success and lead them down a path that math or literature never could.

At a local level and as an educator and parent, I see no indication that schooling is preparing students for innovation and creativity. Even when influenced by constructivist or universal design ideas, school tasks - starting in elementary school, up until CEGEP- are generally highly structured, predictable and offered in cookie cutter format. There is little room for creativity and few subjects are regularly offered, such as music or visual arts, that support creativity and out of the box thinking to allow for a more well-rounded approach to education as suggested in the discussion forum (Hector,

“How Are Educators Responding? The New Zealand Ministry of Education dines five key capabilities for living and lifelong learning listed as: Thinking, using language, symbols, and text Managing Self-Relating to others, and Participating and contributing” (Crockett). These required skills can also be found in Common Core. Common Core is what a student, K-12, should know in math and English language arts when they transition to each grade. These standards are frequently found in the college and career world worthless. There is a gap in between what college instructors want from their students because of what Common Core taught. College instructors, according to ACT Inc., found that students in middle and high schools are mainly summarizing author's ideas and analyzing source text, but college instructors want students who can “generate sound ideas - a skill applicable across much broader contexts” (Strauss). This is directly related to what 21st century student’s skills should be. “So, according to the folks we’ve asked, the consensus is that students need transparency-level skills in these areas: Problem solving, Creativity and, Analytic thinking, Collaboration, Communication and, Ethics, action, and accountability” (Strauss). Each particular skill has a reason for being on this list. Problem solving is for situations that we cannot conceive right now. In addition, those who are skilled in this area are more likely to not be watched by the higher up more than others. Creativity is something that Common Core diminishes. If you ask a student what creativity is most responses will be, “expression” or “uniqueness”. This is very important to the first skill because thinking outside the box can help find much better solutions. Collaboration and communication go hand-in-hand. Work forces of the future will all be connected through all

Steal Like an Artist talks about education and creativity. Unfortunately, Austin Kleon does not go into depth about creativity in the classroom, but he did say, “School is one thing. Education is another. The two don’t always overlap” (Kleon A., 2012, pg. 19). I think in todays society people do not expect creativity in education. Teachers just teach to the test because they want their students to do well on the standardized tests. I feel like school should be teaching students to be creative, and allowing students to use their mind in more ways than just memorizing to the test. Ken Robinson goes more into depth about creativity in education but both Robinson and Kleon agree that there should be creativity in education, “The challenge now is to transform education systems into something better suited to the real needs of the 21st century. At the heart of this transformation there has to be a radically different view of human intelligence and of creativity” (Robinson K., 2011, p. 14). In class we have also talked about how using creativity will allow students to remember things better, therefore they are educating themselves. If students do a dance that represents the solar system, they will be more likely to remember the solar system better. I think creativity in the classroom will allow students to learn in different ways and then the student will be getting a better

A smart man said “Creativity is as important as literacy and we should treat it with the same standing.” (Ken Robinson-“Do schools kill creativity?”). There are multiple studies on how creativity helps improve a student’s mind. Project based learning is a huge creative booster for students. A math teacher from California uses projects to do math instead of using the text book. From doing this, she’s had more students pass her class then from when she was teaching straight from the text books. Instead of having standardized tests, using more creative techniques for students to enjoy the learning they’ve done and for them to show the higher officials what the students are learning. Creativity is the process of turning real world problems into an understanding by extending the minds cognitive processes. In Alabama, kindergartners are studying different ways to be creative.