How do we prepare our children for a world that is beyond our imagination? How do we craft a student’s learning journey towards a job that is yet to be created?
These are often asked questions and it
is easy to trot out some glib responses. Drilling down into these conundrums it
is clear that of course our children will need to know the basic skills of
numeracy and literacy, but it is widely recognised that there are a collection
of skills or dispositions such as perseverance, flexibility, questioning,
curiosity, creativity, and optimism that are the ‘makers or breakers’ of
achieving one’s potential in the 21st century.
Intelligence as we know it is not
enough and the highly acclaimed ‘thinking skills guru’ Dr Edward de Bono
believes that many highly intelligent people are poor thinkers.
If I had to pick one of the key skills
or dispositions that will define the future, it would creativity. This is a
scary thing as most adults don’t see themselves as creative. I am one of those
slightly scared and insecure adults who have looked inward and decided that I
don’t have too many creative bones in my body!
Traditional education has accidently
discouraged or knocked children’s self belief in this area of creativity in a
number of ways. The top down, chalk and talk, content focussed and testing
regime have narrowed the curriculum. It is a truism to say, ‘what is tested is
valued’. This is a strong implicit message to all learners, be it adult or
children.
We have to ensure creativity and
thinking skill development is a dominant part of the curriculum. Not only
should it be totally integrated in the curriculum ensuring the learning tasks
engage higher order thinking and age and stage appropriate ‘hard fun’, but
right from pre-school, children need to explicitly know that their thinking and
ideas have merit and value. Take a
subject like art as it is a prime example. Traditionally most children have
received implicit and explicit feedback about their art related to how it looks
and in many cases how it mirrors realism. Art is an expression of a child’s
thinking and this is where the value should be put.
Part and parcel of promoting
creativity and thinking is treating these skills as natural and important
aspects of learning with children. Discussing these attributes and providing
skill development and understanding adds enormous uplift in confidence and
indirectly demonstrates to children that their thinking has merit and it is an
important aspect of their development.
Creativity needs to be broken down so
children can see we all have the ability to succeed. According
to cognitive psychologist Robert J. Sternberg, creativity can be broadly
defined as "...the process of producing something that is both original
and worthwhile." Creativity is all about finding new ways of solving problems
and approaching situations. This isn't a skill restricted to artists, musicians
or writers; it is a useful skill for people from all walks of life.” (from
Kendra Cherry http://psychology.about.com/od/cognitivepsychology/tp/how-to-boost-creativity.htm)
Most creative
achievements have come about through dogged determination. Without going into
the detail there are some common ways to improve creativity in all of us and
thus it makes sense for schools to make time to teach these skills and
dispositions. Ideally schools will have an active programme teaching thinking
strategies and infusing creativity and higher order thinking into every aspect
of school life. The culture of any school needs to live and breathe these
dispositions.
Arianna Rebolini (http://www.buzzfeed.com/ariannarebolini/habits-of-highly-creative-people)
identified 10 habits of highly creative people giving many real life examples.
Some of these habits or dispositions are surprising but most make a lot of
sense and help break down the mystic of creativity.
Creative
people:
·
Get moving. (busy
schedules including exercise)
·
Take naps. (or meditate)
·
Day dream.
·
Collaborate.
·
Take risks. (willing to
pursue unfamiliar territory etc)
·
Make and stick to routines
·
Explore.
·
Pay attention. (great
observers and notice the smallest of detail)
·
Forgive their own bad
work. (willing to make mistakes)
·
Take time to be alone.
(reflective)
Imagine what is possible
if children can learn and understand these habits at a young age! It is
important that we ‘unpack’ what it means to be creative for our children so
they can all see that with a bit of graft they too have something worthwhile to
offer.
As the Principal of Wellesley I am
pleased we are a school that values questions above answers, creativity above
fact regurgitation, individuality above uniformity and excellence above
mediocrity. We want to prepare our children to become brave new explorers in
this exciting fast paced world.
