As per Kantian philosophy, Creativity is considered as an innate gift beyond the grasp of mere mortals. But the world is all geared up to foster Creativity in students at school. Strong urge to bring this reform is the foremost agenda for everybody, seemingly it's being done as repentance and also because it's considered as a prerequisite for innovation which is the cornerstone of today's world.
A student's life is pressure-packed. They have to deal with peer pressure, the pressure to perform well from parents, society, and teachers. No plants ever in history have withered with proper care, sunlight, and nourishment. When the plants have grown to a particular size, you need not give it much care. It grows and flourishes on its own. The same concept works well for our students. If we give appropriate guidance at the right age and time, they are sure to blossom into creative geniuses. It's a vital truth that humans need creative thinking more than ever. Only a creative mind can survive the demands of the modern world. The reality is we are running short of the supply to meet this demand.
It's not overstating to say that the parents are in a frantic search for that one school, which fits best with their view of education. How successful today's parents are at getting a well-tailored school that meets the requirement of both theirs and kid's, is a thought-provoking question. The exposure and learning a child gets from the school, moulds him into a person the world rejects or accepts later.
While the school budget soars high, the expectations of parents have also reached a new high. Parents and students flock to schools that claim an upgraded curriculum, modern facilities and whatnot, but do they really do anything to instil true Creativity.
What does it take to instil Creativity in students? Can it be taught to students? Can the teachers whom themselves may not have experienced a creative environment or outlook acquire it as a pedagogy skill? How will a teacher who deals with 30-50 different mindsets and has a mind of her own do this continuously, day in day out, along with other responsibilities like imparting Literacy Skills?
Schools can find solutions if they look at how this was dealt with by corporates and industry when they desperately needed a culture of innovation in their workforce. They can look for inspiration from those special schools which had to adopt fostering Creativity as an approach to education for reasons which could well be unique to each of them.
Creative education not only involves art, drama, or music; it also includes making students take a creative decision and infuses creative thinking. We cannot leave the onus of instilling Creativity to arts and dance teachers. It will be interesting to see how STEM subjects educators will adopt a pedagogy style which inculcates Creativity in their students. Parents Teachers meet up should no longer be a place only to highlight the shortcomings of the child; it has to become a platform for the collaborative development of the child.
A Future Ready School not only tells the students to think out of the box but should have skill and outlook to teach them how to think out of the box. For that, the box we already have needs to be uncluttered and polished. As the traditional African proverb, it takes a village to raise a child; it also takes the same village to kill the creative mind of a child.
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