In our modern day education system, schools provide their students with opportunities to learn about various subjects. This equips students with skills which are required to get employment and eventually contribute to society. Unfortunately, I feel that schools promote correctness over creativity. In this essay, correctness refers to conformity to recognised standards, while creativity refers to the ability to be unconventional and original.
I take this stand because of three reasons, namely the teaching methods used in schools, methods of examination employed in schools and the disciplinary systems enforced in schools.
Firstly, the teaching method used in schools is one of low creativity. Learning is largely classroom based, with teachers conducting lessons where students are mainly taught content knowledge based on a standard syllabus designed by the school and the government. Great emphasis is placed on rote learning, as seen from teachers requesting students to memorise hard facts found in Powerpoint slides, notes and handouts. This results in very little time to conduct interactive activities such as class discussions. Thus, students seldom get the chance to showcase their creativity in school. However, this is not entirely the fault of the school and its teachers, as teachers are given a limited period of time to cover the whole syllabus, so it is inevitable that most lessons need to be spent on feeding students information before students sit for examinations.
Subjects such as literature, art and music offer much opportunity for creativity to be exercised, but some teachers require students to interpret sources in a conventional way and essays and drawings have to be done in fixed structures and forms, with marking schemes designed to recognise such structures. Language compositions supposedly require students to come up with creative storylines, but teachers request students to memorise model compositions and write about topics observed in everyday life. Math problems need to be solved by methods which are recognised by the education system, and methods which allow the student to get the answer in a creative way are often deemed unacceptable, just because the teacher does not understand the method. In essays on the humanities, students can only write about non-controversial and socially accepted topics if they want to get a decent mark. Few students would dare to criticise the government or write about racial issues in their essays even though they feel strongly about certain issues. This clearly shows that "correctness" is regarded more highly than creativity.
Some may argue that novel methods of learning such as "problem-based learning" and "creative problem solving" have been recently introduced in schools, with the intention of stimulating the minds of young students and facilitate creative learning. There is no doubt that these forms of learning are more effective in encouraging creativity in students than memorisation of content. However, these forms of learning are often conducted with restrictions placed on students. For example, creative assignments are given marks based on rubrics containing rigid guidelines. Students have to follow these guidelines to ensure that they get a decent mark, so the process they go through to complete the assignment is not truly creative. Furthermore, students are given rigid deadlines to complete many assignments at one go, which does not give students the chance to come up with original ideas and causes many students to use ideas found off the Internet to complete their work, which is obviously not creative. However, rubrics are necessary for a clear and fair marking system and deadlines are required for students to develop their time management skills.
Now, my next point. Students need to sit for examinations at the end of every term and smaller tests are given every month. Thus, students spend most of their time memorising facts from a wide range of topics in order to keep up with the constant presence of tests. Before major examinations, students are provided with many practice papers which train students in learning standard solutions to common examination questions. In a "kiasu" Singaporean society, where most students are concerned with getting good results and high rankings in school, memorising answers is naturally treated as an efficient way of studying for tests, as students can easily regurgitate the answers during examinations to get their marks. Furthermore, the nature of most examinations is based on theory, which does not allow much creativity to be exercised.
Lastly, the school environment does not foster creativity. Students are required to wear a standard uniform to wear to school, have similar hairstyles, wear similar shoes and wear minimal accessories. Every morning, the whole school participates in a morning assembly, where students go through the same procedure everyday. This standard protocol obviously does not promote creativity. In classes and lectures, students need to remain silent. When students break certain rules, harsh disciplinary action is meted out. Thus, students often have a fear of standing out from the crowd and eventually give up trying to be creative. However, this spirit of correctness instilled in students can be beneficial, as they will need to follow the rules of the society when they grow up and being overly creative can lead to a chaotic school environment.
On the contrary, one must recognise the fact that the main role of the school is not to foster creativity, as the school mainly needs to make sure that students can gain necessary knowledge to get qualifications which will secure them a job and impart moral values which will ensure that students grow up to be responsible members of the society. In fact, creativity cannot be taught in a classroom setting. Students can stimulate their creative skills through daily activities in life, such as sports and learning about topics of interest.
In conclusion, school promotes correctness over creativity, as seen from the fact that teachers teach students in an uncreative manner, examinations cause students to be more concerned about correctness rather than creativity and the conformist school environment does not encourage creativity in students. This correctness can actually be justified, as the main role of the school is not to "teach" creativity and the school faces many constraints regarding the fostering of creativity in the school environment.
I take this stand because of three reasons, namely the teaching methods used in schools, methods of examination employed in schools and the disciplinary systems enforced in schools.
Firstly, the teaching method used in schools is one of low creativity. Learning is largely classroom based, with teachers conducting lessons where students are mainly taught content knowledge based on a standard syllabus designed by the school and the government. Great emphasis is placed on rote learning, as seen from teachers requesting students to memorise hard facts found in Powerpoint slides, notes and handouts. This results in very little time to conduct interactive activities such as class discussions. Thus, students seldom get the chance to showcase their creativity in school. However, this is not entirely the fault of the school and its teachers, as teachers are given a limited period of time to cover the whole syllabus, so it is inevitable that most lessons need to be spent on feeding students information before students sit for examinations.
Subjects such as literature, art and music offer much opportunity for creativity to be exercised, but some teachers require students to interpret sources in a conventional way and essays and drawings have to be done in fixed structures and forms, with marking schemes designed to recognise such structures. Language compositions supposedly require students to come up with creative storylines, but teachers request students to memorise model compositions and write about topics observed in everyday life. Math problems need to be solved by methods which are recognised by the education system, and methods which allow the student to get the answer in a creative way are often deemed unacceptable, just because the teacher does not understand the method. In essays on the humanities, students can only write about non-controversial and socially accepted topics if they want to get a decent mark. Few students would dare to criticise the government or write about racial issues in their essays even though they feel strongly about certain issues. This clearly shows that "correctness" is regarded more highly than creativity.
Some may argue that novel methods of learning such as "problem-based learning" and "creative problem solving" have been recently introduced in schools, with the intention of stimulating the minds of young students and facilitate creative learning. There is no doubt that these forms of learning are more effective in encouraging creativity in students than memorisation of content. However, these forms of learning are often conducted with restrictions placed on students. For example, creative assignments are given marks based on rubrics containing rigid guidelines. Students have to follow these guidelines to ensure that they get a decent mark, so the process they go through to complete the assignment is not truly creative. Furthermore, students are given rigid deadlines to complete many assignments at one go, which does not give students the chance to come up with original ideas and causes many students to use ideas found off the Internet to complete their work, which is obviously not creative. However, rubrics are necessary for a clear and fair marking system and deadlines are required for students to develop their time management skills.
Now, my next point. Students need to sit for examinations at the end of every term and smaller tests are given every month. Thus, students spend most of their time memorising facts from a wide range of topics in order to keep up with the constant presence of tests. Before major examinations, students are provided with many practice papers which train students in learning standard solutions to common examination questions. In a "kiasu" Singaporean society, where most students are concerned with getting good results and high rankings in school, memorising answers is naturally treated as an efficient way of studying for tests, as students can easily regurgitate the answers during examinations to get their marks. Furthermore, the nature of most examinations is based on theory, which does not allow much creativity to be exercised.
Lastly, the school environment does not foster creativity. Students are required to wear a standard uniform to wear to school, have similar hairstyles, wear similar shoes and wear minimal accessories. Every morning, the whole school participates in a morning assembly, where students go through the same procedure everyday. This standard protocol obviously does not promote creativity. In classes and lectures, students need to remain silent. When students break certain rules, harsh disciplinary action is meted out. Thus, students often have a fear of standing out from the crowd and eventually give up trying to be creative. However, this spirit of correctness instilled in students can be beneficial, as they will need to follow the rules of the society when they grow up and being overly creative can lead to a chaotic school environment.
On the contrary, one must recognise the fact that the main role of the school is not to foster creativity, as the school mainly needs to make sure that students can gain necessary knowledge to get qualifications which will secure them a job and impart moral values which will ensure that students grow up to be responsible members of the society. In fact, creativity cannot be taught in a classroom setting. Students can stimulate their creative skills through daily activities in life, such as sports and learning about topics of interest.
In conclusion, school promotes correctness over creativity, as seen from the fact that teachers teach students in an uncreative manner, examinations cause students to be more concerned about correctness rather than creativity and the conformist school environment does not encourage creativity in students. This correctness can actually be justified, as the main role of the school is not to "teach" creativity and the school faces many constraints regarding the fostering of creativity in the school environment.
You have established your points clearly and it is a good commentary in entirety :)
ReplyDeleteI think that the promotion of "correctness" is just another integrated ideal in society. You would probably want to clarify the difference between "creativity" and "freedom". They are similar in some forms, but they do differ (e.g your point about rules and protocols or individuals not having the temerity to express their notions and stands etc.)
Good job anyway :)
Ha ha somehow I think that all your points are good and strong, and yet I disagree with all of them :p Perhaps from my comments you can counter the counters or something.
ReplyDeleteIn your first point, you said something about rubrics in performance tasks. I feel that such rubrics do not restrict creativity as you say, but provide a benchmark by which students can work with, especially the weaker students.
In your next point, you stated that examinations test theory, and thus creativity cannot be exercised. I don't think this is true, because theory can be applied creatively. It is possible to have a theory test that promotes creativity if its questions requires application of what the student has learnt to real life situations. On a side note, I do agree that tests promote rote learning.
Lastly, you said that punishments for hairstyles and uniform that do not comply with school rules restrict creativity. I think that such disciplinary action is necessary. To some extent, a school image is very important in promoting its spirit, and the best way of doing so is through its students. Unity of students is then best easily shown through unity of attire, so uniform is important.
Don't take my comments to seriously, their just my own thoughts. need to go now. bye.
Nah, not really. The word count? Lol, 1000+ words. FAR MORE THAN MINE MUHAHAHAHA...cut down lah...
ReplyDelete