Creativity and Curiosity: My Thoughts - Special Post #12A

We've been posed several questions about creativity and curiosity in schools. The premise is the curiosity begets creativity--so to stimulate a student's curiosity will make them more curious, more willing to learn. But are schools in the United States, the place where we most want students to be curious, actually abattoirs of curiosity? It depends, of course, on a number of variables. Teachers, the school system in that area, the mindset of the people.

Nothing is ever straight up black and white, and that goes also for whether schools are destroying curiosity and creativity, not just morality. I also wouldn't say that schools are doing it on purpose, because what purpose does that serve, to inhibit a kid's willingness to learn and create? But it does happen, and I believe it is because schools have become places where kids merely memorize information and repeat it back for a grade. It's easy on the teachers, to be able to grade something by saying, "You got this question wrong because it was A not C." It's harder to put a grade on a student's creativity, though. But that's not fair to the student, who isn't being pushed to their fullest potential. But it might not wholly be on the teacher's shoulders, because they could just be trying to cram their students full of the right information so they may pass quarterly tests, so that there's no time for anything else. Not matter whose fault it is, though, something needs to be done.

One answer might be to develop a curriculum that increases the curiosity and creativity of students. But you can't just make a lesson that's specifically aimed toward stimulating such a personal experience. I don't think it's possible to make a curriculum like that. Modifying our own curriculum to actually engages students in learning, in trying out new things and seeing for themselves how the world works, would improve their curiosity and creativity quite a bit. We should change from straight up Q&A to letting them take the chalk for a while, and see how it feels to be learning on their own.

And you, as a teacher, definitely affect a student's creativity and curiosity. You have more impact than you know. Students look to others for approval, and if you approve their curiosity, it will definitely boost their willingness to ask questions. You should let a student know straight off that it's okay--or encouraged to ask questions. A student's biggest fear is that they're the only one who doesn't understand something, and that if they ask questions they'll seem like a fool (well, maybe not their biggest fear, but it certainly was one of mine in school, which led me to sitting quietly in a corner, hands firmly on the desk). So it would be wise to let your students know that if they don't understand something, no matter how simple, they shouldn't be afraid to ask.

Something else a teacher could do to increase a student's creativity--redefine failure. We know, of course, that we're supposed to take failure as a learning experience, but that's hard to believe when the idea is never reinforced. Reinforcing that idea with students could make them a little more fearless about trying new things. If they get something wrong or fail in their task, help them back up and tell them why they failed, but don't scold them for it. Scolding them will make them less likely to try harder, so that should they fail again, they can say, "Well, I wasn't giving it my all, that's why I failed."

These are the kinds of things that would inspire my own curiosity and creativity. If I had teachers who did more than stand in front of a classroom and lecture, I might actually learn something. I understand that can be hard in a college course when a class can be 100 students, but it would be nice if they would at least make the effort. I also appreciate it when teachers make the effort to relate what we're learning to everyday happenings. Like my geology teacher comparing the formation of land folds to putting your hands down on a tablecloth and pushing--not just one, but several wrinkles will form, and it's the same with land, though it certainly doesn't seem like land should be able to fold as easily as a tablecloth. These are the kinds of things that make me curious and inspire my creativity.