Sunday, April 22, 2012

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

Creativity and Curiosity
We were given an additional blog post this week that pertained to questions that Dr. Strange had asked us in class last week that related to creativity, curiosity, and education.
'creativity written on a chalkboard

The first question was, "Do schools in the United States systematically destroy (or inhibit) the development of curiosity and/or creativity in students?" I do believe that schools destroy the development of curiosity and creativity in students. Students are only being tested on standardized tests that they are given at least every semester. Teachers are so stressed with trying to get all of the information to the students in time for the next test, so they don't have time to let students show their creativity or curiosity. Standardized tests only have one right answer, thus preventing students from showing their imagination.

The second question was, "Can a curriculum be developed that increases the curiosity of students? If so, what would be the key components of such a curriculum?" I do think that a curriculum could be developed that increases the curiosity of students. I think that of course, we need to get rid of standardized testing, but that will be a hard one to do. We could, however, encourage students to get more involved in the class and make our class more comforting so that students are not afraid to speak up and share their opinions. Also, to increase their imagination, we need to allow students to brainstorm in order to form their own thoughts and answers to questions.
child painting with her hands in class
The next question said, "Can a teacher's actions increase the curiosity of students? If so, what would be those actions?" I think that teachers can definitely increase the curiosity of students. Especially in early grade levels, students look up to and admire their teachers, so they take almost everything their teachers' say as gold. We need to help mold our students to think and form their own opinions, and to use their imagination how they want. I don't want my students to only soak in what I tell them, but to also make their own assumptions.

Lastly, question four asked, "What would help you become more curious and/or creative? What role would teachers and/or schools have in that process?" In order to become more curious and creative, I need to not be afraid to try new things and to be afraid of rejection for my ideas. If I cannot do these things, then how am I suppose to expect my students to? We need to supply opportunities so that our students can show their creativity more at school. This means, providing more activities and projects that the students have more of a say in. We could even allow our students to make up some assignments on their own.

1 comment:

  1. "...then how am I suppose to expect my students...." supposed not suppose

    Thoughtful.

    ReplyDelete