Harnessing CREATIVITY
MASTERY IN the Primary Exit Profile (PEP) is reflected in a student’s ability to apply content knowledge, skills, and abilities outlined in the National Standards Curriculum (NSC). The expected student outcomes in the NSC are grounded in the mastery of the 4 C’s: creativity, communication, collaboration and critical thinking. Today’s focus is on creativity. Creativity is considered an immeasurable, natural ability. However, advocates purport that it is skill-specific, requiring intentional instruction. Creativity has become the new currency of the world as new categories of occupations emerge.
The skill sets in many industries have evolved, and in some situations, people have to be innovative and create their own jobs. Now, more than ever, creativity must be recognised as a powerful addition to the current world of work and education.
Paul Collard of Creative Partnerships wrote: “Creative skills aren’t just about good ideas. They are about having the skills to make good ideas happen.”
Children have an innate sense of curiosity that can be developed by parents and teachers. When curiosity is nurtured, creativity blossoms.
This is a skill that must be taught and developed. Within the context of PEP, creativity is about promoting fresh perspectives — looking at the problems, or situations, within the various academic subject areas and encouraging fresh perspectives that suggest unorthodox solutions.
Creativity has the potential |to change things and we need to develop possibilities in our children.
In social studies for example, students are encouraged to gather, interpret, and use data to form a new perspective or approach. In doing so, they obtain their own forms of evidence to create new meaning to situations.
One such PEP assessment task that could develop the skill of creativity in social studies might look like this:
The principal asks the students to recommend a community project for the entire school to participate in. Each student is to help his class choose a project and provide evidence to justify the choice. The task:
Identify two to three community problems that you have observed or learnt about and use examples to support your answers.
Explain how you would solve one of the three problems in the form of a project.
Write two questions that you would ask community members in an interview to obtain further proof that your project could, in fact, solve the problem.
Prepare a report, which you would present to your class in an effort to convince your classmates to select your community project.
In order to answer this question, students should have obtained some knowledge on gathering information about their community and confirming the validity of the findings in order to define a novel solution. This kind of content and skill knowledge can be learnt both at school and home. At school, innovative thinking models will be utilised to teach and encourage creativity.
But along with teachers, parents have a vital role in helping their children develop creative skills.
Studies show that parents and guardians have the unique capacity to cultivate creativity in children and to help them to explore and to adapt to the world at large. Creative thinking needs to be shared and validated by others in a socially supportive atmosphere, which is primarily at home.
To prepare your child for a PEP assessment task like the one described above, having regular, open conversations and discussions about local and international issues and current events are helpful in bringing awareness but also develops creative aptitude when we allow him to experience the world and give meaning to it.
Watch the news together, share interesting articles from newspapers, browse the Internet together and engage in discussions.
ENCOURAGING CREATIVITY
As parents or guardians, we can encourage creativity by using some of the following ideas:
Embrace the notion that creativity is a positive part of learning. Awards, creative solutions, and works of art may be showcased. Parents, identify your children’s talents and strengths and allow them the freedom to express themselves in those areas.
Teach children to be flexible thinkers and doers. Ask your child to consider hypothetical situations and have him design creative solutions. Play “what if” games to stretch his imagination.
Schedule activities from creative arts and media-oriented programmes. Engage your children in activities that stretch their abilities and that incorporate cognitive and emotional functioning.
Explore different cultures. Have children practise suspending judgements about people. With the rise of social media, teach them to always remain curious and not fall prey to stereotypes.
Help your child feel safe to be free. Allow time for play and expression. Give constructive feedback and lots of praise.
Be their safe haven. Be responsive and positive when your child shares past explorations and future plans with you. When he feels uncertain, let him know that anxiety is natural and encourage him to try new things.
Tapping into your child’s creativity will contribute to his development as profoundly aware, open-minded, and curious children who will appreciate different cultures and will be global citizens of the future.