Schools Discourage Creativity in Children and Teachers - Essay Example

Schools Discourage Creativity in Children and Teachers Research Question: Has the present system of education delivered its goals The origin of thepresent system of public education in the U.S can be traced to the system of education followed in Prussia almost a century ago. Prussia was a military state, where the rulers found it convenient to carry out their rule if the subjects were a submissive, unquestioning population. As such, imagination or creativity hardly seemed to be the reasons for having established these schools. Public schools were started in the U.S in early twentieth century for mass education of children. The aim of opening these schools seem to have been: 1) To make good people. 2) To make good citizens. 3) To make each person his or her personal best. Yet, ironically, today, a century after this system was started, I am sure that we cannot really say that we have been successful in meeting the goals of education. A few unsavoury truths about today's educational system would put our educationists in a tight spot. Educationists and researchers have long felt that this was an educational system deliberately designed to produce mediocre students, to restrict creativity and introspection, to deny leadership skills to students, and to ensure submissive and incomplete citizens. This was done in order to raise a generation that would be easily manageable. A generation of people who would be as trusting and unquestioning as children, a generation that would consist of grown ups who are not ready to think out of the box, but let go of their originality and instead follow herd mentality in whatever they undertook. That education need not be linked to the number of years of formal schooling has proved true time and again. The twelve year schooling process might not necessarily be a complete learning process. History is witness to numerous successful people who rose and shone to great heights; either completely without a formal education or without having successfully completed their schooling process. Throughout most of American history, kids generally didn't go to high school, yet the unschooled rose to be admirals, like Farragut; inventors, like Edison; captains of industry, like Carnegie and Rockefeller; writers, like Melville and Twain and Conrad; and even scholars, like Margaret Mead George. Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln too are testimony to this fact. In recent times, Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft Corporation is a classical example of a child who did not want to confirm to the norms of mediocrity and monotony taught in schools. Under the garb of competition, today's education system has been successful in bringing out the primal instincts of fear, jealousy, immaturity and greed among children and grown ups alike; instead of leading humanity towards noble ideas and ideologies of excellence within the self and tolerance and appreciation of another's brilliance. Comparison and contrasting have become a daily exercise for both children and grown- ups alike. Manufacturers and entrepreneurs are having a field day as the present generation is into consumerism like never before. Large corporations and policy makers are the sole deciding agents for today's consumer. Today's consumer might in some cases be an informed one, but is there a reasonable choice offered to him Mandatory schooling has been successful in ensuring conditioning of young minds in various ways. It helps children turn into an obedient population that is incapable of critical judgement. Children are harnessed and taught to confirm to set standards and not question authority. The academic records determine a child's social standing in society and his position among peers. After a student's social role has been determined, the child is trained till a certain level only, not beyond that. Schooling effectively brings about discrimination on the basis of performance in exams. Children with varying intelligence are not easily accepted by society in general. Another function of school is to breed a very small group of citizens that will dictate the rest of the citizenery. Nay, education and schooling have never been so far removed. Learning the 3Rs at school is not the sole purpose of education. Learning to accept, without questioning is not the sole purpose of education. To seek acceptability without being creative or different: is that what formal schooling is all about Education is a continuous process. It is a process of constant learning that requires inquisitiveness and curiosity. A cheeky quote that comes to mind when we discuss intelligence and education is, " I was born intelligent; education ruined me." It might be a fact that we are raising a genre of robots. As students, children are expected to confirm to norms, keep their inquisitiveness and creativity in check and as teachers, grown-ups too do not defy the system; instead accept it with childlike innocence. Teachers who have had the courage to step ut of this monotonous system and listen to their inner voice have been far and few between. They would surely have been able to arouse the children's interest, kindle the spirit of adventure and freedom of thought and speech. Such teachers would have taken it on them to introduce their students to individuals different from the crowd: creative, thinking, feeling individuals. If not, the teacher's deviation from the confirmed norms would be enough to expose the children to think differently, to be creative and original. There is a lot of scope for improvements and changes in today's formal education system. Not only is the style outdated, it is outlandish too. The present study will try to determine the loopholes in the present system of public schooling in the U.S and try to provide suggestions/answers to these problem areas. The bond between a child and teacher is one of the most important bonds in a child's life. Teachers can mould the young minds and either make or break their lives. A generation of students that has not been taught to think creatively will yet again bring up a generation of students who will scoff at creativity and new ideas. If this is to be avoided and we are to let our children think and act to their full capabilities, instead of falling into a confirmed pattern, we need to immediately rethink the way teachers go about their work in schools. Unless the teachers are encouraged and maybe even rewarded for their flexible and innovative methods of teaching, the students will not be able to break away from this tyranny. Home schooling was prevalent before the advent of the mass schooling system. It might have had its own advantages, as the generations educated before 1905 do not appear to have lacked in anything: whether entrepreneurial spirit or maturity of thought. Though more expensive, this method has also been adopted by many parents today who want their children to grow up without losing their intelligence, creativity or identity. These are parents who know that learning is different from schooling. A farmer who has never been schooled might be more knowledgeable as compared to a young man who has done his Post Graduation from a reputed university. Thus, I would like to mention that though we need formal schooling to discipline children and encourage social interaction, it would be foolish to assume that the present system of formal education is delivering the goals for which it was established. If we are to make good people of our children, we need to overhaul the system. If we are to make good citizens of our children, we have set an example and start questioning things that unreasonably make us confirm to norms. If we are to bring out the best in each person, we have to condition them to think with freedom. They have to let thoughts flow freely, be capable of making intelligent and mature choices and act responsibly at the same time. Read More