Of knowledge shops and information mongers

CREATIVITY IS seen in its proper form in the works of scholars, artists and creators of literature; but it does not belong to them exclusively. It is universal impulse and wherever human spirit is free, we see human beings striving to bring it out. Liberating the creative spirit in every individual is the objective of true education.

In spite of progressive educationists, right from the time of Rousseau, advocating child-centred education, we still find the teacher dominating in the classroom. Mere information is considered as tantamount to knowledge and that it could be transmitted to the learner by a sort of intellectual intravenous feeding process. Schools continue to be knowledge shops and teachers information mongers.

The greatest malady in the present system of education is that it makes the pupils imitative rather than creative. From primary classes to university classes, students are trained to assimilate passively. They are given very few opportunities to express themselves actively.

Creative education

Iqbal, the famous poet from Punjab made a stirring call by saying,

``To delight in creation is the law of life, Arise and create a new world.''

Every one is potentially great. It is great to multiply greatness. As teachers, we must help the minds to grow. Education should encourage the development of creative and constructive powers in every single individual. However, it is not expected that every child born into the world should be a creative genius. But in creative education, every child will be enabled to grow to the extent he is capable. For this to be carried out, personal relationship between the teacher and the taught is essential. But in these days of mass education where classes are so large, it is well nigh impossible for the teacher to have more than a mere superficial knowledge of his children. On this account, the emphasis on creative education cannot be minimised.

In any situation, skills of creative thinking can be taught. Acquisition and application of these skills increase the chances of creativity. The basic problem in the study of creativity is to understand the process of divergent thinking. The characteristics of divergent thinking are novelty, flexibility and originality of ideas. Every child has a lot of eagerness, curiosity and sensitivity to problems.

A creative teacher should not only possess these qualities but should also have the power of imagination in abundance. He should consider teaching an art and then work like an artist. Newton- apple event and Archemedes-bath are unrelated bodies of knowledge; but the seemingly unimportant observations only provided insight to the problems incubating in their minds. Similarly, by using paradoxes, provocative questioning and sensitising problems which have more than one solution, the creative teacher can nurture the talent in children.

Fostering creativity

The emphasis on creative activities in our education involves a radical change in the teachers' attitude to children and in the methods of teaching. Teachers should not consider children as receptacles into which information has to be poured. The classroom must be free from the petty dictatorship that forces pupils into silence. Right through the school course, we should encourage creative work according to planned programmes.

Activity methods: Pupils should have opportunities of working with crafts of various kinds, taking up hobbies and being active in every subject. Good pedagogy must involve presenting the children with situations in which they themselves experiment, try things out to see what happens, pose questions and seek their own answers. The classroom instead of being a place for the teacher to lecture, should be a centre in which children analyse the data they collected from the library, laboratory and the field. The laboratory should not only be a place where students usually follow a set of routine procedures with the help of a cook-book type of manual but also a place where more problems are raised rather than solved.

Remove examination phobia: Examinations lay stress on memory and do not encourage independent thinking. As long as examination phobia is there, there cannot be any creative teaching. Examination is the direct enemy to creativity. They put a premium on the blind following of a routine syllabus and rote memory. Hence credit must be given to all types of creative work in schools.

Creative reading: Although there are two ways of reading, namely reading critically and reading creatively, teachers should encourage students to suspend their critical function and use creative function. Students can be encouraged to record all their creative writing in a folder or `trap-the-idea' in a note book. They can record their best ideas for poems, stories, songs etc. and return to the idea later and develop it.

Research skills: Creativity is a form of problem solving. Hence students can be taught some basic research skills and asked to do some simple research. From a set of data, they can formulate hypotheses and even test them.

Brainstorming sessions: This is a revolutionary technique of idea generation. It is a strategy in which a problem can be attacked and literally stormed by dozens of ideas.

Reward creative achievements: Torrence (1988) lists five ways in which a teacher can encourage and reward creative achievement.

* Treat unusual questions which the children ask with respect.

* Treat unusual ideas and solutions with respect.

* Show children that their ideas have value.

* Provide opportunities and give credit for self-initiated learning.

* Provide chances for children to learn, think and discover without threat of immediate evaluation.

To conclude, the activity movement is no mere passing fashion; it is a sincere attempt to release the creative energy of children. Ideas only make men giants. The art of creating ideas is man's most challenging quest. May the creative teachers be on a similar endless quest for nobler service, truer happiness and greater joy.

A. PANNEERSELVAM

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