13 reasons why school killed creativity
Schools are massively killing creativity and the fault is squarely on how the system has been oriented. Most schools lack the motivational framework that can allow artistic and talented individuals to thrive which means the creative element is killed at an early stage. With the current system, students end up coming up with nothing of note from school apart from the drilled content offered by teachers. Here are 13 reasons and ways through which schools have killed creativity.
Artistic subjects are elective
Art, Music, Woodwork, Building and construction are among the subjects that are not given valid importance. They are set as electives that students are not even encouraged to take which means students don’t get to pursue subjects that are in line with the talents and abilities they have.
Marks are awarded for factual information
Idealistic presentations are not encouraged in the schools and this means marks are only awarded for factual content that has been provided by the teachers. This is a system that kills creativity since a student is not given the license to expound or re-design the knowledge they have been able to grasp over time.
Students are asked to conform to intellectual ideologies
Instead of being encouraged to have their own narrative and create something that will inspire their passion, students are asked to conform to an ideology that they actually don’t relate to. The syllabi in play are not relevant to the changing world setups which means students fail to draw relation.
Thinking outside-the-box is not rewarded
The school system pushes aside the individuals that think outside the box by classifying them as being hyper and with active imaginations. Thinking out of the box is therefore not rewarded which means the creative element in students is smothered at an early stage.
Free thinking is condemned in school
At school, they expect students to consume without question and this eliminates free thinking. When free thinking is eliminated, students tend to be consumers of knowledge instead of revolutionaries who follow through with their creative ideas.
School are run on rules
As much as there needs to be codes of conduct, schools punish students for not following the rules which means students tend to be inhibited in terms of the freedom they have to make some decisions that are the fruit of critical and creative thinking. The strict guidelines only serve to stifle creative growth in students.
Schools are a routine system
In a routine system, creativity fails to be an element that can thrive. Schools are established on the premise that there is a routine that must be followed and it is these structured systems that stunt creative development. Breaking away from routine is what inspires creative thinking and development.
Schools are an “All under one roof” setting
Creativity needs an individualistic approach where solutions and the conducive environment is offered to each student. Creativity can only be cultivated when each student is offered an environment where they can harness their passion and thinking. Every student has different circumstances that inspire their creativity but with schools having an “All under one roof” mentality, individual creativity can never thrive.
School curricular is not talent based
The school system is not tuned to harness the talents that students have. It is instead aimed at instilling pre-selected material to the minds of the students. It is this inclination of the curricular that inhibits creativity while stifling expression of talent.
Students are psychologically tuned to have one answer
Schools only accept one answer as the correct one and every other solution or explanation is meant to be wrong. This mentality kills creativity in the students since it effectively eliminates any creative outlet that a student may have thought of.
Standardized system is detrimental to creativity
Schools push all students through one door with the assessment being standard for all students despite every individual having varied capabilities. By choosing to evaluate all students according to a standardized system, students with slow learning capabilities and different understanding are placed at a disadvantage which makes them outcasts.
Success in school is test-based
As long as a student passes the test in school, then that is the measure of success. Student therefore only struggle to have the facts at hand for the test and not thereafter. This leads to students taking a crack at the information the night before and regurgitating the same on the test and forgetting everything the day after. If success was based on creative presentations and considerations, creativity would have a chance to thrive.
Curiosity and imagination are considered as barriers
At school, students with active imaginations and curiosity are met with condemnation, the two virtues are seen as impediments to systemic adoption of classroom knowledge. It is made to appear like classroom knowledge is “perfect” while creativity has some imperfections and this is the notion imparted in the students. Students can’t come up with original concepts since they are considered to have imperfections and it is this factor that stops creativity from thriving.