Creativity is often seen as a luxury in education, an afterthought to more traditional subjects like Mathematics and reading. But the truth is, creativity is crucial for success in today’s rapidly changing world. Innovation, problem-solving, and critical thinking are just a few of the many skills that creativity helps us develop. Yet, despite its importance, creativity is often overlooked in favor of more standardized forms of learning.
Creativity is about much more than artistic expression. It’s about approaching problems in new and original ways, finding solutions that others may have missed, and seeing connections between seemingly disparate ideas. These are the kinds of skills that will serve us well in a world where change is constant and uncertainty is the norm.
By incorporating creativity into our educational system, we can help our students develop these important skills and prepare them for success in whatever path they choose to pursue.
How we can unleash creativity in education
Here are a few strategies:
Encourage Risk-Taking: One of the biggest obstacles to creativity is fear of failure. To overcome this, we need to create a culture that encourages risk-taking and experimentation. This means giving students the freedom to take risks, make mistakes, and learn from those mistakes.
Embrace Diversity: Creativity thrives when people from different backgrounds and experiences come together. By embracing diversity in our classrooms, we can expose our students to a wider range of perspectives and ideas.
Foster Collaboration: Creativity is often a collaborative process. When students work together, they can combine their strengths and weaknesses to create something truly remarkable. By promoting collaboration in the classroom, we can help our students develop teamwork skills and see the value of working together towards a common goal.
Provide Resources: providing students with the tools and resources they need to express themselves creatively is essential. This might mean investing in music and art programs, offering writing workshops, or even setting up makerspaces where students can have indepth thinking.
creativity is a vital part of education that cannot be ignored.
By incorporating creativity into our educational system, we can help our students develop the skills they need to succeed in a rapidly changing world. So let’s embrace creativity and watch our students flourish!
Idoko Mercy,
Department of Mass Communication,
Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna state
