Development of Creative and Innovative abilities of Students

Abstract

The beginning of the twenty-first century is an exciting time for education. There is constant talk of

the need to reexamine old ways of thinking and doing things and of the concomitant need for

flexibility, creativity and innovation. Our current world is evolving more rapidly than the capacity

of any existing education system. The challenge of learning is getting even harder for the next

generations. We do not have a prediction of how tomorrow will look like, but we know that flexible

process models are able to face the changes comparing with fixed-style models; we know that the

ability to adapt helped our ancestors to survive on this planet for about six million years. This leads

us to the question; what is the most important skill to teach our kids in schools? The answer: How

to build creative and innovative minds that can adapt and face future unpredictable challenges.

Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg and Larry Page provide successful examples of how

adopting innovation in education can help in building creativity and better abilities in order to solve

problems.

Introduction

Many governments adopt the policy of free basic education, a large base of students are privileged

by this policy to learn. These policies have very wide range of standards, quality and infrastructure.

Therefore, a focus strategy on the essential skills should be implemented. These skills include the

following:

- Think creatively in order to compete in the market

- Find innovative solutions for existing and future problems

In order to achieve the above, we need to apply creative and innovative strategies in education with

a particular focus on the basic kid’s education. While education systems are varying in their

capability to implement creative teaching methods and curricula, a teacher can easily adapt their

teaching methods towards more creative thinking through the following tips:

Encourage children to find the answer

It is also called the Pestalozzi method. Unlike the ordinary models of giving the direct answers for

questions, this method aims to encourage students to find the answers on their own. It helps the

students to learn how to observe, imagine, judge and reasoning. One of the successful examples of

applying this method is Albert Einstein.

Children learn, teachers observe

The current educational system depends on teacher-driven lessons, where the teacher leads the class

leaving no space for students to self-develop their skills and capabilities to innovate. The

Montessori method aims to give a space of students to self-learning while the teachers observe the

progress. One of the successful examples of using this method is Google founders, Larry Page and

Sergey Brin.

Sit in round tables rather than desks

This method, known as the Harkness style of teaching, aims to turn the class into an open

conference style of interaction rather than the one way seating of traditional desks. The students sit

around a round table, which encourages them to take responsibility and share his or her opinions

instead of following the linear teacher-driven class.

While the existing teaching methods depend on individual lessons and projects, focusing on one

project enables students to put the knowledge together in the form of focused questions and

assessments for the project or the problem. This method is called Project Based Learning and it

focuses on combining the knowledge in one large practical project.

Focus on the concept

Providing knowledge in the form of facts orients student thinking while inhibiting creativity and the

ability to imagine. Focusing on the concepts help the students to find solutions through exploring

ideas and evaluating the best answers.

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited.

Imagination circles the world.”

— Albert Einstein

Every idea is a patent

Many educators believe that innovation should be unique and submitted as a patent. In the

education domain, if the student invented an existing product or solution, this is a success and can

be considered as an innovation. It shows his or her ability to create new ideas based on their sense

of emerging knowledge and experience. Students tends to invent things or find solutions, this

behavior should be reinforced over the course of teaching them strategies of creative thinking and

innovation.
Use design thinking tools and methods

Design thinking methods aim to unleash creativity and explore innovative solutions in the context

of group discussion and brainstorming. There are many design thinking methods that could be

implemented in class such as the following:

• Disney model (dreamer, realist and critic)

• Lego Serious Play

• De Bono Six Thinking Hats

• Scamper technique for creative thinking

• Problem-solving using Hurson’s product model

• Reverse brainstorming

Each method has its own characteristics and learning outcome. Therefore, the educator should

select the proper design thinking method based on the student’s age and the targeted outcome of

each brainstorming discussion.

Problem-to-Solution vs Solution-to-Problem models

The students have to identify two directions for innovation; Problem-to-Solution and Solution-to-

Problem. The first model drives the students to find solutions for existing problems. In essence, the

student identifies a problem that occurs everyday and tries to explore how to solve it. The second

method is to find a solution for a problem that does not exist yet or to make life much easier.

The two directions aim to help students to think of the problem with different perspectives. While

the first model focuses on existing problem, the second direction focuses on innovating better

solutions, which relates to human-centered design.

While most traditional curricula focuses on moving from lesson to another, there should be a

rumination process that helps in linking between the new lessons and previously taught knowledge

and experience. This linkage builds a continuation in the education process and helps student to

think critically and evaluate problems in order to reach innovate solutions.

Acknowledge innovation in rubrics

Every innovative idea and discovery should be rewarded during the assessment process, this should

be reflected by the rubric of criteria. Educators are encouraged to add a rubric section that allows

them to evaluate creative ideas and innovation independently from the rest of the grading criteria.

Innovation should reflect on the final grading and the rewarding policy.

Conclusion

Innovation and creativity are part of the essential skills that enable students to meet with future

challenges and market competitions. While current educational systems do not provide the

necessary creativity and innovation strategies required to meet with these demands and challenges,

educators can implement a number of tips and techniques that can help students to think creatively

and find innovative solutions for existing and future problems.

The tips above can be applied either individually or in bulk during the educational process. While

educational systems may prevent educators from applying some of the above tips due to

administrative and other reasons, educators should select the methods which suits the existing

educational system, school level and currently taught curricula.

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