Revising and adding more to my essays!! MY FINAL PROJECT

John Diamandis

English

The definition of creativity is creating something original and useful. What this means is that creativity is not limited to the arts, it includes all disciplines. When using this definition we can see why we would want creativity in our school systems. The alternative to that would be students who lack the ability to create anything. The world needs people who can create new things. This world is built upon it. Imagine if cars, planes or even cellphones were never invented. Bill Gates said “Innovation has been and will continue to be the key to improving the world.” But how do you teach creativity? Creativity can not be taught. It doesn’t come from a classic room setting like math or English. In order to add creativity in schools you need to have collaboration, diverse environment, interdisciplinary exchange, and encouragement.

Collaboration in schools is not a big topic in the national education discussion, and that’s unfortunate, because it’s a key to effective schools. In low-income schools research has shown that the greatest improvement in student outcomes generally come from deep collaboration between administrators, teachers, and students. What this means is that in order for students to be successful there must be communication between the staff and the students. Anthony S. Bryk, the president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching identified five organizational features of schools that is critical in advancing student achievement, three of which I found to be the most important. The first stated that that we need a coherent instructional guidance system where everything including grades, homework, and tests are graded with meaningful teacher input. If teachers are actively adding input or advice on everything that students do it helps to breed more successful students. The second point Bryk made was that not only should the students be getting input but also the teachers. The teachers should be collaborating with other staff members to gain ongoing support and guidance by other colleagues. The third point was about parental involvement in schools and the parents working together with the schools to improve on the educational system. When parents, teachers, and administrators all work together the outcome is a successful school. When reading these three points you can see how important collaboration is in schools.

Diverse environment is also an important aspect to adding creativity in schools. Many colleges and universities share a common belief, born of experience, that diversity in their student bodies, faculties, and staff is important for them to fulfill their primary mission. Diversity is important because it enriches the educational experience. We learn from those whose experiences, beliefs, and views are different from our own, and these lessons can be taught best in a diverse intellectual and social environment. Diversity promotes personal growth in students. It helps to challenge stereotypes, improve critical thinking, and communication with people of varied backgrounds. It also strengthens communities and the work place. Education with a diverse environment prepares students to become good citizens, fosters respect and teamwork, and it helps to build communities where people are judged based on character.

Interdisciplinary exchange is the combining of two or more disciplines into one academic subject. What this means that instead of having a biology and chemistry class you have one class that teaches both and shows you how these two subjects relate with each other. A largely ignored idea, interdisciplinary exchange has many benefits to education in schools. It helps students to use what they learn in collaboration helping them to be more prepared for the work place. Interdisciplinary can increase students' motivation for learning and their level of engagement. In contrast to learning skills in isolation, when students participate in interdisciplinary experiences they see the value of what they are learning and become more actively engaged. It also provides the conditions under which effective learning occurs. Students learn more when they use the language arts skills to explore what they are learning, write about what they are learning, and interact with their classmates, teachers, and members of the community.

Lastly encouragement is the final step in teaching creativity in schools. Encouragement training changes the way teachers run their classrooms and relate to students, resulting in students who are more involved, responsible, and academically successful. In order to increase encouragement in schools we must make relationships a priority, carry on respectful dialogue, practice encouragement and affirmation daily, make decisions through shared involvement, and resolve conflict. Psychologist Alfred Adler believed that an educator's most important task is to see to it that no child is discouraged at school and to influence any child who enters school discouraged. He believed that learning is only possible when children look hopefully and joyfully to the future. Encouragement is necessary in our schools for students to feel confortable and to learn to their maximum potential.

Implementing all these changes will be no easy task but it is definitely possible. In order to add collaboration in schools teachers just need to be more actively involved with their students as well as teachers being involved with their colleagues in order to get beneficial input. Most schools and colleges already have diverse environments and people of different ethnic groups but in order to get them to communicate more and truly learn about each other, schools can add more clubs that promote students to share their culture. In order to add interdisciplinary exchange in schools all we have to do is add extra electives or courses that combine academic subjects of study. It could even be as simple as a club that helps to teach how two subjects relate and correlate with each other.

In order to add creativity in schools you need to have collaboration, diverse environment, interdisciplinary exchange, and encouragement. With these changes implemented in our schools our students in turn will become more successful and creative in life. Creativity is a necessity and without it students would lack the ability to create anything.