Schools in the United States, I feel do kill some development of curiosity and/or creativity in students. The reason being is because teachers tell students to do a project and they tell the students that the ideas are endless, but yet on the grading sheet there is a list of "dos and don'ts" on there. If the teacher wants the student to be creative and think of things to do on their own then they need to let the possibilities be endless. Students need to be able to do anything they want to with a project as long as they have the main points or ideas that needs to be in there incorporated some how.
I believe that there is not a curriculum that could be developed that could increase curiosity or creativity of a student. Students are born with curiosity of things and also with creativity. I agree that some students are more creative and curious that others. But I do not believe that there is a set "curriculum" that could be made up to increase this. That is something that students are born with and it grows as the child grows. However, I do believe that a teacher's actions can increase the curiosity and creativity of students. The teachers could ask the students a specific question with no restrictions on what the answer could be. After the students have had time to think about the question, with hearing the answers, that shows the teacher's question increased the curiosity and creativity of those students. They did not have a "guideline" to follow and was able to come up with anything that they thought would answer the particular question the teacher asked.
Something that would make me more curious and creative is if the classroom was filled with endless things that the students could learn about. If you give them a fish, small children could think of hundreds of questions and creative ideas about that specific fish. Teachers and/or schools have a large role in the process of children becoming more curious and creative. Teachers have to allow students to think on their own and not tell them exactly what to think and memorize about something. Like I stated earlier, when giving a students something as simple as a fish, they could think of hundreds of questions to ask about it or could come up with endless amounts of story lines for the fish.
Sara,
ReplyDeleteYou did a great job on your post. I agree that schools are killing the development of curiosity and/or creativity in students. I feel that this is a result of the increased pressure on higher SAT scores. Students are taught to the test. As educators, I am hopeful that we can help fix the problem by integrating the arts, music, and literature across the curriculum. I agree that children are curious by nature and that we must give them the opportunities to expand on their curiosity. Good luck the rest of the semester.
Interesting. Good ideas. Well written.
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