Education is creativity and talent

Education is creativity and talent

The United Nations stated in its definition of the goal of education – as one of theseventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)– that it is the key that enables individuals to achieve those goals; Education plays a great role in the prosperity and advancement of peoples, which justifies continued interest in it.

Everyone in all parts of the world is struggling to achieve success in all aspects of life, which is something that is intrinsically good! But the standards of success and excellence have become disturbingly imbalanced. We send our children to schools – with various types of public, private, or international education – expecting that our choices are the best, but we kill their creativity and their ability – unfortunately – to innovate on a daily basis.

Many thought leaders in the field of education agree that existing education systems – whose basic building blocks were laid in the industrial age – are based directly on ignoring that intelligence, genius, and creativity are diverse, uneven, and profoundly different; Which makes the idea of ​​developing unified curricula and evaluation methods that depend on developing a “typical” answer extremely bad! It may be classified as an inhumane process, in which those in charge of the educational system oppress the student in the early stages of study, by undermining his creativity, placing restrictions on his thinking, and excluding any room for presenting new, innovative solutions.Because there is – simply – a model answer.

In addition, most of the content depends on memorizing and remembering the text by heart, without considering what the child really learns, and linking what he learns to his daily and practical life. With a simple experiment, we will find that most of the content is not remembered by the child after a short period of time. Unfortunately, the results of the tests, the “approved evaluation tool,” which is considered an unhealthy method, creates a culture in society that learning is linked to grades! Although learning is linked to practical application, the ability to develop and create, and present a new idea of ​​value; Which – of course – does not happen.

The beginning of the educational problem and its impact

 The child’s life and psychological makeup are shaped – to a large extent – by what happens in his school life, which is governed by his ability to follow instructions, and reward him for obeying orders and doing exactly what is asked of him. His view of his level of intelligence and his confidence in his thinking constitutes a set of signs of right and wrong, and sterile evaluation systems that certainly do not reflect the child’s creative abilities. Our children certainly do not get the opportunity to develop their creative skills under these systems.

Unfortunately, existing education systems completely ignore the fact that humans are different,and that there are individual differences that greatly influence our achievement abilities. Unified systems work on the basis that all children must comprehend uniform content at the same time, in the same way of explanation, and that they must show the same degree of interest, which is not possible. A child’s difference represents a form of backwardness or delay, and the child may be considered a failure, while all he needs is more time – to catch up with others – or a different method of explanation.

In addition, the existing systemsdo not help children find their passion, and develop this passion better; Manychildren with artistic or athletic talent stumble in the traditional school systembecause the current educational systems do not have standards for measuring children’s talents and genius. Rather, the general public views the matter – most of the time – as this talent being obstructive, preventing the child from concentrating on achieving what is required of him in rigid systems that do not recognize the existence of differences and discrepancies between people, and talent isolates the child from others; Because he feels different.

Change to achieve the desired goal

We need fundamental changes,starting with changing the culture of education, investing in those in charge of the teaching profession, realizing market requirements and available opportunities, and realizing that education must be based on frameworks that believe that conformity is disruptive; Because humans are different, and have diverse and varying interests. By setting narrow frameworks to evaluate success – instead of creating areas that allow innovation and creativity – we are targeting everyone who is talented and creative. Education – in its correct form – must give equal space to the sciences, arts, humanities and physical education. This will certainly happen without a passionate teacher who believes in his great role in building society, by achieving the ultimate goal, which is learning.

Here it is necessary to differentiate between education and learning, as education is the path to self-development, and it is the path of societies to a better future, and education is a cause and learning is a result. The main goal is learning. Education leads to a permanent change in behavior, as a result of cognitive gains that help develop the individual. Consequently, society developed, taking into account that education is a creative profession that is not based on indoctrination. The role of the teacher is much greater than this, as he is the guide and motivator, and sometimes the spiritual father of the student. Therefore, the teacher must be able to differentiate between the fact that he accomplishes the task or the fact that he achieves the goal. The real goal is for the student to learn. The teacher may accomplish the task of explaining the lesson, but he does not achieve the desired goal, which is to ensure that the student has learned.

Axes of Change

In order for us to achieve the required changes, we need a deep awareness of the needs of the real world around us. We need to look at the opportunities available in the labor market and the capabilities of the cadres – their experiences and their cultural and creative capabilities – we need to change society’s concepts about education in its various forms, about its data, its outcomes, and its purpose.

We must create a climate that encourages the creative empowerment of children and youth, through legislation that provides those in charge of the educational system with appropriate opportunities and conditions for growth and prosperity. We must also give a very high status to those in charge of the teaching profession. Without selecting creative people to carry out the educational process, continuing to support their professional development, and investing in this development – the desired goal, which is learning, will not be achieved.

 Change in the educational system is achieved when we realize thatEducation is not an automatic system, but rather a highly individual process, whose goal is to help the student in all stages of education, by helping him find his passion and points of excellence, and supporting him in a very individual manner. We care about creativity as much as we care about learning to read and write; Children thrive best with a more inclusive curriculum that celebrates their diverse talents. In addition, designing curricula that arouse the child’s curiosity and motivate him to learn more is extremely important.

We must also work – seriously – to change the culture of society towards vocational and technical education, and acceptance of other forms of education; Which will contribute – effectively – to the development of society.

Finally, we need to reflect on our concepts – as a society, business owners and decision makers – about the meaning and concept of intelligence and creative and innovative genius. Which will lead to catching up and achieving the state’s goals. Thus achieving Egypt’s Vision 2030.