Creativity – A Change in Taiwan

While the majority of the society would think that the root of all of problems that the human race is facing in this twenty first century is economics, we should be looking for something other than economics to fix. Economics is something not only our country, but also the entire world, have been putting a lot of their attention on, but intellectual development is nonetheless the real root of the downfall of our society today. The base of all civilizations, the core of human development, is the creative, outside the box thinking that only we humans have; so the key to this problem is to encourage creative thinking, and a good way to begin this immense project is to start small. One thing I would change about my country is to adjust and modulate the education system so that the children of the new generation would be taught in a way that would stimulate their imaginative thinking.

As creative thinking is the central of the civilizing process, to promote a new creative educating system would be a huge boost in the advancing society of today. Mihaly Csikszentmihaly, writer of “Flow and Creativity”, The NAMTA Journal 22, no. 2, did research based on how creative thinking would affect society. Through her research, she discovered that creative people are more likely to choose to do more difficult and complex tasks. From her research, evidence shows that creativity derives from individuals identifying a pattern that can be broken and figuring out a new way to use an already existing concept or product by taking the influence from society and tweaking it so it has a fresh new look. Methods to triggering creative thoughts such as leaving interesting and resourceful materials around the classroom for students to explore and to play around with is effective in terms of providing students a place to put their creative thoughts and ways of thinking into use. Also, by setting up a space for students to start and accomplish their own projects with their own materials can also help children reach their creative potential. By creating a healthy atmosphere in class where students are taught to accept and treat mistakes as turning points is crucial in developing and maintaining the creativity level in class. Healthy competitions in inventing can also be a major motivation for students in activating the urge and eagerness to become more creative. In my hometown, most familiar concepts of learning are writing tests and memorizing information word by word. That concept is desperately in need of change, so society can once again step out in creative glory.

The change in the educational system in my country would lead to great outcomes, a level of learning where students are not pressured by the immense competitiveness that are often handed to these children. A new change in thoughts and teaching would result in students’ ability to connect and relate situations, making it easier to connect and see relationships. As change in the educational system begins to take place, students will gain insights and experience in the area of envisioning, where questions such as “what if” would arise and alternative, fresh thinking would appear. Consequently, students will be more likely to explore a variety of ideas and options, and reflect on their observations and perspectives. For a city or a society to be filled with people with creative thinking, it is necessary to have huge chunks of people who will be expressing their identity, which accordingly will create new looks of the society from many perspectives, including politics, cultural renewal, economy, or even the transformation in the aesthetics of the metropolis. With places such as Turkey sponsoring “The Best Idea Competition”, Adres Patenta, a Turkish law firm that operates internationally to protect patent rights, has come up with a competition where people will be able to voice their ideas on new products, services or social projects over the Internet, with the best ones chosen weekly. This activity has been implemented in South Korea, the States, and many countries around the globe. It helps people be aware of the fact that creative thinking is important, putting a twist in the test-taking, fact memorizing education system we have today.

“We humans have not yet achieved our full creative potential primarily because every child’s creativity is not properly nurtured. The critical role of imagination, discovery and creativity in a child’s education is only beginning to come to light and, even within the educational community, many still do not appreciate or realize its vital importance.” -International Child Art Foundation. A change in how students are taught in my country would be a small action that would make a huge impact on the direction of the development of the entire world. By putting this spark of change in the system, not only students, but also citizens of my country would be more alert to the significant effects creative teaching will have on the community. This tiny transformation and adjustment is the pivotal chance for my country to step out of the troubles it is in. Once the creativity in the children’s minds is unsuppressed, the possibilities waiting for our community to discover would be infinite.

If you could change one important thing about your hometown, what would you change?