The Slow Death of Creativity and Imagination in our schools - PART 2

A recent media report presented survey results which suggested 60% of parents find it hard to play with their children. Another report indicated parents should spend at least 30 mins a day in directed play with their  toddlers. The media report shared some surprising comments: "I don't have the time." "I don't know how to play with a toddler." And "I hate playing with my toddler".  

I wrote a post in 2020 titled 'The Slow Death of the Imagination in our Schools - Part 1'. It seems like I need to write Part 2. The recent media reports and responses have stunned me into action!

My purpose in writing the post isn't to make parents feel guilty, especially in an age where both parents typically have paid jobs outside the home. Time is sometimes hard to stretch to allow things that might seem less critical (e.g. playing with our children). And of course, a sole parent needs to do the lot! 

I want instead, to remind everyone that creativity is critical for the world! Creative activities are not an optional extra in life. Unfortunately, we live in times where the globe faces numerous challenges. These include climate change, tragic natural events, the loss of far too many animal, insect, plant and marine species etc. On top of this we have seen global conflicts, pandemics and more. Now, I won't depress my readers. But we need to deal with our challenges. And it isn't just knowledge that will help to solve our many global challenges. Creativity is required in concert with knowledge to enable us to sustain our world. 

The problematic factor is that our schools have never had less time for fostering creativity. This is one of our great educational challenges. Teachers live in an age of constant external pressures to help children succeed on tests. The sad part is that the the more we test, the less time we have to teach and encourage creativity and the application of knowledge to the world. The nations that privilege and promote this at EVERY level of education, will be best placed. 

My post is motivated by the release of the latest NAPLAN test results. These once again show that Australia lags well behind nations like Sweden, where higher marks are demonstrated across all social class levels, as well as regional and urban locations. This is important because while politicians don't spend much time comparing public and private education, they should. Why? Because it would shed light on the great challenges for the public education system to teach more than just knowledge for external tests. We need a greater concentration on developing learners who can solve problems and seek creative solutions, not simply achieve high marks on external standardized tests.

Some of the depressing trends we've seen in higher education include:

• Lower entry scores to be educated as a teacher than virtually any other course.
• Large salary gaps between teachers in public and private education. 
• More children in public education from disadvantaged communities including urban and rural schools.
  
• All of the above tend to skew results for children of the privileged who typically attend private or selective schools.
  

Creativity is NOT simply a gift to privileged children

Above: A 'Big' sister reads to Lydia (age 1 day)

Creativity and imagination are available to all children. In fact, all children are born with an innate desire to explore the world. From birth, they receive a vast array of stimuli as they observe and try to make sense of their surroundings. The environment in which they live has a profound impact on them. Children commence life with great potential - notwithstanding genetic variations. But their environment can have negative as well as positive effects on their learning.

The potential impact of poverty and neglect on children's early development, underlines the need to ensure that children entering school are given every opportunity to be stimulated, inspired and have their horizons widened.

Neuroscience research has taught us a number of things about the young brain, including the immense capacity of children to learn, and for their minds to expand when stimulated. But across our school education system in Australia, I still see a dumbing down of the curriculum. State and nationally mandated testing seems increasingly to shape school programs and classroom practices, as well as wider community expectations.

Above: Philosopher Martin Buber

Social Philosopher Martin Buber suggested at an education conference in 1925 that imagination and creativity are not developed over time. His big take home message was that every child is born with a disposition to be creative.

However sadly, parents, teachers and schools can suppress this inbuilt creativity, and drive it from them with banal and repetitive activities.

As teachers and parents we can either "draw out these powers", or stifle them when done badly. What we offer in schools is but "...a selection of the world." In short, each child is born with an innate ability and desire to explore, imagine and create. The parent or teacher who says I have no time for creative work and play, is limiting the child's potential.

For most children, the first few years of life offer ample opportunities to explore, experiment and seek to push beyond their capacity to do most things. Preschool for most children can still offer freedom to explore, find out, imagine and act upon the creative urge they have to know and create. But by Kindergarten they begin to be trained to produce that which is seen as acceptable.

Above: A three year old doing some 'creative' writing

What can we do?

As parents and teachers we need to work hard at creating learning environments in which children are encouraged to ask "why?', "what if",  "how come" type questions. Parents, should endeavour not to become tired of the toddler asking "why", "what if", "how come" questions. We need to respond to them.

We also need to seek a variety of experiences for our children. As a parent and grandparent I spent as much time as possible with my children (and grandchildren) exploring their world. This included digging in my compost heap, seeking out bugs in our back yard, paddling in estuaries and rock pools, looking at the sky, and reading about the natural wonders of the world. We also read hundreds of books together, drew pictures after key experiences and more.

Teachers also need to look for ways to stimulate the imaginations of the children in our classes. There are many ways to do this, including reading to them and encouraging their responses (in word, drawing, actions...). There are also numerous simple experiences that we can integrate into classroom activities at varied grade levels.

Above: The restored Gramaphone that I still have!

As a young teacher I arrived at school one morning with a 'mystery' object. I found an old 1920s gramaphone on the side of the road. I put it in my car boot (trunk) and took it to school and simply placed it at the front of the classroom. Questions flowed. "What's that?" "Where did you get it?" "My grandma has one of those!" "We've got some old records in our shed, can I go and get them?" The creative activities and knowledge gained from this simply object sustained several days of varied activities and much learning.

In another school we created a number of gardens for flowers and edible plants. While teaching a grade 2/3 composite class we built a brontosaurus (measuring 3 metres by 1 metre) as a garden centrepiece in the school playground. To the joy of the  students, this was featured on the front page of our city newspaper.

Of course, there are subjects in the curriculum that should naturally allow imagination to be developed; including science, art and craft. 

My point in revisiting the previous post with an update, is that I have a sense that we've gone backwards. We cannot afford to allow creativity to be lost in the desire to skill, drill and educate for external exams. Education at all levels is about growing our students in more than just subject knowledge. 

Never allow the 'what if'? question to leave your classroom or home. 

If parents reading this post feel they haven't the time, or they don't know what to do, talk to other parents who do seem to do it, or just give it a go.

Why 'cross section' & diagrammatic books work with boys

 I was reading one of Stephen Biesty's most recent cross section books with my grandson aged 9 (almost) the other day - 'Into the Unknown' (2011) illustrated by Stephen Biesty and written by Stewart Ross. It is published by Walker Books. It has to be one of my favourite books of this type. The book is a wonderful collection of stories and cross sections of 14 'Amazing Journeys'. The journeys include the epic travels of Marco Polo down the Silk Road to China in 1271-1274, David Livingstone exploring the Zambesi in 1858-1864, Captain Cook mapping Australia and the Pacific in 1768-1771, Umberto Nobile flying over the North Pole in 1928, Jacques Piccard's travels to the top of the Stratosphere by balloon in 1932 and then by submarine to a depth of almost 11,000 metres in the ocean in 1960. It is suited for boys (and some girls) aged 7-14 years.

As a child I loved books with cross-sections, maps and detailed diagrams or drawings - bodies, buildings, vehicles, the Earths' crust, mummies and so on. David Macaulay's books, including  'The Way Things Work', 'Castle' and 'The Way We Work', are other excellent examples in this genre. My recent post 'Making Reading Exciting for Boys' covers some of this wonderful material. But why do they work?

There is something about a good cross section or diagram that got my brain whirring as a child (and still does). And the same thing seems to happen for many boys.  Why? I think there are a bunch of reasons:

Cross sections teach you things - A cross section of a mountaineer's clothing and equipment gives an immediate sense that climbing Mount Everest must be VERY cold, heightening the sense of this amazing achievement. Jacob already knew about Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay and the first ascent of Mount Everest in 1953, but seeing Biesty's drawings made concrete many of the things he heard or read previously, and opened his eyes to others he didn't know.

Cross sections and diagrams offer a better sense of size, quantity and significance - You can read about the famous crossing of the Indian Ocean by Chinese Admiral Zheng He in 1405-1407, but understanding the shear scale of his 'Treasure Fleet' becomes a jaw dropper when Biesty's fold out drawing of the largest fleet ever sailed by a single commander is revealed. Seeing 62 nine-masted treasure ships, 47 eight-masted horse ships, 48 seven-masted supply ships, 60 five-masted cannon carrying warships, 40 patrol boats and 20 water tankers helps you to visualize the shear scale and wonder of this phenomenon.

Cross sections stir the imagination - They encourage boys (and girls) to come up with their own ideas and to represent the learning that has been stimulated in new ways. As soon as Jacob finished reading the book with me he raced off to find some cardboard to make up his own board game of the Hillary & Norgay ascent of Everest. We then had to play it and 'relive' the journey through the game. It had many novel elements. For example, if you failed to land on the spot where you received a critical rope you were doomed not to make the descent safely. Spontaneous child-initiated activities of this type enrich the experience of the book, stimulate the imagination and reinforce learning.

Cross section books encourage boys (in particular) to revisit - A good cross section book will be looked at time and time again, and each time it will fire imagination and increase the desire to learn once again. Even at my age, I never tire of revisiting diagrammatic representations of Apollo 11 and the first moon landing. The experience of growing up during the space race and seeing the Apollo 11 landing live, was one of life's great memories, and it floods back with new richness with Biesty's images.

Cross section books also help you to enrich and enliven previous learning & experience - Jacob and I had the chance to see and crawl through an exact replica of Captain Cook's famous ship the 'Endeavour' when he was six. As we looked at Biesty's cross section of the book yesterday we recalled where we had climbed, how low the roof had been and speculated about the exact location of the Captain's cabin.



Summing up

Books that incorporate diagrams, cross-sections and maps have special interest for boys as readers and learners. They encourage them to read and use visual material to reinforce and enrich learning as well as stimulating their imagination and creativity. I would love to hear your recommendations for similar books.

Short video introduction to Stephen Biesty's book 'Stowaway'



For a full description of Stephen Biesty's work visit his website HERE

Creativity: Identification, stimulation and the place of knowledge

What is Creativity?

I write regularly about developing the creativity of children on this blog. Creativity is one of the most important of human attributes. The great educational psychologist Jean Piaget said of creativity:

“The principal goal of education is to create [people] who are capable of doing new things, not simply of repeating what other generations have done – [people] who are creative, inventive and discoverers."

I define creativity as the ability to show originality and imaginative skill resulting in something new or different. Its products include novel solutions, methods, use of language, performance, devices and varied artistic objects or forms.

Above: Rebecca & Elsie create a beach boat to take them on a journey

Creativity is fundamental to human advancement and is a quality to be valued and nurtured. And yet, it is so easy to constrain and conform our children with a resultant loss of originality, innovation and discovery. The devaluing of these things can lead to a loss of enjoyment, motivation and creativity. As John Holt expresses it:

What children need is not new and better curricula but access to more and more of the real world; plenty of time and space to think over their experiences, and to use fantasy and play to make meaning out of them; and advice, road maps, guidebooks, to make it easier for them to get where they want to go (not where we think they ought to go), and to find out what they want to find out. (John Holt, 1981)


How can we stimulate creativity?

a) The preschool child - Parents, carers and preschool teachers need to:

• Provide time for children to explore their world.
• Offer opportunities for structured and unstructured play.
• Encourage experimentation with language and story.
• Create an environment that encourages the child to invent novel solutions in play.
• Ensure that children are not placed under too many restraints and structures.
• Try to enhance opportunities for children to attempt to solve problems or explore new things. 
• Encourage deep learning of things that interest the child
• Offer new experiences and situations that challenge them to find out, seek solutions and solve problems.
• Make good use of technology without allowing it to dominate children's lives.

b) School-age children - The teacher or parent needs to:

• Encourage learning, expression and exploration in situations that emphasise the generation of ideas, solutions and forms of expression that are divergent as well as convergent.
• Ensure that the desire to evaluate learning and encourage excellence does not limit creativity.
• Ensure that rewards do not simply privilege single answers or solutions, or pathways to reaching the single right answer (because of course there are correct answers to some things).
• Integrate opportunities to learn as much as possible cutting across the traditional subject disciplines.
• Provide time for children to explore, express and reflect on their learning.
• Encourage self-discovery, inquiry learning and varied modes to expressing ideas.
• Encourage children to ask good questions of themselves and others.
• Encourage depth of knowledge in areas that fascinate the learner.
• Encourage exploration of the arts and humanities as well as the sciences.

How do I know a child is creative?

While children can be tested to see if they demonstrate high levels of creativity, most teachers can tell quickly if a child seems more creative than other children. Parents sometimes find it harder to be objective, as they view constant progress in learning from birth to age 5. This normal (and quite remarkable development) can easily give all parents a sense that their child is highly intelligent and creative. Here are some questions that you might ask to determine if your child shows extra creativity:

Do they tend to come up with lots of ideas in response to verbal or visual cues?

Are their ideas different, quirky, 'outside the square'?

Do they look at things from different perspectives (e.g. draw an object from above rather than giving a side elevation)?

Do they suggest solutions to problems that surprise you because they are different or unusual?

Do they express themselves metaphorically or abstractly in play situations or in use of language and storytelling (e.g. "I'm a laser force that's knocking you over")?

Do they find it easy to elaborate on the ideas of others (e.g. can progress shared oral storytelling in unusual directions)?

Do they show an attention to fine detail in drawing and language?

Above: Jacob's drawing of a Blue Tongue lizard is drawn from the unusual perspective of "a predator flying above it"

How observation and knowledge can fuel creativity

Sometimes I think that when we use the term creativity some people imagine that it comes from being a dreamer who empties their mind of ideas and distractions so that they can imagine amazing things. This isn't where creativity comes from (though contemplation can help idea generation). If you think of some of the most creative people of all time you will realise that they were also very knowledgeable. Leonardo da Vinci was arguably the most creative person of all time, but in his age, he was also one of the most knowledgeable people who understood more about science, art, anatomy, mathematics, cartography and engineering than most people of his day.

If we want our children to be creative we should encourage them to learn, observe their world, acquire deep knowledge of things, ask many questions. The drawing above that one of my grandchildren created when he was six would be identified by many as creative for many reasons. The vantage point alone is novel and unusual for a six year-old. The artist has drawn the scene from above, taking the perspective of an eagle hunting its prey. But note also that Jacob displays great knowledge in this drawing. He has great anatomical awareness of the Blue Tongue lizard, shows knowledge of animals and insects and demonstrates advanced ability in spelling. The drawing below that followed a trip to the Aquarium was done as a four year-old and is a picture of me drawn from the perspective of the fish in the aquarium looking at me through the glass. Again it displays knowledge of many species of marine life (which he could name and describe) as well as novelty.

My point is that the seedbed of creativity is knowledge, and the ability to use knowledge in novel ways. While the teaching of facts for facts sake will do little for creativity, knowledge acquired in response to an intense interest and desire to learn in response to the learner's questions, is a great stimulus for creativity.  From knowledge the child can see connections, anomalies, novelty, unanswered questions and can ask themselves (and others) "Why is it so?" "What would happen if?" "How can I find out?" And so on.

Even the familiar can lead us to wonder, reflect, puzzle, and ask questions. Here is a practical example. My eldest grandson (the same grandson who drew the Blue Tongue lizard) loves to visit a river near my home (the 'Cooks River'). This is a not a spectacular river (as Australian rivers go). When it was discovered by Captain Cook in 1770 it was no doubt pristine and its mangrove lined banks and waters would have been teeming with great biodiversity. Today, it is polluted, large sections of the mangrove  (but not all) banks have been degraded and the biodiversity (although improving), and it is a just a 'shadow' of what it once was. But just about every time he visits we spend an hour or so exploring the river.

My wife said recently, "What do you do down there?" My response was "Talk, look, ask questions of each other, sharpen our observation skills. I think I learn as much as Jacob". Every visit has a highlight. On recent trips the annual mullet run up river saw thousands of fish swarming and feeding. Each visit we observe variations in tides, signs of mangrove regeneration, and life amongst the mangrove roots (e.g. small mud crabs, insects, fish). We listen for new and familiar birdcalls, and hope for new species of birds and animals. Sightings of familiar wildlife are just as important, including a pair of White-faced herons, pelicans, Wattlebirds, two escaped domestic ducks, native mice. We look for signs of human impact, pick up seed capsules, and look at blossoms and fruit on native trees. We scan for insects of all types. Every new or old sighting is exciting; each is recounted as we go home. Discussions are had about favourite reptiles, birds, insects, even cryptids, and the ongoing efforts to fix up the river. We share knowledge, question each other, puzzle over things we don't understand, and go home to look up species of bird and habitats in reference books as well as on the Internet to find answers to our many questions.  This is how knowledge and creativity feed on one another.

Alice laughed. There's no use trying,” she said: “one can’t believe impossible things.” “I daresay you haven’t had much practice,” said the Queen. “When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” ('Through the Looking Glass', Lewis Carroll)

“The creative person is willing to live with ambiguity. He doesn’t need problems solved immediately and can afford to wait for the right ideas.” (Abe Tannenbaum)

Some posts on this blog that offer practical ideas to stimulate creativity

'The Role of Adults in Children's Play' (HERE)
'The Dangerous Book for Boys' (HERE)
'Understanding and Developing Creativity' (HERE)
'Stifling Creativity: The School as Factory' (HERE)
'The Power of Simple Play' (HERE)
'Nurturing Creativity in Children' (HERE)
'Stories in a Box: Stimulating language, writing & imagination' (HERE)
'Choosing Great Educational Toys for Children' (HERE)
'English, the inventive language' (HERE)
'Firsthand Experience, Literacy & Learning' (HERE)
'The Language Experience Approach (LEA)' (HERE)
The Worrying Preoccupation with Weighing the 'Sheep' (HERE)