Special Post #12A.

Creativity and Curiosity: My Thoughts

Curiosity is a heightened state of interest that results in exploration.  Curiosity is also a critical component of creativity.  Educators face the challenge of fostering curiosity and creativity in today's learners.   Childhood is the most critical time in life because, this is when students are naturally curious and creative. This is a time when they want to know all they can about things that are intriguing to them.   However, School systems plays a major part in destroying the development of curiosity and creativity of students.

I feel that a curriculum can and needs to be developed that increases the curiosity and creativity of students.  School system's curriculum now is so narrowed by mandated standardized tests and scores that it reduces the opportunities for educators to be creative in the classroom. Teachers are under pressure to use the "burp back" method to prepare students for these test instead of preparing them for the 21st century. Subsequently ruining the chances of bringing out students creativity and curiosity. I believe that school's curriculum should have some key components such as: hands-on learning, project based, and multimedia. Hands-on learning is the only way students can directly observe and understand material. 

Educators play the main role in doing in ffostering creativity and curiosity of students.  This is a very important yet, a difficult task.  Here's a few strategies that can be done to achieve this:

Strategy 1:  Curiosity as motivation.  Ask thought-provoking questions during lessons.  Also use surprising statements.

Strategy 2:   Create an atmosphere where students feel comfortable to ask/answer questions without the fear of being right or wrong.

Strategy 3:  Give a certain amount of time to explore a topic.  When time is up, learners still have the urge to continue to explore.

Strategy 4:  Incorporate technology in the classroom.

Strategy 5:  Allow students to choose topics in writing.