The United States is widely considered one of the most innovative of all countries. However, according to a 2010 study of about 300,000 creativity tests, Kyung Hee Kim, a researcher at the College of William and Mary in the United States, found creativity has decreased among American children in recent years. According to Kim, current emphasis placed on memorization and test-taking is bringing children up short on the creative front. Also to blame on the lack of creativity is the rise in TV watching, a passive activity that doesn't require interaction with others. Francis L. Sackitey, a Ghanaian freelance writer, and Zhang Yanwen, an interpreter working for China Universal Leasing Co. Ltd., discuss whether modern society is making kids less creative in their home countries.

Free Thought Missing

by Francis L. Sackitey

Modern society has come a long way in developing people, especially our kids. Science and technology have tried to make life simpler for humankind and this has affected the creative ability of our kids. In Ghana and for that matter Africa, kids were more creative in developing their faculties to meet the challenges of their time when science and technology wasn't available. For instance, kids could improvise drinking cups by using leaves and earthen pots were made to preserve and to cool drinking water for the family.

With the coming of Western education, the African child has only learnt to imitate what has already been invented. Ghana's educational system is not fashioned on the line of critical thinking and creativity but to copy what has already been made by colonial powers. African kids are made to think that to be a scholar one must only know grammar instead of teaching them how to use the environment to learn life skills. During my school days, I struggled with the memorization and the theorization of lessons taught by my teachers. Up to now in my adult life, I have neither seen nor touched some of the scientific materials that I was made to memorize and reproduce in my exams.

Unfortunately, our school system in Africa is meant to prepare kids to pass their examinations only to become irrelevant in the working world. Every year, thousands of graduates are churned out into the system only to come out and look for nonexistent jobs. Just a few of them are able to come out with ideas that end in creating jobs for themselves and others. Satellite television has also contributed to the kids' inability to become creative. Kids who are mostly left at home with a housekeeper to prepare them for school, return home to the absence of their parents, and have no choice but to turn to the comfort of television.

But one must not overlook some of the negative cultural practices in Africa that inhibits creativity in our kids. One of them is Africa's penchant of branding our children who are inquisitive and daring as bad. In gagging them from expressing their minds, Ghanaians and for that matter Africans, teach their children to be timid and unimaginative. Our culture also teaches our kids to look down when talking to the elderly since that is a sign of respect. When we do this, what we are telling our children is that they should be timid and not bold enough to face challenges.

The way out is for parents to spend time with their children. They must also try to engage them in activities that can help them think for themselves. The school system in Africa must also try and emphasize on technical education rather than grammar. Kids should be free to produce their own answers and solutions to problems and not just repeat answers that they are taught.

Trapped in the System

by Zhang Yanwen

Thinking about the education in China, I feel the most worrying fact is that it places too much emphasis on memorization and test-taking, which makes children less and less creative.Some argue that memorizing tasks help children learn general knowledge, and when they grow up, they will be more knowledgeable as adults. However, in my opinion, the harm brought by such educational methods outweighs its benefits since the knowledge is easy to learn, but it's difficult to regain the innovative thinking once it's lost. 

Working as a part-time teacher in some extracurricular learning groups, I often encounter requirements for standard answers from my students. One of my students told me that in their Chinese language class, they are often required to write down what inspired them after reading articles or passages. But some scores would be cut from their final achievements even if their answers were only one word different from the standard answers. The emphasis on standard answers makes it easy to understand why the poems in Tang Dynasty (618-907) always provokes exactly same inspiration from all students.

For the science subjects, such as mathematics, the logic deducing process has to be followed strictly in order to get the correct answer. But for the liberal arts subjects, which should provide students with various materials and opportunities to think freely, the main points of the answers are always formulated by the teachers to help the students get higher scores in the exams.

It is a sad phenomenon that being creative counts for nothing when going for higher scores. Our children have gradually developed the bad habit of asking for standard and favored answers. They recite and repeat what they are told instead of think innovatively.

In my class, I refuse to accept one-way conversations and work prudently so as not to hurt the creativity of my students. Before arranging certain classroom activities, I talk to my students, ask their suggestions and evoke their ideas. At the early phase, I had to overcome embarrassment when students remained silent for a long time and proposed no ideas at all. I show my appreciation whenever they come up with a new idea. This method worked and my students have become much more willing to speak in my class.

It's no use criticizing these victims of the current education system for their lack of creativity. The urgent task for the education researchers and authorities is to reform the education system, and to make children's creativity their priority.