By Kenneth Nwachinemelu David-Okafor
Experts
have likened the fostering creativity and creativity development in education as the new gold
for developing African countries.
Of
course, wherever the gold rush of ancient times began, the first set of players
were the road builders who preceded the miners and scavengers as they went
ahead to break grounds for the gold miners to access the rough terrain where
the gold was ensconced.
I
think that NAIJAGRAPHITTI Blog can fit the niche of road building to this new
gold for Nigeria.
I
discovered from extensive private studies the work of several international
(mostly non-African and non-Nigerian) education reformers, scholars, creativity
researchers and policy makers, coalesced into the foundations for forging of
creativity as a prized and teachable skill implantable into education and the
academic curriculum.
Several
of the education reformers, scholars and creativity researchers have founded
various approaches, theories, problem-based projects and assessment criteria
throwing light on various aspects of the emergent field in order to ease
strictures and pave the way for traditional academic disciplines to be flexible
enough to accommodate the fostering of creativity.
In
his 2007 work, "What Do We Know
About Creativity?", Jose G. Gomez of the University of Alabama at
Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States cites two scholars, Cannatella (2004) and Clarkson
(2005) when he wrote, "Cannatella (2004) mentions that the need for
creativity is biologically, physically, and psychologically, an essential part
of human nature, and that it is necessary for human reproduction, growth and
cultural striving (p. 59). Clarkson (2005) has mentioned that there are many
traits which have been associated with creativity, such as divergent thinking, introversion,
self-esteem, tolerance for ambiguity, willingness to take risks, behavioural flexibility,
emotional variability, ability to absorb imagery, and even the tendency to neurosis
and psychosis (p. 6)."
Artists,
psychologists, education reformers/leaders, and field practitioners differ in
their approach to and ideas about creativity. These nonetheless over the past
few decades some consensus has emerged regarding creativity. Thinkers and
educational theorists agree that, while some of the elements of creativity may
be inborn, creativity can and should be taught. Many writers on creativity and
creative thought agree about several of the elements of creativity: motivation
and self-awareness, flexible and original thinking, the tendency to take risks
and ask questions, and the ability to imagine not just an alternative solution
to a problem but a workable, achievable result.
I
was even more excited by the link between creativity and innovation. A vast
array of studies establish the connection. After studying the works of
creativity scholars, my interest was piqued to go dig deeper. The link between
creativity and innovation struck me thus I embarked on the study of 70 years of
evolution of informal creativity, formalized creativity development, and then creativity
and innovation research.
A
fellow blogger expressed between creativity and innovation with the simplicity
I find enthralling.
Professor
Emeritus Tan Sri Dato' Sri Dr Lim Kok Wing, the Founder and President of
Limkokwing University of Creative Technology, a private international
university with a presence across Africa, Europe and Asia wrote in the blog
post "Creativity Before Innovation"
published on Saturday, 15 October 2011:
"I
find it interesting that whilst there are several innovation indexes around the
world, there is not one Creativity Index.
"I
suppose that is due to the fact that some feel innovation can be measured, but
like many indexes it only measures one part of the innovation equation.
Glaringly, without a measurement for creativity - which is a fundamental
eco-system for innovation - how can we truly define it?
"The
answer lies in the fact that all existing innovation indexes are based on
technological and business innovations, measured through patents, employment
and economic growth.
"Creativity
meanwhile is intangible, and hardly ever figures in the economic forecasts of
businesses and governments, who often relegate it to the arts and culture
inbox, because no one can really show how it makes money for a country.
"Yet,
creativity is at the very heart of innovation."
The
most notable hurdle which constrained my bid for further explorations and actual testing of some of
the investigations theories in terms of fostering creativity and creativity
research in Nigeria was the fact that local studies of creativity alone, creativity
development and creativity in education were extremely scanty. Western
perspectives, studies and research findings overwhelmingly predominated.
Then
I came across the research and writings of Turkish scholar, Professor Günseli
Oral of Akdeniz University, Turkey particularly the joint researches he
undertook in Turkey in conjunction with some Western scholars.
One
particular series of studies stood out.
In 2007, Professor Günseli Oral along
with two American scholars, James C. Kaufman and Mark D. Agars both of
California State University – San Bernardino, USA, carried out a series of
vital studies by testing previous, Western research findings in creativity on
Turkish participants which helped to validate the Western research findings.
The studies also noted that there were some differences. Nonetheless the
studies confirmed that some of the Western research findings could be tested on
other cultures and people groups with a certain degree of accuracy.
From
the results of the studies they published the paper titled "Examining Creativity in Turkey: Do Western Findings Apply?"
This
was precedence was exciting. Thus NAIJAGRAPHITTI Blog’s research used action
research and comparative studies to apply some Western research findings in
creativity on sectors of Nigeria to determine the status of creativity and
innovation in Nigeria.
After
about 30 months of work including data collections and exhaustive reviews, it
became clear why some scholars and educational reformers enthused about the
prospects of fostering codified creativity and innovation.
In
a summary, a number of other key developments which my review uncovered which
had occurred over the last 70 years are as follows:
o
Creativity plays a very important role in
education. Most of educational systems support creativity as relevant
competence for the 21st century.
o
Now creativity is as important in education as
literacy (Robinson, 2006) and needs to be included in education as a
fundamental life skill (Craft, 1999) that will enable future generations to
survive and thrive in the 21st century (Parkhurst, 1999).
o
Creativity is increasingly important on personal
and social levels. Life has become highly complex and challenging, and many
individuals are therefore searching for ways to understand more about their own
creativity. …The need for a deeper understanding of creativity has inspired a
great deal of research.
o
Creativity is not only about the development of
innate ability, but also about development of skills borne out of constant
practice or training. Therefore, teaching and learning processes that encourage
memorization should be demystified or jettisoned.
o
The growing attention and interest in creativity
is due to the recognition of how important creativity is in the workplace and
how educational systems, through teaching institutions, have to teach
creativity alongside mathematics, science, and several other skills set.
o
Creativity skills acquisition through formal and
non-formal as well as technical/vocational training should be giving a
priority.
o
Nigeria has not prioritized the development and
fostering of creativity and the knock-on effect of promoting innovation has not
been achieved. Specifically Nigeria’s education system has not kept up with all
of the global developments pertaining to the formalized study of creativity and
the research into creativity.
o
The opportunities to specifically target and
foster creativity through explicit formalized Nigeria’s curriculum have largely
been ignored to date.
The
overall findings have been refined into two major soon-to-be-released
publications.
The
first would consider creativity by itself while the other would comprise
creativity and innovation. The first publication which is excerpted from a
broader investigation of the status of creativity in Nigeria based on appraisals
of the state of affairs regarding creativity (with its varying
conceptualizations) and innovation in academia, industry, practice, politics,
and culture.
If
creativity and innovation is the new gold for educational acceleration and optimization
in Nigeria then NAIJAGRAPHITTI Blog is a road builder to that gold; the blog
wishes to build a wide, passable access to the gold of fostering creativity and
innovation in Nigeria.
NAIJAGRAPHITTI
Blog aims to utilize the findings of these series of studies and appraisals to
promote the development of creativity and innovation in Nigeria; facilitate for
the fostering of creativity in Nigeria’s formal, informal and non-formal
learning platforms; and advocate for the making of policies and regulations
which would enable and support the emergence and sustaining of creativity and
innovation in Nigeria.
References
Bolaji, S. (2007). Evolving
creativity in Nigeria education: a philosophy paradigm. In A Conference
Presentation at Philosophy of Education Society of Australasia.
Craft,
A. (1999). Creative development in the early years: some implications of policy
for practice. Curriculum journal, 10(1), 135-150.
Gomez, J. G. (2007). What
Do We Know About Creativity? The Journal
of Effective Teaching, Vol. 7, No. 1, 2007 31-43
Hanson,
W. (1966). Imagination and Hallucination in African Education, Michigan State
University Quoted in West African Journal of Education, 2005 P. 1.
Mpofu, E.; Myambo,
K.; Mogaji, A. A.; Mashego, T & Khaleefa, O. H. (2006) 'African Perspectives on Creativity' in Kaufman J. C.
and Sternberg R. J. (eds) The International Handbook of Creativity p
465. Cambridge University Press ISBN 0-521-54731-8
Nelson, C. (2010). The
invention of creativity: the emergence of a discourse. Cultural Studies Review, 16 (2).
Niu,
W. (2006). 'Development of Creativity Research in Chinese Societies' in Kaufman
J. C. and Sternberg R. J. (eds) The International Handbook of Creativity
pp 386-387. Cambridge University Press ISBN 0-521-54731-8
Oral,
G., Kaufman, J. C., & Agars, M. D. (2007). Examining creativity in Turkey:
Do Western findings apply?. High Ability Studies, 18(2), 235-246.
Images: 1&3 Sourced
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