Creativity In The Classroom Analysis

What is creativity? According to the dictionary in my computer, creativity is the ability to use the imagination to develop new and original ideas or things, especially in an artistic context. Ideally, any classroom in any academic institution should facilitate this no matter what subject is taught, no matter how many students attend, no matter what; there are no exceptions. To our dismay, this is not a utopian world. Indeed, there’s certainly a “gap between faculty and student expectations that leave the both parties unfulfilled” as mentioned in the essay “Creativity in the Classroom” by Ernest L. Boyer.
In the essay, Boyer claimed that “if faculty and students do not see themselves as having important business to do together, prospects for
effective learning are diminished” (p 83). Most of my undergraduate days were spent in vain. Barring a few courses I took, I never felt the importance of sitting and paying attention to the class proceedings. Only the obligation to maintain at least 75% attendance and the prospect of losing an academic year if I failed to do so made me attend classes. Even in the classes I attended, I could hardly maintain focus. I used to sleep or chat with the student next to me. If the lecturer was strict, I used to sit silently and desperately hope for the bell to ring. Indeed every session turned out to be an uninspired routine since I distanced myself from the teacher.
Boyer effectively summed up the lecture method as it is in today’s classroom: “With few exceptions…the teacher stood in front of rows of chairs and talked most of the forty-five or fifty minutes.
Information was presented that often students passively received. There was limited opportunity for positions to be clarified or ideas challenged” (p 86). In my undergraduate days, since every one of my classmates was registered for all the mandatory 28 credits in a semester, we used to have eight fifty-minute class sessions a day, six days a week. The instructors used to lecture for most of the time. Naturally, it was hard for the students to concentrate and maintain focus all day and all week. Only when the class had turned a bit noisy with all the student chatter, did the lecturer ask questions randomly to get the students’ attention back into the class. Most of the time, the lecturer would only assume that the students were following his/her lecture. Only some students were able to follow the class but no one ever cared about the students who fell behind. Those students who fell behind were left behind. The students who felt a bit confused with the concept being discussed hesitated to ask questions, fearing humiliation in front of the whole class. Some lecturers were only concerned with maintaining low decibel levels in the classroom. They ended the session satisfied if they had accomplished the task of maintaining low decibel levels. The success of a class session was not measured in the number of students understanding a particular concept, but was attributed to lower student decibel
levels.
Whether students understand a concept or not, whether they have time to revise or even to study, they have to pass the test. This is, in fact, the primary reason why many students have recourse to cheating. Boyer stated that “the activities like cheating on assignments and buying term papers erode the quality of education,” (p 84) with which I strongly agree. I had a classmate who scored full marks on the midterm but failed the final exams since he cheated on the midterms, but had learned nothing during the entire semester. Even many of my lecturers, unable to control the situation, used to announce the questions for the upcoming test. They tried their best to help students pass the test. This kind of effort to reduce the gap only widens the gap and causes discredit to the instructors, ultimately leading to the dissatisfaction of both the students and the lecturers, and eroding the quality of education.
Undeniably, these examples are in tune with the observations of Boyer, which he termed “uninspiring and discouraging.” Boyer also found “exciting examples of outstanding teaching at many institutions” (p 87). To be honest, there were a few instances during my undergraduate days when I felt privileged to sit in a lecturer’s class. I had a professor in my junior year who taught us two courses. He used to mix the content in the textbook with his experience so elegantly and used to make us do experiments so passionately that at the end of semester I passed the courses without ever feeling the need to prepare for the exams. He had command of the material to be taught. He never failed to answer any questions raised by the students. He maintained an enthusiastic environment for the entire semester and generated ideas from us. He guided our imagination to develop new and original ideas.
In a classroom, the professor is the person in charge. He or she should be equipped with all the necessary gear to make the entire session of the class fruitful. The essential qualities that make for successful teaching are stated in the closing paragraph of the essay, “Command of the material to be taught, a contagious enthusiasm for the play of ideas, optimism about human potential, the involvement with one’s students, and – not least – sensitivity, integrity, and warmth as a human being” (p 89). The professor should have the command of the material to be taught; only then can he or she effectively guide the students. Students, too, should gear up for the class, since all the creativity involves the imaginative ability of the students. Unarguably, a class is in session only because the students have registered for the course. A professor should give his or her hundred percent while the students should respond to the professor’s every call. A professor should prepare the students before the class, should thrive to make the entire session effective and should guide the students in doing the necessary follow-up to understand the concept and make them ready for the next class. It’s the responsibility of the students to be prepared for the class, to actively participate during the class and to do the necessary follow-up to understand the concepts discussed and to get ready for the next class.
Only when both the students and professor do their best, can a contagious enthusiasm be maintained in the classroom. Only when the students appear to be doing their best, can the professor get involved with one’s students. Only then can the gap between the professor and the students be reduced and can the impact of the teacher be powerful and enduring.