a right and wrong. With creative
writing, we encourage kids to think
outside of the box and outside of
their comfort zone. We ask critical
questions to encourage innovativeness
and critical reasoning. We teach
flexibility and adaptability – after
all, there are multiple ways of
approaching a problem.”
It’s a similarly inspiring picture
over at the non-profit Focus on Film,
where students are being taught to
see the world through the eyes of a
film-maker. Focus on Film has helped
thousands of children find their own
voice as they work as a small team to
produce original, high-quality work.
As it reads on their website, “Film
[is] a medium to which all young
people are immediately drawn and
can provide unique opportunities
for individual transformation
through self-discovery and creative
expression.” Programmes have
ranged from outreach initiatives
involving underprivileged children
to weekly camps for international
schools, and the work has been
broadcast internationally and shown
at film festivals worldwide.
But that’s not the way I learned
The possibilities with this kind of
creative thought development are
limitless. But while some parents will
revel at the opportunity for a child to
solve problems as if she were a film
director, camera woman or head of
marketing, others are going to take
some convincing. As Foong Kwin
Tan says, “Most parents want the best
for their children, but educational
choices are so personal. Even within
a family the mother and father can
have very different expectations. It’s
hard to make informed decisions,
but it starts from the whole concept
of creativity, which is not just limited
to painting or art. Some people are
creative with maths skills, some with
music. If parents understand that,
they can respond to their child’s
interests. When parents see where his
interests are, that is usually where his
creativity lies.”
But the system isn’t going to
change overnight either. When
we think of schools as factories
that produce students who score
well on entrance and graduate
exams, developing students who
are ready to respond to a world of
rapid technological advancement is
difficult. Kelly Yang adds, “In Hong
Kong, so many kids are spoon-fed
things and are not being given a
chance to be innovative. They need to
[learn to] be self-motivated. Later in
life, it’s not going to be about passing
a test or getting a score, but about
your ideas.”
In his 2006 TED Talk – the
most-watched TED Talk ever – Sir
Ken Robinson offered this thought:
“Many highly talented, brilliant,
creative people think they’re not
because the thing they were good
at at school wasn’t valued, or was
actually stigmatised. I have an
interest in education. Actually, what
I find is everybody has an interest
in education. It’s education that’s
meant to take us into this future that
we can’t grasp.” As our children go
through the education system, we
have to work out if we are preparing
them to grasp their future, or merely
to cling on to our past.
December 2013
85
