Gallowitch1 Austin Gallowitch Megan Keaton English 122-15 22 April 2013 Argumentative Essay The argument is simple.

Some believe that schools are hindering creativity while others disagree. Schools may be hindering the opportunity and the desire for creativity in students but has yet to be proven. Some think that not enough attention has been given to develop skills in our youth. The issue is simple; some think that the proper opportunities for creativity and enough of them have been given to students in school as others disagree. I am not sure who to believe because some say that schools hinder the opportunity for innovation and the ability to manufacture new thoughts and ideas for students. Now if this is true I do believe that this issue needs to be handled by the education system in order to provide proper techniques to develop creative skills in students throughout school. I also believe that innovation is the key to having successful thoughts and ideas and if that is being hindered then that is a problem that must be addressed. Without innovation in the classroom I dont believe that much learning will get done. For some students being taught in the same way every single day is helpful for them to learn but for others, it is very hard to learn if creativity is not someway being presented in class. Some students dont mind it and enjoy the way that they are being taught and agree with their instructors teaching methods. If creativity is not being presented in class than for some students school becomes pointless for them to pay attention to. Others would disagree and feel as if there education system is giving them the best possible opportunity in class to properly develop creative skills. In this paper I will begin by explaining how schools are hindering creativity in the

Gallowitch2 education system. I will than explain the examples of how they are properly developing these skills every day in there students. I will than conclude by stating a compromise and suggesting what should happen after hearing both sides of this argument and hope to come to an agreement. I will than state my now what in what should happen next after a compromise has been established and finalized. The lack of creativity in schools needs to be addressed and solved if students are to be able to become more innovated learners. The drive for learning in a classroom has decreased through the years and I believe that is it due to the lack of creativity in all the classrooms. Its a cycle that could very easily bring down a school system and negatively reflect on the ability for the instructors to teach. When students stop paying attention they tend to misbehave which causes situation that the teachers must deal with to be able to keep the classroom in order. When the teachers have to deal with such problems due to misbehavior they are have added stress on them by having to deal with rude and disrespectful students. When this is the case teachers become irritated themselves the more that these problems occur. If the teacher is distracted with keeping the classroom in order more than the actual teaching than her methods become ineffective when her own thoughts and ideas are not clear in her own head. If the teachers cannot properly teach than how can the students learn in any classroom that they are put in? Yes maybe some say that creativity is not the full cause of this but I believe that it has a lot to do with it in order to gain and keep the attention of the students in all the classrooms. I also believe that this repeated cycle that I have seen happen in almost all of the classrooms that I have been in can be prevented by providing more/ better opportunities for learning and success. Creativity is not something that can merely be taught. It is a quality that each person has that must be developed (Porter). This is a very important quote from Porter because in this it simply explains that

Gallowitch3 teachers need to develop the creative skills within the students while they are in the classroom. The most efficient way to do this is by giving them these opportunities while they are at school and are already in the mentality to learn. Innovation comes from the desire to learn new things and use what you know to create your own thoughts and ideas. Helping students develop creative skills in school is a step that many teachers do not take (Brinkman). I agree with this quote because I have seen it first hand and experienced the lack of teaching creatively and being able to produce a successful learning environment within the classroom itself. The best example that I can give that shows that teachers are not being creative enough is with my writing assignments that I was given throughout school. I know of many teachers that dont agree with the standard five paragraph essay but are told to teach it due to its position in the education system curriculum. In my formative years when being taught how to write, I was always told and encouraged to write a five paragraph essay. If a more open approach to writing was taken, I think that as a whole my school would have been much more creative writers (Porter). I know that for myself I was always concerned more about getting in my five paragraphs than I was about the quality of my work. Now if the quality of my writing skills are poor, due to the criteria that needs to be met, than how has that become an affective classroom to properly learn? Instead of all the standardization of the classroom curriculum; I believe changes need to be made early on in the young years of a students life, in order to give a proper amount of time to develop creative skills. Teaching creatively should start as early as primary education. This is so because it is, a critical stage in childrens development it shapes them for life (Shaheen). The reason why these skills are important to develop early on is because that is when students start to think about what they might want to be or do with their lives. Adding creativity to the mix could help the decision process of a student and develop new ideas and interest. Instead of helping

Gallowitch4 students develop creative skills to better their own life they have to memorize and take test that are required for teachers to give whether the students have properly learned the information or not. Since testing began, creativity in America has started to decline (Porter). This is an interesting quote by porter because it goes to show that the lack of creativity and the increase in testing in schools throughout the years have not been overall beneficial. The link between testing and creativity are both portrayed in the education system but I believe that more of the attention has been given to the least beneficial side of testing. Without creativity, there is no driving force for us as people to develop new ideas (Brinkman). This quote proves my side and my statement clearly because schools are hindering proper opportunities for creativity within the classroom and therefore are taking away the chance for students of all ages to become more innovated. On the contrary according to Veach explains how creativity has been a part of the education system. Of course she agrees that creativity is important skill to develop but she does not agree with the point made by Shaheen about when to begin developing these skills. Most high school students desire to develop skills that facilitate growth and increase their level of competence in interacting with others. Therefore they are open to input, feedback, and group experiences that are developmentally appropriate (Veach). When she says this she is trying to explain that in high school is where students become mature enough to handle the techniques and skills for creativity and are able to do more interacting with other students. She believes that at a young age students are not able to properly corporate due to their age and in maturity that is usually not developed until high school. Veach thinks that at a young age they should begin developing these skills by themselves with their own creative thoughts and ideas. Its in high school where you begin to shape and mold each student into becoming the person that they want to be. High school groups are ideal medium to help adolescents grow and gain greater comfort

Gallowitch5 with themselves, others, and the outside world (Veach). She believes that in order to develop these skills that they must occur at a scholarly and a more mature level of learning. High school is where understanding, connection and innovation come together. Its where students find themselves and decide what and where they want to be in life. The decision is made over the course of four years and many opportunities are given for creativity for students to come up with new thoughts and ideas. Many do not agree that enough is given but Veach has provided five examples of how creativity is broadly used in the education system. The examples she gives are: music, visual art, drama, play and humor. Veach believes that it these skills allow students to interact and gives them the opportunities to be creative in many different ways. Creative group procedures are effective in promoting cohesiveness and in helping group members gain insight in multiple ways (Veach). This is important because with group work there are chances for students to connect with one another and develop new thoughts and ideas by using the interest and a broader view on things that they might have not seen when they were by themselves. All the examples that Veach gives are only a few examples of the creative opportunities that the education system provides to all of their students. Drama is a really good one because this allows students to express themselves and sometimes pretend to be someone else or imagine that they are in a different time period. This is a form of creativity that is provided at almost all high schools. There is a visual arts class requirement in almost every education system handbook. Students are told they must participate in these classes in order to provide them with the opportunity to be innovated in their own way. They are given the chance to be creative in class by drawing/ painting different pictures in visual arts class. Students are also given the opportunity in music classes to either sing or play instruments that they are interested in playing. They are given the chance to play music at school or even sing songs in a choir or band. Many

Gallowitch6 opportunities are given to these students in almost every education system now days in all of these elective classes. They are also all free to take and they provide many opportunities to pursue different types or creativity (Veach). Another author named Chen believes that the key to creativity comes from inspiration. She is a student in school that was given the opportunity to start an art contest that she developed and created all on her own. This art contest gave the opportunity to students a lot like her to be creative and drawl whatever they wanted to in order to try and win the contest. I strongly believe that one of the most critical components to become a successful artist is to be exposed to other artists work for inspiration (Chen). This is important because her school allowed her to host this art contest and provide an opportunity for creativity in her own community. Being exposed to the other artist will possibly provide someone else to become inspired about their own piece of work. Creativity is the key to inspiration which can lead to innovation for anybody. Now that I have heard both sides to this argument I still side with the lack of opportunity for creativity in schools and that the proper skills are not being developed in the classroom. The most logic compromise that I can come up with is changing the curriculum and the way that the instructors teach the students. By adding skills not only in fun elective classes but incorporating them into all the core classes as well. This would be beneficial because not only would the students want to learn more and pay attention but less stress will be on the teacher and the best quality learning can be done. Submerging students into this type of education system can help the drive for students to become more innovated and therefore successful by properly learning new ideas and the information given to them within the classroom. Paying attention alone can be beneficial to the students in learning quality information from their teachers and being able to

Gallowitch7 engage with other students within the classroom. The link between other classmates can be very powerful in creating thoughts and ideas that are interconnected or shared among one another. What is going to happen now is that the education system is going to change the way that they teach their students in the classroom. More opportunities in the core classes are going to be given to the students in order to develop creative skills. This is so because I have explained previously in this paper why it is so important to students in order to create new thoughts and ideas. I believe that learning is important but learning creatively is even more important and beneficial for all students.

Gallowitch8 Work Cited Brinkman, David, J. Teaching Creatively and Teaching for Creativity 2010: 48. Taylor and Francis Group, LLC. Web. 21 march 2013 Shaheen, Robina. Creativity and Education. The Link between Creativity and Education 1 (2010): 166-169, Scientific Research. Web. 27 Mar.2013. Porter, Michael. Lack of Creativity in Schools. (2013): Michael Porter Rhetoric and Civic life, 23 Jan. 2013. Web.27 Mar.2013. Chen, Celine. Vancouver Student Hosts Arts Contest. Editorial. The South Asian Post [Vancouver] 20 Feb.2013: 4. Print. Veach, Laura J. Using Creative Group Techniques in High Schools 32 (2007): 71-78. Web. 2 Apr. 2013