Influence of Creativity on Modern Education Research Paper

Influence of Creativity on Modern Education - Research Paper Example The range of creativity is believed to traverse across multitudes of academic disciplines, such as philosophy, psychology, theology, linguistics, technology, economics, etc. Creativity alone is considered a tree branched with general intelligence, neurological and mental processes, mental health, and the relationship between creative ability, and personality type (Dunkel 209-216). Science has bestowed the phenomenon of creativity with many definitions and approaches. However, targeted investigation has been focused on what makes some people more cognitive or creative than others. To this end, it is generally defined to be reliant on the Four Ps: Process, Person, Place and Product. ‘Process’ is defined to be the techniques and thought mechanism exercised for creative thinking. ‘Person’ is defined to be the intellectual habits, such as expertise, exploratory nature, and autonomy. ‘Place’ is considered to be the environment, circumstances, and reso urces that let creativity flourish. ‘Product’ is considered to be the execution of thoughts into the production of something of value, of note (Amabile 98). If creativity is looked upon in ancient backgrounds, it was not recognized by the renowned scholars such as Plato. It is known to have gained substance in the early Renaissance era, when creativity was attributed to God by Christians and Jews of that time who quoted verses from their holy books in arguments and scholarly discourse. It later became popular after the arrival of Darwinism and was promoted in the early 20th century by mathematicians such as Henri Poincare and Hermann von Helmholtz (Cropley 111). This popular rise caused scientists to separately study the subject of creativity, devise theories and techniques, and later associate creativity with education. However, the renewed interest and debate on current education curriculum, and the need for its amelioration are primarily owing to the launch of the â €Å"Sputnik 1,† by the Soviet Union in 1957. The supposed failure of engineers and scientists from the USA and other Western Countries was ascribed to their deficiency in creativity, which led to the founding of National Defense Education Act in the USA (Craft, Jeffrey, and Leibling). Incorporating creativity in education is foreseen to address many problems. It is presaged to bear benefits that will enable the present and the future generations to cope with the uncertain future, and the fast changing world. In addition, the most dominant of all benefits are economic benefits. The function of creativity in economy is considered vital for countries aiming to achieve greater economic stability, increased employment, and competitive edge in the world market. Therefore, the assimilation of creativity in education is considered imperative and indispensable, given the pace at which technology and competition are evolving. It is considered a fundamental skill for future generations to thrive in the New World. As a consequence, fostering creativity in children through education is called the production of ‘human capital,’ as Adam Smith states that the ‘wealth of nations’ is dependent on the ‘human capital’ of today and tomorrow (Craft 58). Although formal education is also imperative, it has been criticized repeatedly by theorists for restricting creativity and free thinking, and producing stereotypes and conformists. As a result, the ‘narrow’ scope of education institutions has come under question and has been blamed for manufacturing ‘robots.’ The pressing psychological impact on students to meet requirements of academic curriculum, the pressure