Is creativity needed to win?

An interesting chat with another staff member got me thinking. We were discussing the need for creativity in the curriculum. It has been a character trait that is linked with future success, but are we really catering for it and promoting it? I wish I could say the affirmative, but I don't really think that is a valid judgement of the schools I have worked in. There has not been the overt push to retard its growth, but I think at the moment the emphasis is more on the grades. I suppose in many ways this in no way differs from discussions in most schools and homes. But in the end, if will be decided by the parents. They will quietly or overtly push towards the outcome they think best for their child. 

I was doing a cover lesson for a colleague the other day. The students had assigned work and were, for the most part, engaged. A group at the back of the room was discussing their future plans and I could not help but overhear. The discussion centred around grades and colleges and perception of good and bad. I could also substitute acceptable and non-acceptable here. The students were assured and knowledgeable about the needs and outcomes. I wasn't really surprised as our school is an academic one and achievement encouraged. What did surprise me was that this was year 9 students talking and there was never a mention of what they were good at, what they liked and most importantly what their interests are. It looked like a real case of fixed mindset in action. I would not have to look far (or hard) to find the source and/or reasons for the views. 

I was really taken by a cartoon from the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. It is included here and to me summed up the mindset of the community, if not western societies in general. It pushed the point perfectly - do we value creativity or is it simply a distraction. I think I will leave it with you to decide, but make the point that a society is defined by the culture, and creativity is an integral part of all successful societies. Balance is, and always has been the key, and societies that ignore it do so at their own peril. It seems that the balance is not present and without putting to much meaning into the cartoon, maybe that is the point being made. It seems that creativity based subjects are being ignored in favour of others that are perceived by parents as more important.

The importance of creative outlets cannot be underestimated. Creativity is something that all winners have and is cultivated rather than ignored. I originally thought that the IBDP program provided the opportunity with arts being one of the 6 subject areas, but changes mean that students can opt out and not choose it. I am not saying by any means that other subjects do not have creativity components, but are they are not really in the same league as the creative and performing arts. As a science/chemistry teacher I value the importance of creative thinking, and encourage students to use it in solving problems. But is it really the same as true creativity that comes from the arts? I have had many excellent students who also studied creative arts as part of their program, and seen the benefits of this in both their well-being and ongoing success. 

There have been numerous articles of late about the pitfalls of choosing futures for our children. It seems like they all go unheeded. The rise in student anxiety and even depression among teens is the telling factor, but is largely ignored. So are the number of youth (I include pre-teen in this group) suicides and the holes that is left by these actions. We have and will always have creative and artistic members of our society. They form an important part of our societies fabric and need nurturing not marginalizing and reducing their importance. One can only hope that these two ideas are not linked.

The Resilience of Youth

I think that I am ever surprised by the resilience of the majority of teens and pre-teens. Yesterday I arrived back after 12 days in Xi'an China with 139 year 7 students. One of the major unwritten goals of this trip was to promote resilience and self-reliance in the children, and it forms a culmination to the choices program we offer. Only on reflection do I see what a task that was when you consider that they are all pre-teens. 

Being away from home for the first time presents problems and these are often made into larger than life emergencies. The idea of new being strange was a constant worry for myself, the parents and the accompanying teachers. The number of pre-trip emails I received from parents alerting me to the idea of "homesickness" was more than expected, and I suppose some of the students did suffer. But I think that more parents were prone. But it makes me wonder who they didn't trust, the teachers or the student? I know that in the preparation stages, we considered so many scenarios and worst case situations that I carried around a weighty tomb of "vital information" for all students. 

 

I know the temptation of many parents was to follow and step in if and/or when they thought things were going 'pear shaped', and at pick up yesterday I actually had one couple tell me they were there following us for three days. But such a gesture could easily have backfired and reinforced dependency rather than promoting independence and self-reliance. It appears that the parents did not have as much faith in their children as I did, and I know that stepping in would have undone all of the previous gains. I had unannounced visits by parents during breakfast and of course the ever present electronic chatter confirming a case of sniffles or a slightly raised temperature or ..... I recall the expression "being babied" used in my youth, but in these times it would probably be considered to be inappropriate, even if correct.

We managed a packed schedule that saw tired but content students arrive back at the hotel each night. I fully understand that chatting occurred in rooms after the advertised "lights out" time each day, but I also know that many strategies and tips were shared. This us one of the most pleasing aspects of the so called "free time" built into all school based trips - it tends to be informal chats on how they survived the ordeals of the day. The students actually teach each other better than we or their parents ever could, and come out of the experience as more confident and responsible people. As group leaders we let the children try first before we step in. I was providing encouragement rather than immediate solutions, especially for the few cases of homesickness or teething problems caused by suddenly having a roommate. A stock reply of "how proud will you be when you meet mum & dad next week knowing that you have done this!" Each time I used it, it had the positive impact. 

The growth experienced by each child varied, but I was more than pleased with the growth of the more coddled members of the group. One lad in particular stood out. Initially he was a little lost without the "comforting sound of helicopter blades", but he soon started to experiment with his new found freedom. I think he was a little surprised by the reaction of his peers. But overall, he soon quickly learned that he had the skills and support needed to be independent. I wonder what will happen when the shackles are again applied?

Children are never too young to develop support networks, and this trip proved that to be a fact. The idea of looking after the room mate was stressed, but not overly so. As I tell parents at our introduction evening, it is a chance for students to make a mistake in a safe environment. The fact that this sort of activity is common in kindergarten in Germany, makes me wonder why we feel that children are so delicate and incapable of looking after themselves? I think it is more the parents who suffer, as can attested by the constant barrage of texts and emails from one parent although her son was coping in his new environment. It was a case of imagination overtaking reality, with the silence from camp being construed as a problem or emergency rather than a success. 

The sad question that follows, is how long this feeling of growth and accomplishment will last now the children are back in the protection of the parents? After their performance on the program I would consider them all winners, but I wonder if that will be an accurate description after they have been back in the "safety" of their homes for any period of time? 

It's all about timing

Chatting the other day with the boy. We were watching sport and talking about 'champion players' or what most of us would call winners. A common observation came that they always seem to have 'time', even making time for themselves to make the 'big play'. But really I think that applies to every aspect of your life as 'using time effectively and well' requires practise. I would almost bet that these top players have this in all of their lives. Probably one of the most telling things about time is the fact that it is finite and it cannot be recycled and used again.

The recurring theme at school, and I'm sure in all other schools, is the question of time management. Most often it is linked with the whole idea of assessment, and that leads to the overworked and stressed comment about children. But after being at the chalk face for more than 30 years and witnessing the trials and tribulations of students in the lead up to matriculation (graduation), I can say that life is a constant. There have always been (and probably always will be) well organised and disorganised students in terms of time usage. Every school I have worked in has had some form of remediation or session(s) with students working at this and while there is always improvement in some, there are always a few that don't get it. 

The idea of executive function comes into play here. I know that teens live in the now and that the idea of delayed gratification is lost on most. This means that they will consciously or subconsciously (or both) circumvent the learning process. The first stage in learning us about detecting the information that comes at us each day and then deciding which gets through the first set of filters. Through a process this will enter the short-term and finally long-term memories, but that is a story for another blog. Let us simply say that the filter needs attention as much information is lost and effectively barred from entering the "memory loop". Executive function is the 'gatekeeper' of this filter.

At a conference I attended earlier this year, a senior student from the host school came on stage and gave insights into these and other points. He highlighted that idea of living in the now and the instant rewards as opposed to the delayed rewards that form an integral part of school and life. This in part explains the gaming problem experienced primarily by boys. He explained why students do things like procrastinate in terms of their ability (or inability) to self regulate the executive function. The development of this executive function will continue into adulthood for some, although the time when you can engage it depends on the individual. I have seen teens with it and adults still developing it. 

A common expression heard I'm sure by parents and teachers is "this is boring". It seems to apply to anything at particular times. I am amazed that the same activity can vacillate between boring and 'cool' (or whatever is an appropriate adjective). I see it linked with this instant reward and dopamine surge thing that goes on.  I think that the root cause of this does go back to executive function development. As I said, pre-teens and teens live for the moment and favour instant gratification. This is the main reason why time is wasted and procrastination, especially of school work, is so common and such a problem. The idea of an assignment deadline as 3-4 days away is an eternity for the student. But the problem then develops when suddenly the importance of time surfaces. The problem that develops from this is raised anxiety levels in themselves, their parents and their teachers.  

The idea of time and the need to use it 'wisely' is lost on most pre-teens and teens. Time is something they always have until deadlines loom and then we see the anxiety levels rise and interesting behaviour patterns emerge. Hopefully it will change, but a lot will depend upon the individual child and how we deal with it. 

Transference & Winners

I have been amazed how many talented people have sat in my classes over the years. These were successful (at the time) in their chosen area, and I wonder if they have been able to continue into their future. Some I know did not, but a few have.  I think this was largely due to their growth mindset and an ability to transfer their actions into all aspects of their life. I think that far too many had the fixed mindset and also wanted to compartmentalise their lives.

I often see students who are good in sports or the arts struggle with class. In truth it is more likely to be sports, as I think that students of the arts are able to transfer better or maybe they just develop greater resilience and mental toughness. They have success in their activity, but cannot have the same level of success in other areas, with me that would be academics. In many of the cases, the student sees other activities as separate parts of their lives, with little or no linkage. They simply assumed that they would be able to 'flick a switch' and mentally move from one area to the other. This is not the recipe for further growth in it either area. We carry the 'wins and losses from all areas of our lives' with us, and a simple 'hat swap' is not going to work. I see many of the problems coming from a growth mindset that is heavily goal oriented in one or two aspects of their life, and the 'divorcing' of other aspects as less meaningful in some way.  

Transference is this ability to take successes (and failures) from all areas of our lives and weave them together in a positive way. I suppose it's a growth mindset in action. I think the best introduction and lesson I had on this was from a 15 year old former student. Scott was a very talented sportsman, but struggled at school. He knew he had strengths and weaknesses, and academics was not really a strong point. After giving back another test I saw him at the end of class and started to tell him not to give up as I knew he was working really well and providing effort to his studies. Scott always arrived prepared for class and engaged in all activities so it frustrated me somewhat that he was still struggling. With a smile he turned and told me that it was OK, not to worry and that he would continue pushing himself. His next comment has stuck in my memory and I often repeat it to classes - "I have to train myself. I know that if I give up, it will make it that much easier to give up when I'm having a bad day." I think the maturity and confidence of his words struck a chord. Of course he is right, it goes to other adages like "as you sow, so shall you reap", and the crazy thing is he made it! His dream was always to play at the top level in his sport, thus proving commitment. Amazingly Scott was not always a winner in the more traditional terms, with failures aplenty but a really calm and mature attitude, and perseverance made him one.

I look back and think that Scott might not have been the most gifted sportsperson I ever met or taught, but he is one of the only ones to I know to attain his dream. The difference as I see it is in his ability to transfer all parts of his life into creating a winner. He is able to transfer the lessons learnt in all areas and really did adopt a growth mindset. Weakness, failure and learning all form the foundation of growth and resilience. 

The current mindset of student athletes I see is one of compartmentalization - lessons learnt in one area keep there, as the self-promotion kicks in to hide the weakness and learning experiences. But the resilience that the transference provides is lost. I  think that the resilience that Scott gained by attitude and mindset is obvious, but the continuation of it in current generations seems stymied by the helicopters that constantly circle. 

Tutoring & Mindset

Probably one of the largest changes I have noticed, is the growth of the tutoring industry. The emphasis and goals have changed and make me wonder about the actual benefits that are being passed onto the students. It is a particularly big industry here in Hong Kong where you see the faces of tutors adorning the public buses that ply the streets. The industry has "rock star status" for those on top of the game with a commensurate pay scale accompanying the status. The marketing pushes hard at all parents regardless of the school system or examination their child will encounter. It has almost become a situation that your child is 'disadvantaged' if they do not attend tutoring! So obviously the marketing works.

I recall when I first began teaching that tutoring seemed confined to the students who required remediation in a particular section of the course. Mainly done by teachers of the course, the meeting with students at lunch, before and after school was part and parcel of the job. Spending time giving a variety of scenarios and solutions to help illustrate the concept or theory meant that a growth mindset was established. You tried to help the student to gain the knowledge and skills that would allow them to solve or attempt to solve both familiar and unfamiliar situations that applied to a certain theory or principle. Remediation was seen as part of the education of the student and provided help for those who could not form the links between a theory and its application. 

Times changed and parental expectations and priorities changed with it. Tutorials were seen as extensions and fast tracks towards a goal. The fixed mindset of the goal oriented became more pronounced. Tutorials became group tasks that involved examining past problems. Success equated to goal achieved. Learning however is not really a consideration - rote learning or learning set answers knowing where to plug them in - the skills learnt and nurtured. This system relies on the status quo being present in terms of examiners and their requirements. Once the examiner begins to focus on the application & understanding side of learning, then things start to come unravelled. The shift in emphasis is in response to exams and dare I say it, demand from the students and their parents. The exams from the IB (at least in my teaching area) seem to now be heading towards application through their nature of science initiative, and I now wonder how that will affect the students and their tutors who for so long have been going down the fixed mindset route. With the shift towards growth mindset in terms of questions, it brings into question the worth or gain in using this practice. 

I think the use of time is also a point need considering. Students back then had time to do other things, with the idea of free or leisure time a given. There was always study time but choice or 'my time' was also evident. I wonder if we can say that today? The students I encounter these days have schedules that I find crammed with appointments and externally run lessons. The mental well-being of students is changing and this will most certainly be a contributing factor, of that there can be no doubt. I have mentioned the rise in anxiety in previous blogs and this does little to lessen it, but it also does little to provide self-autonomy skills. Many of these students will soon be in colleges and universities in places removed from the planning influences of home, and ill prepared for the prospect of leisure time and independence that lies ahead. 

Depression, does it stay?

This is becoming an important question particularly with the increase in reported occurrence in teens. The effects of depression are debilitating to many aspects of the child's future, but in many ways it seems that we are not doing enough to assist with the problem. I am in some ways amazed that this epidemic is largely unreported and action seems slow at best. The problem in some cases seems to be the stigma that is associated by many sections of society with any form of mental disease, most of which seems to be based on misunderstandings of the root causes and behaviour of depression. Is it simply that we don't really understand them so we ignore and hope it self heals?

I was reading a short article (linked) about childhood depression and it struck me how little we really know and understand. One of the main findings of the article was that childhood trauma impacted on actual brain development, a worrying notion to say the least. In past blogs I have highlighted the fact that emotional growth and control continues as the brain develops well into the early twenties before any of us become fully socially responsible. This has an effect on how we both perceive and react to changes, challenges and traumas in our youth. We are not really prepared to deal with these and as we are unsure how to verbalise effectively, we internalise. Emotions are learnt responses to outside stimuli and this makes responses to them all the more important. So if we leave them 'festering inside' as is the habit of preteens and teens, then the chances of moving on and recovery are limited. We have all seen that at this age, children are often caught up in a sense of self - working out their place in things. This unfortunately leads to looking inward and traumatic effects are going to be exaggerated in the process. The study suggests there is also a link between this and addiction as the child searches for ways to overcome the negative feelings that come with the trauma and its effects. 

As a teacher I see the changes in behaviour that signify a significant change in the child. I know that many parents also see this and respond with an appropriate reaction of giving time. A case comes to mind where a student of mine was in the midst of a family change involving divorce. Both parents were placing strain on the bonds and effectively asking the child to choose, and this seems to be a growing problem. The changes in her behaviour were very apparent and we spent several days before she started to open up about how it was affecting her. Too often the child is lost in the proceedings and process and has a feeling that they are the root cause of the marriage breakdown. Now that is a huge burden to saddle anyone with, little own a child/teen who is only beginning to grasp the intricacies of emotions and how to manage them. Luckily, she had a great support group of friends to help with the changes and was able to move on. But I wonder how many of children and teens that go through traumas like family breakdown, severe injury & disease, death of a loved one or other experience 'come out the other end' without self-doubt and some form of depression. We seem to forget that they are yet to fully develop the skills and strategies needed to move forward, and simply expect them to grow out of it. But this is difficult if you are not shown or given coping strategies. Far too often we forget this and simply offer platitudes, forgetting that these problems are seen differently by our children. 

Parenting walks a fine line between doing all and allowing our children to grow. The key is as always, effective communication. The ability to help 'train or educate' our children of releasing tension, pressures and concerns through effective communication is surely one of the major parental goals. I know that for some the answer is simple, adopt the helicopter and protection detail and try to keep these trials from reaching our children. But, life is a journey full of trials and although we can shield, the best option is to provide strategies and resilience techniques. Having some strategies that do not involve self harm is essential if our children are going to be able to safely negotiate this period of their life. If we leave it to them, the problem may well remain and come back again to "haunt" them. Ignoring the signs does little to help and makes it more likely that the condition will stay with them into adulthood.

The problem of addiction

It is really funny how the ideas about addiction have changed over the years. When I was a bright eyed graduate it was the alcohol & drugs that presented the major concern to both parents and teachers. Over the years I have seen it change to one of gaming and technology based addictions that now seem to have centre stage (more information here). Although, I think that a pornography based addiction is also "raising its hand" to be a contender. I wonder if the computer and information age really is the boon that we imagine, or simply an extra distraction?

I suppose a good starting point would be to remind ourselves what addiction is, and according to Psychology Today, it is the condition that results when a person ingests a substance or engages in an activity that can be pleasurable, but the continued act becomes compulsive and interferes with ordinary life responsibilities. A huge topic and problem, but I think I will narrow down to look at a problem that is surfacing more and more at schools - gaming & computer dependency. It seems to be a real problem that is becoming more pronounced and the tip of the iceberg is showing rather than the whole problem. I suppose that the first symptoms we see are the usual ones of tired students who skip class and are procrastinators. Now that in itself is a symptom that could apply to lots of problems and it is not until we delve deeper that we find the real problem.


The problem of addiction could well stem back to the style of life and societal pressures. We definitely live in an "instant society where self gratification is a fact of life". And this is part of the problem. Computer use allows us to be anywhere and anyone all at the click of a button. The instant gratification that goes with this tends to feed the pleasure centres of our brain - we get a dopamine surge. It's a simple action reward loop that feeds the addiction - I apologise for simplifying this extremely complex process, but for the sake of understanding I will continue. The child/teen then associates the action with the reward and each subsequent act deepens the physical response as a positive action. In simple terms, I think I can understand why they continue even though they are told it's a bad thing. We provide the negatives but the gaming wins by providing the dopamine and the feeling of pleasure. This is why it is hard for teens to break the cycle.

This immediate response compares favourably with the more mundane activities that come with student life, particularly learning. As a teacher, and I'm sure it's the same with parents, I get the comment that "I am bored" or "it's boring" as a response to why they are slow getting started or completing tasks. As I have mentioned previously, teens are yet to fully master the skills that control their actions and this allows this sort of addiction to flourish. The push for the moment rather than the delayed gratification is a learnt skill and many teens do not have the brain function and confidence to do this. And the younger the teen, the greater the problem, this is why many of the bad habits and addiction begins at an early age. But the problem doesn't really become a huge one until the stakes become higher in the senior school, and suddenly the addiction comes into the light.

Learning is a slow process that gradually builds upon the information and skills we gather, and more importantly the response for doing well is not immediate. But I think this is something that could easily be covered in a future blog.