Liberating the creative spirit in Asian students 9789812446435, 9812446435

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Liberating the

CreativeSpirit inMsian STents :

Library Ng Aik Kwang D95

B15107154B NOT FOR LOAN NOT FOR LOAN

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Author of the controversial bestseller

ss Creative Westuners Than Than Westerners

c L~ Creative s ArLess y Asian Wh Why Asians Are

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FROM THE REVIEWERS

.A n inten.:st ing hook wh ich o f f~rs an lnsi.ght fo1 ;incl n·fn·shing look at

creativity. Important concepts are explait ed in an easil digestible man ner. Th ·r • .u · a l ·o a l ot of pra · in1l sugg~ tions and r a1- lif · cas · stud ic on how teachers can assist their students co h,.. creative. Teachers who wi h to nurtur er ativity in their students must r ad this book! Evef n Yeow, Tam pine

Primary ~ cl-wol

Th· exampl ·s given 1n thi book are asy to follow. and the illusrrations in i• ar incerestin . J an1 inspired by th cr~ative ideas of che autho ► and will definitely make us of them to lib ·ratt· 1h · r ·,itivo t n ti;11 of ' tud nt . ATIO NAl LIBRA Y BOARD Clreu Gcok Lo·o. Hu.1a Chong Junior College

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Kwang opeos his book with the provocative analogy that our schoo,Js are like prisorns. Nevertheless. he encourages creative teachers t o persevere even when there are "creativity killers" in thei r midst. Kwang provides invaluable tips to crearive teachers on how ro dea l with these obstacles to creative prob lenl -solving. Anyone serious about developing creativity in sn,dents cannot afford to go without reading this book! Adeli11e We,e, Bowen Secondary Sc/Joo/

An interesting and motivat ing book that provides a lot of practical tips on liberati ng t he creative sp irit in Asian studemts. like design ing creative lesson plans that inspire students to be their creative best. Those teachers .,,ho wish to nurtu,e more creative students will benefit by read ing this book. Quek Lew Ch e11g, Clrongzlre 11g Primc11y School

Kw,rng·s book on liberating the creative spirit in Asian students .is sim ilar 10 .Jack Neo·s films "I Nor Stupid" and " Home Run ·: They provide multip le viewpoints on ho,w children's creative energies can be channelled towa rds good by the c reative teacher. His book should be read by all who care about tbe future of educacion in Singapore.

1

Lee Joo Meng, National lnsJiture of £ducario11

A very engaging book to bask in. The ideas and practical exam ples are wonderful guides for ind ividuals wbo aspire to develop their own creativity. It is h ighly recommend ed for educator.;. and parents wh.o wish to nurture creativity in the younger generation. Aisah bte Mohd Osman, Meridi(111 Prinrary School

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LIBERATING THE CREATIVE SPIRIT IN ASIAN STUDENTS Ng Aik Kwang

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ps for more than four hours a day, ( )he is not working hard enough. Metaphorically speaking, the Asian society and education sy tern is like a prison- wilhin- a - pri ·-on, 1 Th;) creative teacher who struggle to Hb ·rat tht.· c reative pirit in Asian ·tudent is like eo in the Matri.r.

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Liberating, the Ct"eat, ve Spirit in A sian Students

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The atrix. as a ll movie butT$ know. i an illusory world. 1 t'ncrated by a upercomputer, in wh~ch things ar · not what they ·c·c-m to be. eo is the One "._•ho wHI r scur th prop] who arc- l rap pc d in the Matrix. In a s•milar vei n, the creative reacher L the One who wil] rescue Asian udc rH. from thi prison (Asian ducation systen1) wit h in a prisor (Asian sod ty). Lik eo (s)hc ha a tough j o b lo do. battling hostile forces , fl u •h in out ignoranc(). wt>arin g down outmod,~d ideologies, re. cuin.g the brainwashed; and h lpin them to g ra p a new ri~ality. Thi· i ~ an extr mtly difficult challenge to tackl . N vcrthele s. it is a 1oblc goal worth fi htin for. To assi ·t the rcad~r in liberating the creat ive sp·nt in A ian student , l hav~ J)ut toget her 14 chapter in this book. By reading through the. e chapters carefully, the read 'r will benefit in the following wa s. Fir t , (s)he will be able to g rasp the slippery phenom non of creativi ty - wh.lt is crcativi.ty, how is it tneasured, what is the difference bcrw en creative level and er ative style, etc. Second. (s)h . · wilt be ·quippt:·d wit h the relevant . kills - how to u. c er ativ t e ... hniqu in the classroom, ho\-1 to motivate students to be creative~ hov.r to assist them in overcoming the en1otional ob .tacles to creativity. etc. Third,. (s)hc will develop a more sophisticated understanding of creativity - how can we .. lteart-wire .. the Asian student to do creative work, why i ther a paradox in promotin er ativi.ty in th A -ian da sroom. etc. Fourth. (s)he will learn from the creative teachers th msdve . I am proud to ay that many of them are my former students, and they display a iot of fl air in infu -jn creativity in the Asian classroom,. as. the r-eader will find out for him · If or hers ·I f. Finally. J have invited a host of creative geniuses to grac this book. Bt' intrigued b Dr Heyerdahl. the Ind iana J ones o f th · ·c.:hohHly world, who brav d tormy seas and fles.h - eat ing sharks to prov an ab tract cheory to hi colleague in academia. Be amused by the a ntics of Einstein as a student and mi. fit of education. who was ticked off hy h is teach r, and told in no, uncertain (, rm to Jeave school immcdiarttly. .as he would never arnount to anyrhing. and that he was wasting eve.r yone·s timt! (Einstein figured out a cre-ativ~ way to realize the desire of this teacher) . I

xii

Be puzzled by the lukewarm respon ·€ to t h · rves hi5 wages for th is good new. for tbe creative teacher, (s)hc mu t not slacken in thi great ·truggle to libcrat'l': Lhl' cr~~tivct spirit in Asian students. In

On the Challenges and Reward

of Being a Creative Teacher

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is not t'asy to be a creative teacher, but the rewards of creative teaching are great i.n deed. We can gra. p th is fa ·t by look ing at bow a creativt> rea,c her infu ~ creativity in the classroom. A_n exatt1ple is Ms laine jn1 Lixian. who wa training to be a

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p.r imary school teacher in Singapore On subscquen ·haptcr of this book, l highlight oth r cxampl· s of creative teaching in the das room). Based upon th topic, " Fe ling ", in a primary chool yllabus, Jaine de-signed this creative lesson plan for a class of Primary four tudents. At the nd of thi I s -on, h r pupils shou1d be able to: (i) understand that different people can feel differently in the same situation; (ii) understand that the feelings of one person can affect another

person: {Hi) under tand that feelings can be expnts ed in novel ways. such as via sp , ch, writing and songs.

Beside t he e l · son obj~ 1iv ·• , la inc a l o wished to heighten the moral a\, 1arcnc. of her students concerning ·~v,e ral issues. Fi rst, as different people can fe ] differently about the same situation~ students should be cons ious when they speak to peop le of different race or r ligion . For ·xampl , -ome jokes that rudents thi11k are funny may not h · 'O, especially to ih ir das .m ates from another race or r ·ligion.

8

Why Should You Be a Creative Teacher?

S ·cond. stu dents shouJd lcam to behave in a sel'ficss manner. in tcad of j ust t hinking about t hdr own ubjective n ·eds in a ct>rtain situation. For example, a student rnay b upset \-"./ ith not b ing cho t>n to be a team leade , b ut ( )h houJd not jeopardize the mooth func t ioning of t he group by b ing an uncooperativ team rn "mbc:r.

Elair

his creative lesson on fed ing locked off with a tuning-in activity. Here, Ela ine asked students to listen to a hymn and de-scribe their fe lin gs abo u t it. She then played a piece of dassical nnJsic and ask d pupils to $k tch t he image which came to their minds. With this activity, Elain d mon trat d t wo fa ts to h r students. First, fee lings can be expre ed in novel way • e.g., a hymn ·xprr ses the feelin.g s of de con1po er and singer. Second. difi rt!n l people have different feeli ngs about the same ituation, .g., although st udents hstcned to the same cl assical mu ic. t hey k t hed diff ·r nt images of it. bas d o n th · dff~ r ·nt ~ cling. that were evoked in them. Having con1pl ted thi tuning-in activity, Elaine proceeded to

the main phas of her creaUve lesson plan. Herc. she i,cad out a story. entitled The Very Best of Friends. t o her st d~nt~. wr·ncn by 11argaret Wilde. it is abou a toving coup l named Jam s and Jessie, as well as Williams. t heir p t cat. James loved William a lot, and b liev d that h \vas better than any fa rm dog c>r h ot Witter bottle. He would do a lot of thin for W H1ja111 • like feeding and housing him. But Je . ie did no,t really like William • and only put up w ith him b~causc of her love for Ja mes .. On· day, J an1e~ di d of a heart a tac . From this timt." onwards, Jessie ignored Williams. because of her grief for Ja111e . Willian1s be amc a lean, mean and hung ry cat. Jes ie aw the transforn1ation in Vvill i~m · and f, ht would mtow w henev~r the

9

Liberating the Creative Spiri1 in A ·s ian Students

po tman a,rived with th _. mail. and rub his war.m fur against Jes jc ro keep ht;r cosy at night. One night, Jessie whisp~r d a she stroke Will iam. · fur., You are better than any farn1 dog and better than any other hot water boUle. You and 1 ar the be ~t of frie·nds. · As El aine r"ad out this touching tory in cla · , he would paus a t d ifferent junctions to ask ht'r students for their pr ·diction on what would happen next, e.g.. how would Jessie treat Williams now that her husband is dead. This provided an opportun ity for h r students to t:Xt:rcise their r ative imagination. ln order to get her student to rnpa thizc- with the c haracters in the story Elaine also asked the class how they would f~el towards the lo of om thing that th y · ally l ov , sp dally tbeir sned

0

loved ones. Aft r reading th

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tory to th cla s. laine divided h r students into six small groups. She gave each group a fi l with an activity wo•r ksheet in it. On group wa giv n the task of drawing a character web of Jessie. This web must expri s the different fi ·ling~ of J ic that are evid nt in the ·tory (see Photo 1}. The second group was asked by Elaine to te] I the story from the persper v ·dc l in haJ t JJ. p·r t, 'd e ry n en1ber in h ro p p, rticipate · ctivr y in ch di c ss·o ? Sc- ond. di ro n1 1ber._ pc nd to their gi en ir , n o i gin a I n r 1a n ·r? Tl i c ~ di l o ) no,,, l d , in a n oul t e uti Ii ➔ n· lived three blind n1en. , ho ar ued o er whac an el~phant: is. he fir t bljnd m.a n ~ It the hard and stiff le of the ck-phan l, and an wcrcd. ··u·s a tree tn1nk. Th-r econ d blind man purled the soft and vvhisk ty tail of the ekpha n r. and dis.agr ed, ·· o, ifs not a tree tntn k. it' a broom." The third hl ind m an, who g roped the curly and rubbery trunk of thl'. ekphant. said confidently. "You r both \e-;ron~. It's n ot a tn·c tru nk

The Four Ps of Creativity

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00,

Buddha's story o f the elepha nt and the threl' hUnd m en renect a certa in truth about u : we perceive the world thro ug h o ur own tinted ltmsc . and end up arguin over what the world is. This truth can be appl ied to th t> b~haviou r O•f p. ychologi. ts who are in terested in unde tanding what creativity i . Som psy,cho logists believe tha ~t is a fo rm of de.fcnC'e mecha1·1i.~m that nahl ·s u to d 111 w ith anxiety or lo s. 1 · or exa mple. if someone we l ove pass away, we m ay nea I w Hh our gri(•f by pen n.ing a poern for him or her. Thr c reative process of composing thi poem en~1bles us to cop e with our grief. Other psychologists are uncomfortable w ith this p~ssim istic image of creativity. C!Spc v.iBJ catch th r attention o f tudents; t hey will be impe ll ·d by th ir curiosity to fin d o u t th e reason wh '· h is hxampl • what happens when gravity i decrea {"di until it become " nothmg? What ha p pen when gravity is incrc.·n~ed unti.l i r ache infinity? How fasr must a roC' kt't on e(1rth tnivPI to escape from tht· dutch-, of g ravity? \'\fhy is th re high tide a n d low tid e at st>a? What has th is go t to do with the gravity of t h t.' moon? And so on and o ~ rk the hoppin :.1r1 , to m.· end of thl' at k and mo"· .don~ the hopping I nrf n:ely, u~m 1 the pla lie l o · to holc.1 thr ooti that the · h r clc trd. Th · la r 1c steel ramt . whic h la cks side and a bouo m . Th IDEO Shop p,ng carr di. our.:,gc~ cu torn ~ from push in 1 ipho o crcd,r. S1 ven Mo de,J the ·hop ring can lo t c. hiping art b u... \e~-, for ca rling good without l~ ,,ta tic ho c . A ~mn r attac hrd to tlw h pping cart l;'l\minat t , n d of the l:U~to m r to qutu c up at th t a hi r r.ird adaption or

in 1 v tio . Ext~ · r aptors hav a e Jo~• score on t e KAI seal -, e tr t~ innovato h e a ve i l . co t Al c· I These respor n · af1 haract ·riz c JY e tJi m . b · •~•v io _. hey d1ff. r , ra. ti a J om the crea iv ~ tude 1t 'ho has a ood Jc 1d of ·n:a(v ·t J • . is · o !n in Fi r .4. f

Figure 5.4

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How Creative Are You7 How Are You ,c reative? 1

CALCULATED RISK-TAKING first, extreme adaptors are too cautious, wherea extr me inn aco a~ too rec less. These extreme b haviour: are not good tor creativi ·. A ,creative person tak calculated ri ks, instead of avoiding ri k . or takimg un arranted risks. his i's clear from the int estnrent theory of crearidty which u e the ,tock market a a metaphor for crc-ativ 1

. . 1 acov,t ·.

A new invc tor in shares is advised to ubuy lov.r and sell high·. In

other ~ ords1 buy when the share prices of a cornpan are dropping; sell when they are going up. This ound Hk sensible advice, except for one thing: it require holdncs " on the part of the investor to buck the trend and bu shar \Vhich nobody else seems to ant. The creative per~on is ike the bo]d i nve ror ~ ho i willing to "'buy low and seU high~·. That i ~ (s)he is will.ing to ta ke a calculated ri k. after e aluating the pros and cons of the ·ituation. On thr oth r hand the extrernr adaptor and innova tor wiB never succeed a a c ea o . T is is because the form~r avoid ta ing risk·~ even necessary ones. wh·1 th latter takt too n1any ri ks ·p ciall unnece ary 001.: ·. Or Jean F. Borel. an imrt1unologi t from $1,~.iit2crb:1 n ~-(ng ,J bal~, -\ 'ood r.i t to ail a r . . e Pac· tic Oc ( , ju ·t lik th . rigi nitl st·t I(~ f l nrsia fror , o tl - erica. T i~ · n nova ti c n1 et l o d th r \'J up < ~ * f r 1;1 IIon n • t e gr ater t ~ r a l < on a ni 1u bin tion of w ~ ·p·tr • and independent id · s. On~ i he ti tr ap u1 . c func io - of the ti _u1e is to ark t • pa· age of tinte. · e put so fa ilia obj ect in a con ait r, seal and bury it derground for sayi 2 5 or S r ~rs, and th open i ·t· · •

02

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What Moti v t • Us to Eng ge ,n Cru ative Prob lem- Solv i ng?

The Win ning Prod ueta

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· ho1, · ht; r , c 1a 't · an e .. For e a1n J}(:, i f pu a fanli i, r ·t -kc a ..o J • c,f _ _ · · l"\V i pl r i r o ,t ti p 1c, and u1 en t p 25 .. ' l", , I.Ht· ~ ,,c ,••,- hr ab c t ho ~ 1thcr measure assessl'.d h ow supportiv(_' the fam ily of the adolescent is. Young p oplc in supportive fumiH · kno'r\' what was exptctcd of tht·m and get on w ith it. They at o know that they could count on help if it was ncc·c.kd. In o ntra t~ in fa n1ili which lack support, oun-, pcop~c s,p cnt a lot of ne arguing or cotnplaining. or ncgotiatin rt Vv'ith an ily tn »mb ·~ a n rl saying thing like •·ir not fair .. or .. it' not n1y turn··.

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113

Liberat;ng tho ,c r-eotive Spirit in A •~ n Stt1dent a

Csikszcn tmih~iyj dt:vi"t.'d n i nno ~ t iv rn~thod for ~ s cs sing hov individuab t'XIJC ric.·n c wh~,m t hf-'- arc doi n 1 al tl particular t nt'll'-. lt rt.',q uir ~ hj. partic1J an r t o carry .i "tt11a H bkepcr wh ·ri:v~r th lL T n fimc s. and d or school. b ag. The g roup ~hould b ra ins torm on v..i rious i c."nt n prob n1 t at t f t 11 .. it h I. cr · t a r o l tc II them to fi d out th · oss ·b lc: r ot ·a use:s of l is pr >b l. • nrl org ni7 h1 1n rn1 tt 1 th form f fi h t· dt r m. (~ h • ld k ep h n i ~ r l t t rn · t t · ~ lf .· ta . . . r p1e.· ·s sho n i · Fi~UTl" 7. Jd~ F·n . the ·r ati tl"acl t.- • u g udcn pr nt h · r 1 ,-h n res o he· 1 st:a c . ut 1c cou cJ bt..;Jc coos lik .. p astic.~ sp· , Jl's and b r , c ~. J t en en 1; gt· i this vish ul hi o . l. liz . th e · t:t·1 , on h h.. ak t l 's -lf? o I iz th ~a lt I ~ 1 rt f hj~ h · in o k - top. JI p ih d t d · n.. and l x · - red iil 1 r· 1 r·a1. His occ.~up;1tion;1 r un< an i tdu ·t · c. gi r a. s hjm · ha · o thl proje c. Ev nt , t_c cal · u ·c •ork~. lhe toy srt fo I u~ld. g Ii I ~

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How to Use Creative Techniques in the Claas,, oom

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num t•r of bl'aclrgorr · .r jfometres of t ·orld beaclte numbtr of u·arni u1nnH..r dll_v. pent at the b,:acll .r rmmbcr of ):< ars inlo t Ire ji,tur"'-· Lowtnlhdl

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Why Are W e Afraid to Be Creative?

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is thf• reward that you can t-xpcct for your Jabour in this work~: Copernicus. GaHleo and Darwin wou ld havl· no prohl m in agr~eing wtth thL Genna n . aying. The er ·at iv c-ach r mu t cl ' Si l ~tud ·n t to Ovt;rcomc th ir ~ ar of crearivity. which tom · in various gu ises. One is the fear of f ailure. which stems fron1 the fact that our atten1pt to do something new and nov ·I can tum out to be unsuccessful after an. Th Wrigl I brothers did not know whether th ir heavier- han- air, .: 1ginc:• P0'-\' red fl in -machrnc wa " going to wk off th ground : Frederi ck Smirh could not be ur ' thlH his new comp'-1ny \\ 1H nourish in the markcfplacc. In a imila r v in. wh n w ive o u ·tudents a chaUcngi.ng task to do, "u h it. d signi ng a 1 izmo or writing a ere tive tale, th ·y do not know whet h, r they wi Ii be succ.·e · ·ful in it. Another is the fear of ncgative evaluation, which ~tem ~ from the fact that we do not know how oth r people· will r pond to our r ative idea. The Wright brothe r. did not know that o nly fiv neighbours would bothe co ,urn up to watch their cpoch-m.aking fli · ht. Frt-d rick S.mith did r ot know that he would receive a poor grade for hi term paper on overnight de] ivery. In a shnilar vein. when we a, k our studen ts to present their gizn10 or read aloud their creative talcs in da~. they do not kno how their friends would respond. T|

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DEALIING W ITH CREATIV ITY KJLLERS

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, 49

liberating ths Creative Spiri.t in Asian Student;

handt before an appreciative audience h1 Hong Kong. / was able to ft because of two reasons. do f irsr1 I had a Jot of practice in. Ju~ ir 1 iqu a· , p 1. he learn t l 1nd tt th · , n fi ·c L T ~ct . cd fron1 rn hiple p r p c ives. T er ati t tea ~r can -ht'a -vnr ·· t 1e A ia n ~tu dent o do t·rl'ati, , or b · i troduc·, a c~rt ain amount of c nf1ict i to th ere a i ,- geniu. vin of creatiliity. 1 At it cor~ i the fim1 b ·lief that crtative geniu · like Mozart are bl d w ith a sp ecial ift or talent tl1at ordinary p ople like us do not po ·sess. It is this pedaf gift or talent - ort~n a . cribed to God - which enab]es these en1inent creators to produce their crC'ative rnastcrpiecrs. In contrast,. because we do nor pas. css this special 1 ift o.r tak nt, we an.: not rcativ ·. The genius view of c reativi ty ha· 1 d n1any people to believe tbat rcativiry i more Natur than Nurture. and only certain peo,ple, likr Pkasso or Einstein. can be creativ e. because th • ar horn with a good s t of gene '. n,~se people beHeve that it is pointl(;'. s to help a person to he creative; no amount of trai n in can rnake us creative. if we do not hav the righr genes in the first place. Such people are a lso likely to vii ·w e re ativity as a mysterious. inexpli cable phenomenon which is inspired fron1 above. For example. Plato described the poet as a .. light a nd winged t hing, and holy, and nev r able to c oi-npose until he has become inspired, and is be idt' himself and reason is no longer in him ... for not b art do th y utter these. but by power divine." 2 These belief on t r ativ ity a r seductive, becau e there is a certain element of truth in lhem. fo r example. it is true that genes influence creative behaviour. But then, this is true of every behaviour th at we engage in. since o ur behaviour is a n interaction between genes and the environment. Indeed, in the course of this book, we have seen that the social environm~nt exerts a strong influence o n creative bcha\liour, in the form of the er ative press. Tilfs in flucncc is just as i1n1portant as any

genetic influence. As another example,. it is true that creativity is a n1y terious entity. because science has not been able to giv a complete description of its .n ature. Scholars ,vho exan1ine what is creativity are Jikc the three blind men who examine what is an e lephant; Evciy one has his or her own opinions on the matter. Stjlf. this }a,c k in our undcrsta nding has no· prevented us from reaching some firm onclusion s about the n ature of creativity. We 184

Where There's • Creative WiU, There's a Creative Way

kn w, for in ance, tha i 1trin i· motivation is importan for c ea ivity, and o r ,.,,ay to et our udcnt · to be intrinsically n1otivat d i · by designing tlo,Y-inducing tas for them to do.

T E MYTHS OF CREATIVITY I ha ·t a ni k 1amc for these eductive he-l ief· on cr~auv1t , which t" ro p u s 1 i · 11- r r d r tt, a d · a~ ha r) J • ble it · 1 ood st id nt , Wh n re rt as d t in1 1.- . ~ ! 1. ·--, s hi. f7 an1 af r ·in r1i r th ob l P iL , he re: r..: i: '[ !)UJ>J•ost· · is to t ud n t r t 1 l' r· _ .., \ 'h h r h a r 11 re r , in. b • · ·1 . · ut 1~· er a i c tcac 1c (a1 tiliLc > Kcs ·t,H co in pir• lud rt de ·cl p . rn c ~ r· c t.: o pc.· . ·vi·ra ct· fo c l",iti • ~o . matttr. K o hi

a

1 r ar a' y hs of crcati i . rhc e . 1u i \ crc...ar ity · r of hl"n. Jt as l·c , ·1r · pe ,plt.: to bcl'l· c hat c t",llo ar h)rn o n adt. ·rhe i > ic;1tion is ~ at a pt·rso c· nn t >t !-i~e, the r ·lcvant expertjse in a certa·n 178

The Creativ,o Toaehet' aa a IM ent,o r to Students

don1ain of knowled .e. Con cqucntly. (sJhc can quip rudents with 1hc requi it knowh.·dgc that they need to cac I problem_ in the dornain. Second. even if the creative tea her doe. not poss the rielc.:vant expcrtist· to assist student , ( )he i Hkely to know of one or two indivi duals ho happen to be know l ·cJgcabh· in that panicula fi l d of study. The cr~ative teacher can put student i n contact with these expcr1 . In turn. tht: c c·xpcrL ar lik Jy to extend a helping hand to the-se eager · tudents, e pecially if th,c y know th(• er ~ative teacher on a personal basis. Third, the reacivc teacher. by vir1u of the position that ( )he oc-n1pic in the pecking order. can create a variety of opportun.iti, and open many doors for tudcnts. For example, th creativ teacher n1ay provide a trong Jett r of r 01nn1endation to enable students to go on a fact-finding trip; (s)h · rnay a sist students to g ·t funding for a project hy agr £>in.g to be th ir upervi or~ and · o on. 1-i nail , the creative teacher is I ikcly co po_ c the foUO\ving s t of attribute · that ar fr, qu ntly found .i n r ativ individual : feeling pa ionate about one· ~· ork. being open to different idea a nd experi~tnct·s in life. m ,iJ intai n ing a never- say-die attitudt- in th face of

obstades. and o on. 3 ·rhcr · is a high possibility that th ·sc ·rc~ativc attribu tes would nth off onto the students then1se]ve . This would tand students in good stead, as they w r~stlc V\fith a complex challenge.

CHARL S DARWIN A IN D

HE THEOIRY ,Q F

VOL UT~·O N

i!

To leav•ol dfs classic and lengthy description of his travels in South Aml'rica.

In his autobiography, Darwin wrote that between them, these two book fired him with ..a bun1ing zeal to add even the mo t humble contribution to the noble structure of Natural Science~" he irnn1edi ate effect of readjng Her ch l and von Humboldt wa to infect Darwin \.Vith a wild scheme to make his own expedition to the island of Tenerifct taking Henslow a long as welt i f he could be persuaded. Although this plan did not come to fruition, it had on.e important con cquc-nc -.. Darwin rea.li2cci that if ht: were to do any serious cientific work on Ten fife, even the most humble contribution, then he would need to know a Jot mor~ 1 eo~ogy to go alon:tside his now consid rablc botanica] expcnis~ .. He sought Henslow·s. help~ and was ent to Adam cdgwick~ a renowned scholar who becarne an-o th r in1portant mentor to Darwin.

184

The Creative Teacher •• a Mentor to Students

ON-THE-JOH TRA INING star

Sedgwick wa a Profe sor of G ology. and Hen low wa his form ·r tar pupil who h a d made his rnark in the scholarly wodd. So a recommendation by Henslow wa~ enough to ·ncourag · Sedgwick to take Darwin · eriously. Darwin a tt nd d S dgwick· 1 -tu res a nd took tuition from him.

Sedgwick was sufficiently impressed with Darwin ·s enthu iasm, growing exp rtis,c and p r onaHty to invit the young rnan to accompany hin1 on a field t ri p in the sum1ner1 rnapping out the compl x g, ology of northcm Wal s. In thre~ wec.:ks, during the urnmcr of 183 L Darwin had a crash course in practical geology from the hands of a n1astcr. 0 l ighrin g in hi new- found -kills, and glowing with praise from Sedgwick for his v aluable contributions to their studies., Darw in left Sedgwick in northern Wales and set off cross-country on his own. heading in a straight line by cotnpass through wild and rugged regions for JO miles. He kept up his geological work a long the way, hammering at rocks and stones. id ntifying and mapping the strata as he went. By the end of tht field trip, Daiv.1tn was a confiden.t young man armed with a wealth of ideas about the natural world, backed up by considerable practical experience. As Darwin himself appreciated, he had become a true scientist on this expedition with Sedgv1ick. Nothing before had ever made me thorough/

realize. though I had

r,:-ad variou cien tific books, that science con ists in grouping Jae-I so rlzat general laws or conclusion may be drawn from them.

A ONCE- lN --A .. LIFETI ME OPPORT UN l1TY Henslow could sen e this evolving genius of Darwin .i·n the dotnain of natural science. So whttn h kamt tha t th captain of HMS Beagle. who had b€ ~n taskctd by the Admiralty in London to conrlucr a survey of th~ South American coast. was looking for a naturali st to accompany him on this voyag , H nslow imm diately wrote a Jetter to Darwin, urging him to take up this once-in-a-Hfetim next interval. and so on. The power of uch a g ometnc progre sion t familiar from the tory of the sage who did a favour for a king in ancient times. and as cd as his reward a modest a mount of grain - one seed for the first square on a ches -tJo,ard.. two eeds for the second square, rou r for the third square, and . o on. The king happily agreed to his wish. not realizing that the 64th and last square of the board would be associated with a very large an1ount of grains. 2 grains of corn. to be preci ~- To appreciate ho\v great this number is, in1agine that each grain of com represents a second of time. human populations, had

C> •

Then thi. numh ·r would b ·quival nt to about 30 tim · ~ th· age of our uni erse in seconds (according to scientists, our universe i about l5 billion years old}. From ,t his mathematical perspective. a slow-breeding animal like the African elephant or the Chines.e panda. starting from a sing~e pa ir. would produn• a popul;1tion of millions of el phants or pandas in les than a thousand years, if each pair produced four offspring that urvived to rieproduc in th ir turn. But tni world is not overrun with ckphant ·. or panda , or oth r creatures. Instead. on average. each pair of elephant or pandas that was around a thou. ·and years ·arli ·r had left one pair of de cendants in our t ime. ln other words. leaving aside the influence of •·civilized ... humans, natural populations stayed more or less con tant. Volhy?

THE SURV~VAL OF T HE Fl

ST

an

population are held in check by re training influ ·nc s. tnduding th actions of p,r dators, ickn ·ss, and (.·Spt ciaUy the limit d amoun• of food available. He wrott-• f) pc1pcr entitl ed Essay o,r rhe Principle of Population outlining thL view. Reading thi pap ·r. Danvin grasped the in ighc that the majority of all indjv~duals, in lhe natural state, do not urvive long enough to reproduce. How ver. -om~ individual , the m tnority, survive and reproduc . ahhus realized that

189

Liberating t he C reative S p irit in Asian Stu den t s

These survivors were the ones which we re best su ited to the way of life of that species - best fi tted to their ecologica l niches, in the way that a key fits in to a lock, or a piece fits into its pl,,ce in a jigsaw puzzle. Danvin provided a description of th is process: The fi11al cause of all this wedging mus r be to sorr 0111 proper structure ... there is a force like a hundred t/10usc11ul wedges tryi119 to force e11ery ki11d of adapted srn,c ture i11to rlle gaps i11 rlre economy of nature, or rather formi11g gaps by th rust ing 0111 weaker ones.

I

'1

B EHIND EVERY SUCCESSFUL CREATOR IS A MENTOR T|

./

The image of ·a hundred thousand wedges" is a vivid one. It captures the essence of the theory of evolution by natural selection t he pressure of population. the scarcity of resources, the struggle to live, and the survival of the fittest. Before Danvin, other people had realized that there is competition in nawre. but they had seen any such competition as between different species, competing with one another, like different football teams competing for one trophy. Danvin's insight, inspired by reading the essay of Malthus, was to see that the struggle is actua lly between different individual members of the same species, competing for scarce resources in the same eco logical niche. Using our football analogy, it is individual players of a dub, competing with one another for a place on t he first team. Danv in realized that the hawk swooping on a rabbit to obtain its next meal is not competing with an eagle (or even, indeed, with the rabbit). Instead, it is competing with other hawks, and the individuals tl1at are more successful (which boils down to findi ng food and getting a mate) will be the ones that reproduce and pass on the characteristics to the next generation.

This, in shon, is how Danvin arrived at the theory of evolution by natural selection. It is a truly encompassing theory that unites the natural world, from the beginning of li fe to the formation of the Himalayas to the evolution of humans. It has a long incubation period of more than 20 years. Dar.Yin returned from his voyage on the HMS Beagle in 1836, and published The Origin of Species in 1859. 190

The Creative Teacher as a Mentor to Students

verthde · , the theory of evolution by natural e lection is easy to grasp and behold, once it is carefu lly explained to the rational mind which dors not es,c hew a good and solid argument.

Fundamentalist Christians refuse to accept the theory of evolution not because it is wrong, but b ·c au e it co-nflicts with the ir religiou belkfs. 5 Thoma Huxley, who was to gain a reputation as .. Dan,irl's bulldog" in defending th theory o.f evolution by natu ra l selection again t the reljgious establishment. reprimanded him eff in this way, concerning his n1issed opportunity to , come up with this theory by himse]f: How silly of me not to have thought of it n1ysel fl" As for Darwin. h had con1e a long way ,Y/ indeed, from a faithful believer in God w ho at one po•nt in his life even entertained the thought of b coming a country pastor. to an e nlightened atheist who scandalized che Christian Church by propounding an iconoda tic view of the biolo ical \vorld. 0

1

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How v r, Darwin did not a compli h thi

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Instead, his long and vcntful Jou.m ey wa fadlitatit:d by an influenti.a l group of mentors. They include Robert Grant, Jo hn Henslowt Adam Sedgwick, Charles Lyell. and Thomas Malthus. From the point of view of chis book, the ·e individuals are creative teachers par xccHcncc. They prove to u that creative geniuses do not arise spontaneously from thin air. but requir a lot of intellectual incubation, before they can produce their magnum opus.

SUMMARY Tile creative t ach r ha a cru ia l rol to play a a mentor to tud nt , for several reasons. First, (s)he po sesses the relevant expertise in a certain domain of know]edge. ScJ h 1 s nic.• n1isrlri :IA u1 #zi · ,l't · . 1-1 • IJ \ a om e itit· pJr·t in h ·n1, ti in ing Ji .. 's goo n ·· •c _,,, ing. Hr a,z r Oer r Iii 1, " tu born, and a tt·,1 t ion • s( ing. H • gt·t

A second basic group tha t complements '"heart and mind for wanting to learn" is labelled as · quartet"'. It is so ca lled because it is subdivided into four related dusters of terms, under the headings of "d ili ge nce·· . · endurance of hardship'", ·steadfastness" , and ·concen1ra tion". Although each clu.ister is distinct, in unison they constitute a coherent whole regarding how learning takes place. ·Diligence" connotes the notion that learning is an activity that requires much time and practice, as th e foll owing examples demonstrate: "Wang Xizhi, known as the sage of calligraphy, practised with his fingers on his clothes so that they were all damaged" and ··if well-versed in three hundred Tang poems, one will be able to chant if not compose poems". ·Endurance of hardship··, the second cluster. focuses on overcoming difficulties, especially physical drudgery and poverty. An exa mple is the following: "Zhu Maicheng stud.icd while woodcutting - too poor to go t() school". This emphasis on enduring hardship during the learning process contrasts sharply with the Weste.ro notion of learning. ln the West, lea.ming is frequently conceptualized as a fun acrivity that one enjoys doing. For example, interesting act ivities are designed for students to slimulate their creativity.

:

ln contrast, in the East, learn ing is a disciplined activity that involves the overcoming of hardshi·p . According to Confucian trad ition. those wbo can achieve great learning by enduring hardship possess personal and moral strength and are upheld as exampks of wisdom. As Mencius. a famous disciple of Confucius, has pointed out: Wllen Heave11 is about to co11Jer a great responsibiliry on a man, it will e.rerc ise his mind wit/1 sufferi11g, subject his sinews and bones to lrard work, e.rpose Iris body to hunger, put /rim to poverty. place obsrac/cs in rite path of his cleeds, so as ro slimulate his mind, harden his nature, and improve whe rever he is incompt'tenl.

The third cluster is "steadfasmess", which refers to an enduring orientation to learning that is expressed in such phrases like "fi ling a block of metal into a needle". The importance of "steadfastness" is due to the Confucian belief that there is no shortcut to lea rning. Knowledge does not come about overn ight, but accumula tes bit by bit over a Jon g period of t im e, to th e enduring lea rn er with ·steadfastness"' who perseveres in spite of hardsh ip. 201

Lib e r ating t h e C reativ e S p irit in A s ian Stu dent s

)g

oouocoonx

Kuang Heng, a famous essay ist during the Ming Dynasty, was very poor in his @-i__.i childhood. His family could not afford~ f ·¥"'1H,,......., ➔J light. To study, he chiselled a hole in the { I_ \ wall to borrow th e neighbour's ligh t. Th is is how he acquired his knowledge. Later he beca me a prime minister.

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"Concemration", the last term in the "qua rtet", emphasizes studying with consistent reso lu tion and dedication wi t hout ever swerving from it. It is expressed in such phrases like "pu t one's heart in to one·s study". A good exa mple of "concentration" is found in my account of a group of Japanese studen ts who checked into a hotel wi th their families du ring the New Year holi day to concentrat e on preparing for their college entrance examination (see Chapte r 1). 6 In unison, these four terms in t he "qua rtet" present a coherent account of learning in the Eastern tradi t ion. First, t hey all presume a great desi re to learn, because without the "heart and mind for wanting to learn", these learning behaviours cannot be s usta ined. Second, th ey are interrc::lated : "D iligence" without "enduring hardsh ip" does not amount to serious learn ing. Likewise, if one is not "steadfast" in one's •concentration", one's lea rning will end up being half-hearted . In this arduous path of self-cult ivation, the individua l is motivated by stori es of g reat learoers in the past. These stories are widely available in the ora l literature, as well as in chi ld ren's textbooks and popular illustrations of the Chinese. Ooe exam ple relates a story about digging a hole in the wall to borrow the neighbour's light:

G

THE CONTEXT OF L EARN ING I N TH E EAST The natu re o f lea rning in the East is closely related lo the context of learning io the East. Traditfon ally Ch inese teachers enjoy a great deal of authority, and are treated w ith respect a nd deference by their students. This is because in the Co nfucian trad itio n, teachers are far more than personnel hired by the state to impart information ro students. More crucially, they serve as moral embo diments that students are to 202

WhY is There a Pa radox in Promotin g C r eativity in the A sian C lassr oom?

rmulate; they are entrusted to g uide their charges on th t: p l n r ati , and ·rlati tl" pt·op c n · 1 ·er··. Th .. Tl .1son is ·1, fol to, : ... n ·c ·" p opl r ·1 1r t·ah1e i r i 'i ual \ ho O ti Tl Y . h h th up S '.. ~ Stt·ad ,r l)SCt iJ b • doi 1 - } a g h~i r o n 1- '" y. 1 con -• ~t. c pl n . . n1 h t·c l he ~ s ·s hat o t t l oul - h ~~ (rl ·II ·n ·, :u d , . -· . i >I i n . i t l· r r i , 1r 111 ous l an I t· f a ·· 1 · c , t . nd cr;i1i a t e 1rcls st.1 ens. r·.1i~ ~c . n t H 1 o ·ic ' 1 .. , ,p. 1kl"d t · ·h > s1 dent ll a t it • n l · ~ l I I • ~ I l l '\l. f · t· c 1 ( 1 r ·I t l u b · .. n t· n, •·• 1r K f \ I •1 r ., _ 1~.1. r ·d . H • is a Ii ·ti i •I C . of •• n I rl t a tt i l. Ii 1 1 t 1(" · .·vou. _t udc ll lt· d l' k • ♦ t' . r - ·n l f l c: lL' l" fl u { r t f ·1r ., . h l") l i. i 11 t t·. t i, , ~ i · a, I t·1 cl . -h. u .: ,t d·nt l. Ii cl t a r . i h; rd . ) ftl (f\\ cl, l i l. I f I t r1 a f utl • l t Ii l:c..· ovrr . Jtl . Ja1 k · I -· u · n. n · , t • d : .. . t ud - r t \ f • '

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Why i There . P r dox in Promoting Creat ivity in the Asian Classroom?

fmu tan~ u 1 . The ·r i ('I de1.: reas~ ir s t uden t behaviour th c r dc-siraul hu u n r ·,Hi "-'• a t tht: san-.c.: t irnl· tha t thl'rl" is an increa e in smdf'nl b h,v1 u t hat are c r{.'a ti v(' but u ndc~irable. If thL~ process i · nol mc1naged carefully, the crt·a ive tt-, c her ri k tran~fonn ing a la s of do il =- a nd t achahl ,tucient • v1hu beh a t: in a •nict·", ~l iv ·. and uhrni iv rnann ·r, into c lu s of chaotic and rc:b thou - ~turlcn ts. who be-h 8v£> in an individualb t k. set-p1k~1l, and

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213

Ld,or tin91 the Creative Spir-it 1in Asian Students

A

J was a,lso co ncerned that the new)y - rsta bl~shcd Spea kl·r·s

fornt·r shou ld r1 t be ·omd ·l~. 1 inrc t a .on .utt I-luck t • c lt ·•1 htn if , " h il i 1r 1 t d ~. ..\, ·h

c-rcntivl" behaviour. FinaJI • th t .iv [t h r ~ ho 1ld strive t o nurture cn·ativt stL:uJent ~. ,. ith a he.1rt of gold. by stres~ing to them the irnporta nc~ or u ~i ng 01 creative- talen t to, s~rv~ sodety. 1

i t1

•

Albert Ein ~1tein : A Misfit of Education Wl10 Prov d his Critics Wrong We have e n that creatjvc ind ividual.s often have a hard time fiUing in with o ther ludc:n ts in r

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\VHEN TEACHING ST A EGIES A NING OUTCO ES .. o · ·1

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'l fu lllowing the con roUing it stru.cti,on ( 1s1 group). Cor1ceprual lcarnin is hi he t w ith nonc-omroliin.g instruction becau e what i read is more likely tu be proces ed activ ,,ly. wi th 1 fi a·t, ··r i nt("fi ·st, a.nd 1Nith greater perceived relevanc t h•s oppO$t:d co bc·ing merely a rnean t get a ~ood 'Htde). Grolnick. ancJ Ryan a l , found that tudent feH th n1ost pr ·5ure \~ilcn given th controlling. direct d in truttion ti ·t group). r ·lativ~ t o the rwo non - controlling cond ition - (2nd :Ft :Jrcl group ). On 1 e other hand, th ey felt th· mo ·t int ·rest in the rwo non-co troill i n conditions t2nd Et Jrd grou1>). rcta civ to the ,r ontroUing, dif'i cted in tnlction 1

1

fI st 1 roupt. Ta en "1 a whole, the re ult confirn1 the efficacy of the nonontrollin '· dir ct d approach 10 i n tn cHon 1(2nd group}. With tJ,is approach, interest wu hi h and pre . . urc was low. At th ante tim-, faC'tuat andl conceptuit l. 1·arning wt·rc high. I n other words. alJ a ·vcct. or Jeaming were optimaL lhc . ,·cond be t trat f'y wa ·, th· non- ·on rrol ling.. non-dir · ·tl'd n truct~on ( rd group). With this ap,proacht intere ·t w(_J high,, pr · ·ur · was l o1w, and cone ·p·t ua,1 understanding wa hi rh. However th probJr.rn with thi trate :$y wa · tt at fa ·tu,)1 I ·arning wa · r ·1.ativcly low. · i:or con troll i rig. directed in ·tnJJclio n ( I l r~o up)t it~ be:r rfit was that factua l learnin, wa:-. n:latively hi,g h. H probJ "UI ·, ho\-vevt.:r, were ,uany. a · int,c rest vvas low~ pr s ·ur was igh and cone ·ptual t anting 1

wa Jow.

231

Ubera1ting the Creaitive Spirit i n Asian Studen,ts

MAST RY GOA S AND PERFORMANCE GOALS Sd -det ·nnincd, origin-lik tudent a l "o t:tw(cn. say. conducting re arch on a top·c nobody has inve tigat d b fore, ver u one that has be n d,onc.- to death. S I f-dcte-rmin d studcnls I end to choose t ht· diff1cu 1t version of the task 10 do. Thi i not h cau _.. th y ar" v~in ancl bun tful. but because th y dopt a ma tery goaJ in l an1ing.E> That is. t hey have a gic nuine de ir to improv che i kUis • nd knowledge in ~n area 1hat tht'y are deeply inct:-rc ted 1n. In ·ontraist, o th- orientf>d tudent gauge acad n1k ucc:ess by looking at how well (s~he fare . in compari on with the- rest of the cl~s ·. A lot of in1portance is. anachcd to doing bctler than 01hc-rs iri a cena in test or cxaminarion. In contras.t. a ma tery-ori nt d student doe not gauge academic uc by looking at how well ( .)he fares in comparison with th· re-st of ch · cla . In tcad, ·ucc:·es i ~ m ·a ·ur ·d in t c>rn1 of whether (s)he has master d the topic that (s)he is interested in. A lo,t of importancmtn l , th re arc n extraneous and powerfu l force operatin 1 on the person. lnstead. ( )he is filled w ith nov-,. Hnd cxperienc' n n inner ense of psycholo ical fr~ed om co create. ror xa mpll-, a tudent , ri ting a paper on a f optc that ( }h ~ i inter 4c-d in, will take ( he troubk 10 do a tho. ou h re arch in th lihn1ry. As the n•irt i ng to n1e this lae a.·gnn1ent. 1 e c·ntual ave her a ood 1 rade. I offe red this rationale to n1y studen ts : Ja came up \\ ith an ingeni us wa , ro app ilSC' m lcgi i all" 1

' u ·ing special d li ery o rn m a drli i u , piZ'lllaped a · ·1gnm nt ·or n1 1nind to c cw on. Havir . prtpiHt'.d the lan1b for ,he slau hter, l , en ·n for the ·ill, lY is. ui g this hu mo rou · ,,·arn1ng o n1 udent : if 1 catc 1 any of hen1 ub1n·n ing a la C' a . i nn1 11 , .. I a 11e i it· o da t a 1d ti j n c , . F r

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Liber.a ting1 the Cre, t ive Spirit in Asian Student•

By this brave act ion. Ml'.tld us il 1ustrat ed t h~· i m portanct- o I upho ldi n g om:'s nobl jdeal and onvktions in l ife, by det'cndtng moral righteou ne _ in the face of politi • nc "''