The Lost Art of Divergent Thinking: How Schools Are Failing to Foster Creativity

Have you ever wondered why children spend hours learning facts at school that they forget as soon as they leave the classroom? Or why creativity is often treated as an undesirable trait instead of a skill that should be encouraged? If you are nodding your head now, you are not alone. Is our education system stuck in the past?

Yes, I think so.

Imagine a boy drawing dinosaurs with wings, or a girl making up stories about time travel. In most schools, these children would probably be met with comments like "Dinosaurs do not have wings" or "It's time for serious work". But what if it's exactly this creativity that they will need in the future?

We know that in a few years our children will be working as digital wellness consultants or designers for interpersonal relationships. So why are we slowing down the development of creativity? How do we prepare young talents for workplaces which are just to be “invented”?

Education is structured according to the interests of industrialization and reflects its principles: schools are organized like factories. We continue to use bells to signal the end of lessons, maintain separate subjects and have different facilities. Children are therefore divided exclusively according to age. Is the assumption that age is the only common factor between children correct?

We are all different, have different interests, someone performs better in the morning and someone in the evening, someone works better in a group… Is standardization then the best solution? No!

Let’s first break down creativity and divergent thinking. Simply put, creativity is the process of having ideas that have value, and divergent thinking is an essential skill for creativity. It is the ability to see many possible answers to a question, many ways to interpret a question and think literally. We all have this ability!

As studies published in “Break Point and Beyond: Mastering the Future Today " show, children lose their divergent thinking as they become more educated.

So what can we do?

A new perspective on human capabilities is necessary. We need to strive to improve collaboration and teach our children to work in groups.

It's important to emphasize that making mistakes and being wrong is not the end of the world. If you are not prepared to be wrong, you will never be able to come up with something original. Kids are afraid to make mistakes, and that's why we get young people who are educated beyond their creative abilities. We need to allow children to divide their thought processes into different states to make each of them more effective.

Crucially, the habits of our institutions and the habitats in which they find themselves need to be changed. It all starts in kindergarten and school. If we fail in this area, what can we expect in the future? Can we expect new employees that are thrilled to bring new ideas to Monday meetings or people who will get to work at 8 am and leave at 4 pm just to fulfill their working hours obligation? I think that we all (unfortunately) know the answer.

With so many why and what in this text, I'm curious to see what you think. Do we have any chance?

#EducationReform #UnlockCreativity #TommorowSkills #DivergentThinking