[COLUMNIST] Cultivating creativity in children: Fostering originality and innovation

SWEDEN has long been a beacon for innovation and creativity. The home-grown furniture company IKEA, for example, operates in 63 countries with 482 stores.

In the financial year 2023, the global gross profit of IKEA amounted to roughly 14.7 billion euros, up from around 14 billion recorded a year earlier.

To a certain extent, everybody knows that if they want to get something done, they can always count on Sweden. Swedish people are creative and often do most of the work themselves.

Home repairs or small custom woodwork like light wall painting or changing a bulb are ridiculously expensive in Sweden. These tasks are much cheaper to DIY (do it yourself)!

For the Swedes, they can be paying for someone else’s time, but it is not just about the money; it is about the convenience and the skill level one can apply and develop.

Indeed, the Swedes are also so good at recycling in many creative ways and disposing of plastics correctly, and people from all around the world are now flocking to this Scandinavian land to learn from them.

It is nothing new; creativity is encouraged by Swedish parents in their offspring from a young age. This value is reinforced when the children attend school.

According to the strategy, schools are to strengthen the creative abilities of students to solve problems and translate ideas into actions.

Indisputably, Sweden ranks first in the world in terms of a well-developed public education system. More interestingly, among the OECD and partner countries with available data who took the PISA test in 2022, Sweden has one of the lowest indices of mathematics anxiety.

Being creative means the children need to think outside the box. Studies have shown that although students with high IQs usually obtain good grades both at school and university, they are consistently outstripped by those with not only a high IQ but also high creativity.

Research also affirms the powerful ways creative expression can help students understand and retain academic content.

Additionally, creativity encourages problem-solving, collaboration, critical thinking, iteration, and making deep connections in children’s engagement with the outside world.

In Malaysia, the government has started to build a more knowledge-based economy rooted in creativity and innovation for years. To compete in the globalised world, the government started restructuring the education sector.

A push for a more DIY-style of learning that promotes personal expression through building and tinkering has been targeted in Malaysian schools. Yet, so far, there is little to encourage critical thinking or creativity.

A study done by Adobe that provides insight into Malaysian Gen Z students shows that they are feeling unprepared for the problems the “real world” faces today and want greater focus on creativity and hands-on learning in the classroom.

Thus, it is timely that parents nurture the nature of their children and provide them with mental independence to be creative.

If the Dutch parents are praised as they raise the happiest kids in the world or Germans who are known to raise self-reliant kids, it is possible for Malaysian parents to raise creative children.

Parents can conjure numerous dreams revolving around their children from birth to the time the child starts primary education.

This activity can offer children a stimulating and enjoyable way to engage their minds without feeling pressured or competitive.

The key is to choose an activity that truly interests the child and at the same time indulges some creativity.

This stage is the most critical period as the child acquires JERI-psychomotor, emotional, cognitive, and intellectual development which have been proposed in the National Education Philosophy and implemented in the education system.

It is also a bridge for the children to develop their character before they enter formal education as this stage is when their mental development and synaptic connections are experienced the fastest and highest.

Next, when the children enroll in schools, it is teachers who need to have a sense of creativity. Teachers who teach with creativity in their classroom may find that their students are more motivated and engaged.

A fairly straightforward example is my experience when I taught uncountable nouns to my year two pupils in my early years of teaching.

It is still vivid in my mind how I packed all the spices and herbs in the kitchen and labeled them nicely. As for the children, I asked them to experiment by listing the uncountable items around them.

The result was good and some even dared to cut their own hair as their task!

A prerequisite for teaching with creativity is that the teachers themselves must be creative. They must feel eager to learn and explore more so they will have a sufficient level of knowledge and skills.

Lack of creativity may lead to a lack of confidence in a particular subject or unit of work among them.

In short, teachers with a bigger toolkit of creativity can approach the pupils with a great sense of satisfaction and enjoyment in their teaching. A creative teacher will produce creative pupils as well.

Compared to our parents in those yesteryears, it is common to see parents and teachers collaborate and support each other for the benefit of children/pupils today.

Whenever there are school functions or competitions, some parents do not mind joining and preparing for their children.

It is a good move as children’s achievement scores are known to rise, raising their creativity and they will respect the contribution that each person offers, regardless of differences in ability or background.

Parents, teachers, and students are three crucial stakeholders to the key of creativity. Together, parents and teachers can develop a strong partnership that benefits not just the particular kids but also the whole educational community when they collaborate and share their knowledge, thoughts, and resources.

At a certain point, such partnership and creativity can polish children’s talent which can bring them far.

More importantly, Alpha children are well known for being babysat and raised with digital devices such as smartphones, laptops, and computers which can make them less sociable, creative, and imaginative compared to the play involving physical toys and friends.

Compared to technology, nature provides a rich sensory experience that can inspire and stimulate creative thinking.

Creative children will have better self-esteem, be more self-disciplined, and show higher aspirations and motivation.

Thus, parents and teachers need to work together to bridge the gap between the culture at home or the culture in school and beyond by producing creative children.

The attitude attained from creativity not only can develop their positive traits and personality but creative children are often characterized by a combination of other qualities which make their presence pleasant among others.

Creativity can be learned; it is not a fixed trait that cannot be improved upon.

---

Dr Abdul Mutalib Embong and Muhammad Khairul Zakaria are from RIG 4, Centre of Fundamental and Continuing Education (PPAL), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of Astro AWANI.