Education or Creativity? Which one is the most important
Source: The Jakarta Post, Opinion and Editorial - April 02, 2005
by Muhammad Zuhdi, Jakarta
The
debate surrounding the national examinations over the last few months
has led us to misjudge the meaning of education. The meaning of
education, which has so far been reduced to schooling, has now been
further downgraded to academic achievement, more specifically, the
performance of students in the national examinations.
It is clearly stated in the 2003 Education Law that the function of
national education is to develop Indonesia’s future generation to
become well-adjusted, healthy, smart, creative, and independent
individuals, in addition to being faithful, democratic and responsible
citizens.
The point that I would like to highlight here is creativity, since this
is the most important aspect of education and one that has almost been
forgotten by many. It is clear that the debate over national
examinations for Indonesian schools misinterprets the meaning of an
"educated person".
Within the current educational system, children, under the guidance or
even pressure of teachers, are expected to achieve certain measurable
academic standards that will be assessed at the end of the day. This
system is certainly rational within the context of accountability and
quality control. This, unfortunately, can mislead educational
practitioners to limit their goals to only guiding their students to
achieve high academic standards without paying attention to other
aspects of the students’ lives.
Kieran Egan (1988), a professor of education at the Simon Fraser
University in Canada, emphasized the importance of imagination in
education, realizing how our current society, especially our education
system, pays very little attention to this important aspect of
education. According to Egan, every society has its own oral cultures
that are built upon imagination. This is what he calls bonnes a penser, which are things that keep society thinking about various issues.
Imagining is an ability to think and illustrate something
extraordinary. It is an invaluable gift that leads human beings to
invent their civilization. It is also an important means of education
that can encourage students to combine their experiences and
intellectual capacities to dream within their consciousness. This is
what makes imagination different from fantasy. Hence, allowing children
to use their imagination through education will help them develop their
own creativity.
In a rapidly changing and competitive world, creativity is a very
important asset of an educated human being that allows him/her to
survive and achieve a better life. Particularly, it is something that
Indonesia, in its present situation, needs in order for this country to
have a better future.
Our cultural heritage shows that imagination had its place in our past
generations. We can easily see how they productively used their
imaginations through folktales, folk songs, nursery rhymes,
architecture, and literature. Those works reflected how our people
creatively responded to various events in their lives based on their
own knowledge and experiences.
It is unfortunate, therefore, to see that our current education system
pays very little attention to the use of imagination in today’s
classrooms. There is very little room for them to use their
imaginations and develop their creativity. It seems that the use of
imagination is something that is now confined to pre-school education.
This, then, explains why the interest in reading among Indonesian
people is low despite the fact that our level of education has
increased. It is because students are only expected to read textbooks
and are rarely introduced to literary works that could let their
imaginations soar.
Therefore, setting aside the controversial issue of the national
examinations, the education authorities at the central level should
take whatever action is necessary to ensure that our schools do not
only teach our children to become academic high-achievers but also
creative and imaginative individuals. And this will not take place
until our schools’ curricula allow and encourage teachers to creatively
and imaginatively manage their classrooms.
The
writer is a lecturer in the School of Education at UIN Syarif
Hidayatullah Jakarta and a PhD student in the School of Education at
McGill University, Montreal - Canada. He can be reached at muhammad.zuhdi@mail.mcgill.ca
