The Destruction of Creativity
I read with extreme sadness and a certain tinge of gloom inside my heart the heart-piercing letter of Liong Kam Chong (“Motivating teachers”, The Star, July 21st) with regard to the sorry plight of our teachers and the general state of our educational system! One of the issues that he raised was on the question of “performance” in conjunction to “rewards”. Our correspondent categorically stated that:
“It is a common knowledge that the core business for most schools today is to make students score and pass examinations”.
The “emphasis in on drilling and more drilling, coaching and more coaching, and even cajoling students to do “well” in examinations.” I couldn’t agree more to his brutal contention, especially when he highlighted the dangerous tendency of these misplaced procedure: “Never mind about if they have truly learned anything in the process”.
I certainly concurred to his position that this process is not education itself neither does it cultivate the minds of our students. This is spoon-feeding; the worst type of brain-washing that would give rise to mental retardation and academic regression. Such process of relying solely to the perfection of the examination will undeniably would kill all forms of creativity, dynamism, distinctiveness and intellectual/mental diversity. The product of this puerile system would be grim and ugly!
Why?
Instead of molding independent thinkers and passionate scholars; true and faithful to their craft; we on the other hand are producing “robots”, bonsais”, and rare species of birds who cannot use their wings and afraid to fly, because we destroyed, shattered and broken institutionally their wings!
The primordial duty of the teacher is not merely to teach their students to pass the examination with flying colors, but more importantly to inculcate the virtue of good moral character, perseverance, ethical leadership and intellectual values; which are utterly necessary for the further development of their personality and soul.
As Socrates himself selflessly taught, our duty and obligation as teachers and educators is not to teach our lads what to think, but how to think and to think independently beyond our teaching! They must transcend the borders of their minds, create their own queries and have the courage and audacity to answer their own questions! Yet, sad but true, that is not it seems to be the way of teaching in today’s world. More and more, education is becoming a commodity, a thing that is for sale in the market. From an inherent right of every human being, it is now becoming a mere privilege! As the joke goes: No money, no honey! No tuition fees, no entry, no permit, no examination, no ID, no entry! Sad but true! It is a heart-wrenching global phenomenon that “teaching” today emphasizes more on getting the “necessary” degrees and high paying jobs at the expense of true scholarship and moral well-being.
As Chris Hedges (“Why the United States Is Destroying Its Education System”, April 11, 2011) wrote forcefully:
Passing bubble tests celebrates and rewards a peculiar form of analytical intelligence. This kind of intelligence is prized by money managers and corporations. They don’t want employees to ask uncomfortable questions or examine existing structures and assumptions. They want them to serve the system. These tests produce men and women who are just literate and numerate enough to perform basic functions and service jobs. The tests elevate those with the financial means to prepare for them. They reward those who obey the rules, memorize the formulas and pay deference to authority. Rebels, artists, independent thinkers, eccentrics and iconoclasts --- those who march to the beat of their drum --- are weeded out.
It is my humble belief and so holds that the pure aim of education is primarily seek the goodness of man’s soul and not simply to develop his financial capability. As one great philosopher have said: “Seek first the Kingdom of the Soul and all the treasures of the world will be added unto you”! Hence, I will passionately argue that ultimate objective of the educational institution whether they are public or private is to hammer our lads to be the best that they can be by developing their character through critical thinking, harnessing their soft skills and cultivating their inner moral worth. We must teach them to think logically, exhort them to always do the right thing and at all times, admonish them to act with justice and conduct themselves in a humanitarian manner.
Of course, the function of the government, of society at large and our whole body politic is to recognize the indescribable sacrifices, the undeniable role and the genuine nobility of the teaching profession. We owe our teachers our abiding respect and our students deserves more from them not simply a passing mark neither a high score.
As our writer concludes his piece: “Once teachers and also schools administrators realize that their genuine and true efforts to make a difference are being recognized, there is no holding back to their avalanche of enthusiasm, eagerness and energy to improve their schools. I strongly believe that when you take care of the teachers, the school will take care of itself”. End of the day, the school is nothing but the mere collection of its teachers and students. In conformity to a time-honored principle: It is not the institution, but rather it is the individuals comprising the said institutions that would incontestably determine their character, their substance and their ultimate value to the community and to the rest of the world.
Jose Mario Dolor De Vega
No. 19 USJ 11/3 A 47620
Subang Jaya, Darul Ehsan,
Selangor, Malaysia
I read with extreme sadness and a certain tinge of gloom inside my heart the heart-piercing letter of Liong Kam Chong (“Motivating teachers”, The Star, July 21st) with regard to the sorry plight of our teachers and the general state of our educational system! One of the issues that he raised was on the question of “performance” in conjunction to “rewards”. Our correspondent categorically stated that:
“It is a common knowledge that the core business for most schools today is to make students score and pass examinations”.
The “emphasis in on drilling and more drilling, coaching and more coaching, and even cajoling students to do “well” in examinations.” I couldn’t agree more to his brutal contention, especially when he highlighted the dangerous tendency of these misplaced procedure: “Never mind about if they have truly learned anything in the process”.
I certainly concurred to his position that this process is not education itself neither does it cultivate the minds of our students. This is spoon-feeding; the worst type of brain-washing that would give rise to mental retardation and academic regression. Such process of relying solely to the perfection of the examination will undeniably would kill all forms of creativity, dynamism, distinctiveness and intellectual/mental diversity. The product of this puerile system would be grim and ugly!
Why?
Instead of molding independent thinkers and passionate scholars; true and faithful to their craft; we on the other hand are producing “robots”, bonsais”, and rare species of birds who cannot use their wings and afraid to fly, because we destroyed, shattered and broken institutionally their wings!
The primordial duty of the teacher is not merely to teach their students to pass the examination with flying colors, but more importantly to inculcate the virtue of good moral character, perseverance, ethical leadership and intellectual values; which are utterly necessary for the further development of their personality and soul.
As Socrates himself selflessly taught, our duty and obligation as teachers and educators is not to teach our lads what to think, but how to think and to think independently beyond our teaching! They must transcend the borders of their minds, create their own queries and have the courage and audacity to answer their own questions! Yet, sad but true, that is not it seems to be the way of teaching in today’s world. More and more, education is becoming a commodity, a thing that is for sale in the market. From an inherent right of every human being, it is now becoming a mere privilege! As the joke goes: No money, no honey! No tuition fees, no entry, no permit, no examination, no ID, no entry! Sad but true! It is a heart-wrenching global phenomenon that “teaching” today emphasizes more on getting the “necessary” degrees and high paying jobs at the expense of true scholarship and moral well-being.
As Chris Hedges (“Why the United States Is Destroying Its Education System”, April 11, 2011) wrote forcefully:
Passing bubble tests celebrates and rewards a peculiar form of analytical intelligence. This kind of intelligence is prized by money managers and corporations. They don’t want employees to ask uncomfortable questions or examine existing structures and assumptions. They want them to serve the system. These tests produce men and women who are just literate and numerate enough to perform basic functions and service jobs. The tests elevate those with the financial means to prepare for them. They reward those who obey the rules, memorize the formulas and pay deference to authority. Rebels, artists, independent thinkers, eccentrics and iconoclasts --- those who march to the beat of their drum --- are weeded out.
It is my humble belief and so holds that the pure aim of education is primarily seek the goodness of man’s soul and not simply to develop his financial capability. As one great philosopher have said: “Seek first the Kingdom of the Soul and all the treasures of the world will be added unto you”! Hence, I will passionately argue that ultimate objective of the educational institution whether they are public or private is to hammer our lads to be the best that they can be by developing their character through critical thinking, harnessing their soft skills and cultivating their inner moral worth. We must teach them to think logically, exhort them to always do the right thing and at all times, admonish them to act with justice and conduct themselves in a humanitarian manner.
Of course, the function of the government, of society at large and our whole body politic is to recognize the indescribable sacrifices, the undeniable role and the genuine nobility of the teaching profession. We owe our teachers our abiding respect and our students deserves more from them not simply a passing mark neither a high score.
As our writer concludes his piece: “Once teachers and also schools administrators realize that their genuine and true efforts to make a difference are being recognized, there is no holding back to their avalanche of enthusiasm, eagerness and energy to improve their schools. I strongly believe that when you take care of the teachers, the school will take care of itself”. End of the day, the school is nothing but the mere collection of its teachers and students. In conformity to a time-honored principle: It is not the institution, but rather it is the individuals comprising the said institutions that would incontestably determine their character, their substance and their ultimate value to the community and to the rest of the world.
Jose Mario Dolor De Vega
No. 19 USJ 11/3 A 47620
Subang Jaya, Darul Ehsan,
Selangor, Malaysia