EDUCATION AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT: CREATIVE DIMENSION OF
EDUCATION (PROGRESSIVISM-JOHN DEWEY)
Introduction
Human beings are
unique. They are more than a material object at the mercy of physical chemical
forces and more than a sensitive animal controlled by biological laws. He/she
transcends the view that one is a mere product of society or an outcome of
political, economic forces. The human person is endowed with ability to be
actively involved in the world and be able to control in a limited manner his own
destiny or life.
The four elements
Basically, the
human person comprises of four elements:
1.
Ability to think -Cognition
2.
Ability to will -Volition
3.
Ability to act-Creation
4.
Ability to relate -Socialization
In the process
of education, the child is considered to be a having the aptitude of developing
into a more complete human being. Education thus serves the purpose of
humanizing; bringing the child into a complete human being. It aims at
influencing the child to come of age, to reach adulthood. The task of education
in this case is two-fold:
Bi-partite role of Education in humanization
(i)
The individualization of man:
This
involves a process of humanization where limitations/ inhibitions to his/her
potential are deliberately removed or minimized. This is done by:
1.
Inculcating rationality in the learner to foster
critical thinking ability to comprehend, justify and appropriately apply
acquired knowledge.(Cognition and volition)
2.
Transmission of morality and ethics to enable the child
attain moral judgment and moral behavior.(Socialization and volition)
3.
Inculcating skills and know-how (occupational
capacities).(Creation and volition)
(ii)
The socialization of man
Genuine
humanization should enhance the social dimension of man where one is able to
mutually interact with others and co-exist with them. By inference, we find the
four dimensions of education namely; cognitive, normative, creative and
dialogical. Each of these dimensions deserves attention in the process of
education in order to realize genuine education. In the final analysis, we may
define education normatively as the ‘inter subjective process of learning to be
a self-reliant person in society’.
Education and
Human Creativity
1.
Creativity: Creativity
is the capacity or ability of an individual to create, discover or produce a new or novel idea or object
including the rearrangement or reshaping of what is already known to him which
proves to be a unique personal experience.
2.
Creativity in
Education: In education, creativity refers to those aspects of education
geared towards the development of an individual’s potential. As a dimension of
education, it gained prominence with the rise of progressive movement in
educational thinking.
3.
Dewey: The
progressive movement arose from John Dewey’s educational ideas. He advocated
for the child to be allowed to grow in a natural way: not just physically but
also mentally.
4.
Teachers: There
should be no direct interference with this natural process: teachers and
educators should play the role of a ‘gardener’ providing the right environment
that stimulates the growth.
5.
Influence: His
ideas were influenced by earlier philosophies of Froebel (school =
kindergarten) and Rousseau (educating Emile).
6.
Traditional
Educational: Dewey advocated for a revolution in theory and practice of
education. Dewey opposed the traditional authoritarian approach to education
which regarded the teacher as the sole authority in the classroom. Traditional
approach forced pupils to abide by a rigid system of rules and regulations for
purposes of discipline and character formation. In addition, it gave prominence
to content of learning where learners were expected to assimilate learning
content in the given form. According to Dewey, this traditional approach
violated the psychology of the child as well as the wide idea of democracy.
7. Progressive/Deweyan Education (Growth,
Experience)
Aim of Education: Helping a child to
develop mentally, physically, socially and emotionally
Experience: He advocated the view that
true education can only be found in ordinary experience as the individual
interacts with his environment. In this case, children can best effectively learn
by exploring the environment through inquiry and testing one’s ideas.
Growth: Dewey equated education to the
process of growth whereby, an individual should learn independently through
experience to adjust to life.
Heuristics: He advocated for child-centered
education. This education entails a shift from content-centered and
teacher-centered traditional approaches.
Operational
zing Creativity in Education
In order to ensure the component of creativity in
education, several aspects need attention. These include:
1.
Child centered approach to education.
2.
Learning environment should be warm and encouraging –
free from intimidation/ coercion etc.
3.
Learner uniqueness ought to be appreciated. Individual
differences should be addressed in teaching and learning.
4.
Teachers should display care and concern towards
learners – show understanding
5.
Dialogue should be the routine in educational
communication.
6.
Teachers should fully grasp the essence of the process
of knowledge production and dissemination/transmission to learners.
7.
Usually, knowledge tends to be produced/manufactured
outside the classroom. It’s not only contained in textbooks. Therefore learners
should feel that they too could produce knowledge and know it at the same time.
8.
Teaching methodology should involve problematization of content towards which both
teacher and learner approximate by way of seeking for answers – task oriented
learning.
9.
Content presentation should not be portrayed as though
the content is final. Teachers should endeavor to relearn the content while
learners learn the content the first time.
10. The
teacher should encounter the learner as equals in this shared humanity. The
learner may look delicate, ignorant etc, but the focus should be on what the
learner is becoming- Identify learner’s strengths and weaknesses and be able to
advice them appropriately in terms of careers, talents etc.
11. The
teachers’ role is to guide, train and elicits the inner capacities that often
lie dormant/idle.
The importance of creativity in education
1.
To develop individuality.
2.
It is an educational approach that is directed at
personal growth and personal liberalization from limiting circumstances of
life.
3.
Reflection and
action, inherent in creativity is bound to produce a human
response that is adequate and adaptive to the reality of a situation.
4.
Human beings are usually actors, producers, creators
and workers. An approach which seeks to equip them appropriately is welcome.
5.
It tends to promote critical thinking and activity
oriented learning process.
6.
It enhances the independence of mind, thought and
action leading to autonomy.
7.
Allows for the exploration of self in connection with
inherent potentialities.
8.
It helps the learner to realize that he/she is a
task/project, - not yet complete – open ended being who can transform himself
as he reconstructs the environment.
9.
It promotes self esteem, self expression, self
determination, self reliance etc.
EDUCATION AND HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS
The term
consciousness is derived from the Latin verb ‘consicite’ where sicite means to
know. It is an activity of the mind which involves awareness, feeling,
perception and knowledge. In essence, consciousness involves two aspects:
1.
The subject person who knowing.
2.
The object being known.
Being conscious
always implies being aware of something. When one is conscious of something,
they direct their intellectual/mental attention to either something outside
themselves; to the subject of their attention or to themselves introspectively
i.e. in this process, one makes themselves actively present to it. They come
into contact with it.
Levels of
Consciousness
There are four
levels of consciousness:
(i) Empirical consciousness
This is the
lowest level of awareness where man experiences things empirically through
senses. This level of consciousness is also shared with animals, even plants
that may be said to be conscious of the environment. It is also a level of
pre-reflection common to children.
(ii)Intellectual consciousness
This is the
second stage of consciousness. It is a stage of concept formation where the
mind develops ability to identify things, to name them. It is a stage of
construction as opposed to concrete awareness. Concepts like table, chair etc
begin to form in the mind.
(iii)Rational consciousness
Here the process
of reasoning begins. An individual begins to make judgements based on
values/norms of society. Conformity to societal norms sets in.
(iv)Responsible consciousness
The level is
also called critical consciousness. It involves the ability to make judgement
about the world (phenomena) and react to it in critical turmoil. Critical
reflection involves questioning the norms, routine of things. It transcends the
known strives to bring novelty, new approaches to doing things. Each stage of
consciousness is essential for every individual. In teaching/learning
environment, it is important to develop all the four stages/levels of
awareness. The ultimate aim of education ought to be attainment of responsible
conscious news. Where an individual attains this level, one discovers that they
are limited in many ways; that there exist inhibitions along one’s development.
