The case that school promotes ‘correctness’ over ‘creativity’ is a simple one. This is because the very nature of ‘creativity’ runs contrary to the concept of a schooling system. The principle that the school is based on is the education of young minds in what is intelligent, morally upright and socially acceptable. Only when the correct foundations are laid can the student be said to have ‘graduated’, or to have moved on to the next phase in life, where he builds on these foundations by his own to attain new heights and develop his capabilities. This step is generally known as creativity, and is based on the discovery or the innovation of knowledge, rather than the receiving of knowledge that the student undergoes in the school system.
The link between ‘correctness’ and ‘creativity’ is that school – pardon the pun – schools students in the methods of creating new ideas. At this stage, where the mind is naïve and impressionable – and when it has no prior knowledge to work with – school rightly emphasizes ‘correctness’ over ‘creativity’ to ensure that the student has the right tools for the creative stage later on in his life. A simple analogy would be teaching a child to move about on his own. One must teach him how to walk before one can see him inventing a bicycle – surely one cannot leave the baby to create a vehicle on its own! In the same way, the purpose and nature of school is to show the student what is right, before the student can find out for himself what is beautiful.
An example would be the writing of expositions. The school teaches the student what an exposition is and how to write it, and places more emphasis on ensuring the logical flow of thought rather than what the argument is about. True, the student is allowed to choose his own topic, but he does not get bonus marks if his topic is unconventional – he is still graded on the exposition itself: whether his argument is clear, whether it is in the right form, and whether it is in the right tone. It is only after one has graduated that one can use this form of writing to explore and create – and it is from such exposition-writing roots that presidential speeches are formed.
In conclusion, school promotes ‘correctness’ over ‘creativity’, because that is the rightful purpose and nature of schools.
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ReplyDeleteNeed a clearer and better conclusion that sums up your points, instead of just stating your general argument.
ReplyDeleteYou are off-topic, firstly assuming that school promotes correctness over creativity, then arguing whether that it should or not. This is NOT the question. You are supposed to state your stand on whether school promotes correctness over creativity or not, NOT whether it should be doing so or not.