What
is creativity? According to the dictionary in my computer, creativity is the
ability to use the imagination to develop new and original ideas or things,
especially in an artistic context. Ideally, any classroom in any academic
institution should facilitate this no matter what subject is taught, no matter
how many students attend, no matter what; there are no exceptions. To our
dismay, this is not a utopian world. Indeed, there’s certainly a “gap between
faculty and student expectations that leave the both parties unfulfilled” as
mentioned in the essay “Creativity in the Classroom” by Ernest L. Boyer.
In
the essay, Boyer claimed that “if faculty and students do not see themselves as
having important business to do together, prospects for effective learning are
diminished” (p 83). Most of my undergraduate days were spent in vain. Barring a
few courses I took, I never felt the importance of sitting and paying attention
to the class proceedings. Only the obligation to maintain at least 75%
attendance and the prospect of losing an academic year if I failed to do so made
me attend classes. Even in the classes I attended, I could hardly maintain
focus. I used to sleep or chat with the student next to me. If the lecturer was
strict, I used to sit silently and desperately hope for the bell to ring.
Indeed every session turned out to be an uninspired routine since I distanced
myself from the teacher.
Boyer
effectively summed up the lecture method as it is in today’s classroom: “With
few exceptions…the teacher stood in front of rows of chairs and talked most of
the forty-five or fifty minutes. Information was presented that often students
passively received. There was limited opportunity for positions to be clarified
or ideas challenged” (p 86). In my undergraduate days, since every one of my
classmates was registered for all the mandatory 28 credits in a semester, we
used to have eight fifty-minute class sessions a day, six days a week. The
instructors used to lecture for most of the time. Naturally, it was hard for
the students to concentrate and maintain focus all day and all week. Only when
the class had turned a bit noisy with all the student chatter, did the lecturer
ask questions randomly to get the students’ attention back into the class. Most
of the time, the lecturer would only assume that the students were following
his/her lecture. Only some students were able to follow the class but no one
ever cared about the students who fell behind. Those students who fell behind
were left behind. The students who felt a bit confused with the concept being discussed
hesitated to ask questions, fearing humiliation in front of the whole class. Some
lecturers were only concerned with maintaining low decibel levels in the
classroom. They ended the session satisfied if they had accomplished the task
of maintaining low decibel levels. The success of a class session was not
measured in the number of students understanding a particular concept, but was
attributed to lower student decibel levels.
Whether
students understand a concept or not, whether they have time to revise or even
to study, they have to pass the test. This is, in fact, the primary reason why
many students have recourse to cheating. Boyer stated that “the activities like
cheating on assignments and buying term papers erode the quality of education,”
(p 84) with which I strongly agree. I had a classmate who scored full marks on
the midterm but failed the final exams since he cheated on the midterms, but had
learned nothing during the entire semester. Even many of my lecturers, unable
to control the situation, used to announce the questions for the upcoming test.
They tried their best to help students pass the test. This kind of effort to
reduce the gap only widens the gap and causes discredit to the instructors, ultimately
leading to the dissatisfaction of both the students and the lecturers, and eroding
the quality of education.
Undeniably,
these examples are in tune with the observations of Boyer, which he termed “uninspiring
and discouraging.” Boyer also found “exciting examples of outstanding teaching
at many institutions” (p 87). To be honest, there were a few instances during
my undergraduate days when I felt privileged to sit in a lecturer’s class. I
had a professor in my junior year who taught us two courses. He used to mix the
content in the textbook with his experience so elegantly and used to make us do
experiments so passionately that at the end of semester I passed the courses
without ever feeling the need to prepare for the exams. He had command of the material to be taught.
He never failed to answer any questions raised by the students. He maintained
an enthusiastic environment for the entire semester and generated ideas from
us. He guided our imagination to develop new and original ideas.
In
a classroom, the professor is the person in charge. He or she should be
equipped with all the necessary gear to make the entire session of the class
fruitful. The essential qualities that make for successful teaching are stated
in the closing paragraph of the essay, “Command of the material to be taught, a
contagious enthusiasm for the play of ideas, optimism about human potential,
the involvement with one’s students, and – not least – sensitivity, integrity,
and warmth as a human being” (p 89). The professor should have the command of
the material to be taught; only then can he or she effectively guide the
students. Students, too, should gear up for the class, since all the creativity
involves the imaginative ability of the students. Unarguably, a class is in
session only because the students have registered for the course. A professor
should give his or her hundred percent while the students should respond to the
professor’s every call. A professor should prepare the students before the
class, should thrive to make the entire session effective and should guide the
students in doing the necessary follow-up to understand the concept and make
them ready for the next class. It’s the responsibility of the students to be
prepared for the class, to actively participate during the class and to do the
necessary follow-up to understand the concepts discussed and to get ready for
the next class.
Only
when both the students and professor do their best, can a contagious enthusiasm
be maintained in the classroom. Only when the students appear to be doing their
best, can the professor get involved with one’s students. Only then can the gap
between the professor and the students be reduced and can the impact of the
teacher be powerful and enduring.
