The creative minority in our schools.

Today's economic, social and scientific problems cry out for creative solutions. Although we have an abundance of higher learning institutions and spend large amounts of money on education, we are tapping only a small number of the creative minds we need so badly. This need for creative talent is urgent. It is not enough to train more engineers, scientists or mathematicians unless we also encourage more creative individuals.

Humankind is not destined merely to share in the accumulation of knowledge. Rather, the ability to see new relationships enables us to originate basic concepts. An important function of education is to develop the individual's creative powers and latent abilities.

Much can be said about why we are not developing these innovative minds. One obvious fact is that our yardstick for measuring the individual has been too narrow and too short. We have placed too much emphasis on rational reasoning and on standardized tests. While we may be finding some of those students possessing a high degree of academic intelligence, we are ignoring the creative minority, who are equally essential to our progress in the world.

The very nature of these individuals defies definition or placement into predetermined categories. Their special ability to solve problems in new and unique ways is not measured by intelligence tests as now constructed. There is a difference between being educated and applying creative knowledge. The American education system, for all its well-intended efforts to educate the individual for a purpose in life, fails to serve the individual's greatest need--that of self-actualization.

It is my contention that the U.S. education system is not designed to attract, interest or hold creative minds. I believe the key lies in the definitions of the words "develop" and "educate." Current educators seem concerned with molding students to fit into existing society. We should be more concerned with the individual as a unique person and a contributing member of society. By developing the potential of the individual, we enhance the net worth of society as a whole. Educators must ask themselves the following questions. What is each student's potential? What unique abilities or talents does he or she have? How can I help him or her make the best use of these natural traits? That is the primary obligation of education.

Accepting and developing the differences among students is one of the greatest and most persistent challenges facing teachers, administrators and all who share in the responsibility of educating our young citizens. Size and cost too often encourage impersonal solutions that ignore the needs of the individual. Mass-grouping and standardized curriculum, tests and institutions are squeezing individuals into a common mold. By focusing on numbers, rather than individuals, the schools are departing from their historic role of emphasizing the teacher-pupil relationship. Instead, the preferred method today seems to be manipulating teachers and pupils into mechanically functional administrative arrangements. In this respect, schools do much to negate, rather than enhance, the qualities they strive to teach. We must find ways to increase efficiency without losing the individual in the process.

When confronted with the word "creative," we immediately feel compelled to define it. Many learned scholars have attempted to pinpoint its essence without fully explaining the process by which it can be understood. "Creativity" is not necessarily a product. Rather, it is a process that we are just beginning to realize can be taught. How have we failed to teach this process within our school system? We fall short by: not recognizing potential, not allowing enough latitude in our thinking, discarding courses that enhance creative thinking, relying too heavily on the I.Q. test for our leadership, subduing attempts to retain individuality and ridiculing students who display originality in their thinking.

We have perpetuated these crimes by following a materialistic system of values, promoting and praising the mediocre and failing to take advantage of opportunities. A certain disparity is evident in our education system. We worship the sports program and cheer the band, but we pay scarce attention to achievements in the arts or creative writing. We teach students to recall knowledge and use logic, but we neglect the need to think with any degree of originality.

There are many ways to erase these deep-rooted negative attitudes toward the dwindling creative minority. We could search for those individuals who show creative potential within our schools and provide avenues for their efforts to be more productive. We could remove the social and financial barriers that keep creative people from achieving their potential. We could learn to respect these unique individuals, rather than viewing them as misfits. We could become less critical of imaginative ideas. And lastly, we could respect originality wherever it emerges.

What are some of the characteristics of a creative person? The process seems to vary with each individual, but a discernible pattern exists that suggests a definable thinking process. When most people are faced with a problem, they generally focus only on knowledge and experience that is closely related to the problem. The creative person, however, makes use of all knowledge and experience, related or not, to arrive at a solution. Therefore, a creative person is more likely to discover a new, unique solution.

If we are to identify creative individuals, we must learn to distinguish them from other individuals. Creative persons tend to have sharper perception and be more observant. They demonstrate a willingness to take risks and to be in the minority. They are generally self-sufficient, self-assertive and independent of judgment. They attempt difficult and complex endeavors. They stand ready to abandon old classifications and to acknowledge new possibilities.

Of course, knowledge is crucial for problem solving. Creative imagination cannot soar without facts any more than an automobile can run without gasoline. Computers are expert in analyzing, using logic and other phases of reasoning. But it is practically certain that no machine can outperform the human brain when it comes to using the imagination. Imagination allows people to shape their own futures.

Unfortunately, we become less creative as we grow older, a fact that has been established by many researchers. One explanation for this change is that the discipline of living and the pressures of our cultures and environments tend to sharpen our critical abilities and dull our imaginations. In this push-button age, only a few of us can count on our daily activities to keep our minds functioning with any degree of creativity. Modern living and industrial occupations seldom require ingenuity. As a consequence, there are fewer and fewer demands to cultivate this valuable resource. Consequently, a very distinctive and important class results--a creative class composed of the relative few who have managed to retain and develop the valuable natural trait of creativity.

There are many obstacles to developing creative potential, including:

* failing to use all our senses in observing

* failing to define the problem more carefully

* narrowing the scope of our inquiry

* bending under the pressure of conformity

* overemphasizing our competition

* placing excess faith in reason

* lacking patience and willpower

* relying on authority

* fearing mistakes

* placing too much value on other people's opinions.

The greatest obstacle of all is not having enough confidence in our own abilities.

The phenomenal growth of the United States in its formative years is often credited to the ingenuity of pioneers. Americans are losing the valuable characteristic of ingenuity. Faced with a world of conflicting interests and increased competition, the number of creative thinkers has dwindled to an alarming extent. Survival in a world of conflicting interests and aggressive competition demands more creative individuals. We must produce innovative and productive ideas. Creativity is the lifeblood of any progressive and prosperous nation.

Alex Whitson is a retired art educator and author of children's stories.