Here is how Hong Kong education is killing our creativity and innovation
Recently, I watched a 2006 TED Talk video called “Do schools kill creativity?” Although the talk was given by creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson some 10 years ago, it is still relevant today, especially for Hong Kong.
Is our education system killing students’ creativity? I’d say so, definitely.
Hong Kong students have enough resources but they are not encouraged to think critically. They have to memorise a lot which does not allow them to develop their unique talents.
What’s more, local secondary students are under so much pressure from the DSE that they have little time to do things that they are interested in.
As a result, Hongkongers have a high education level, but very few things are invented in the city. This shows that we lack creativity. Our education system is responsible for this.
Creamy Chan Ka-ying, Leung Shek Chee College
From the Editor
Thank you for your letter, Creamy. As you wrote that, I am learning about a psychologist by the name of Carl Rogers. Rogers grew up on a farm in the US, in a very strict family. He had little contact with the outside world because his family were very religious. Nevertheless he went on to become a top psychologist.
His idea is that every human has the desire to be the best they can be. He had some great views on education, which I’ll share with you from my textbook, Personology: From Individual to Ecosystem, by W. F. Meyer, C. Moore and H. G. Viljoen.
Rogers believes meaningful learning will happen when students are in an environment that is open and accepting, where they are able to explore things that are meaningful to them. He says teachers shouldn’t be the “faceless representatives of the syllabus”, but should be warm and sensitive, and accept students for who they are. The teachers should be there to help students by giving them access to knowledge, but the students themselves should get to decide what they want to learn and how they want to learn it.
It’s definitely an interesting idea.
Susan, Editor