"I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do - this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it."

1.What are your perspectives of nurturing creativity in young children? Reflect on Tony Buzan’s speech and you can comment briefly about it.

I feel that nurturing creativity in young children is an important process in a child’s development. At that delicate age, children are able to learn fast and absorb the most knowledge. That is why early childhood teachers and parents should make use of this opportunity to nurture creativity in young children.

One thing that really impressed upon me in Buzan’s speech is his idea that creativity should be integrated in our school curriculum. He said in this very strong message, “Creativity is essential, it is not curriculum vs creativity or creativity vs curriculum. Because if it is, it is the same as saying my circulation system vs my immune system. And if that is the case, you are dead within 10 seconds”. What I can infer from Buzan’s message is that creativity and curriculum should come as a whole package in the education of young children.

Here are some inspiring Buzan quotes:
“The teacher is the individual who gives [children] the light and the love(desire) for that creativity”
“The teacher are the ones who are in control of the destiny of 3 billion children’s brain(creativity)”

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2.Do you agree with his statement that creativity depletes as we move on to higher learning? How do you look at nurturing creativity from your polytechnic learning experience?

Yes I agree that creativity depletes as we move on to higher learning.

During preschool, children have the most opportunity to use their creativity. There are regular lessons that emphasizes on creativity, such as art & craft and music & movement.

However, the moment children step foot into primary and secondary school, the opportunities to use their creativity drops significantly. Our curriculum in primary and secondary school are very much structured, and the variety of teaching methods cuts down to one. Books.

Just a few days ago in a lecture hall Mrs Tian, one of our lecturer, was going through an assignment descriptor with the students. When Mrs Tian replied that “it is up to you” to some questions, there was an atmosphere of anxiety and insecureness. Students in Singapore are just too used to the structurity in their education. Look what you have done Mr Moe.

Creativity is one of the hallmarks of a genius, yet our educational system does little to stimulate and develop it in children. Why? Because the end goal of our current education system is to produce good workers, not creative thinkers.

PS. I know that structurity and insecureness aren’t in the dictionary. But it is in my CREATIVE vocabulary. Creative English FTW!

"I procrastinate to stop procrastinating."

Names used for a report.

addyl:

Child who fell: Dumbledore Ng Muo Shu, 6, Chinese

Other child involved: Voldemort Bin Abdul Rahman, 6, Malay

Teacher-in-charge: Ms Emma Tan, 36, Chinese

Assistant Teacher: Ms Lily Foo, 24, Chinese

Teacher who applied first aid: Mr Yiyuan Jiu, 27, Chinese

Supervisor: Peter Kuang, 30, Chinese