On the afternoon of September 14th, at the DIY Mid-Autumn Festival buffet at Gaston Elementary School, as the host announced that the buffet preparation would begin, and with an order, the eager students immediately took out the fruits prepared in advance. , bread, seaweed and other various ingredients, they are busy in full swing.
The activity is roughly like this. The buffet production is carried out in class groups. Each group independently produces an entry. It is first judged within the class, and then everyone votes to select the most satisfactory work to participate in the school competition. After more than half an hour of careful preparation, plates of unique, well-proportioned and creative works were brought to the judges' table.
What is even more amazing is that the children also gave their works unique names and narrations, such as "Ice Age", "Avalanche", "Flowers in the Full Moon", "A Little Point among Ten Thousand Flowers" "Red" and so on, I really don't know how they came up with these poetic, weird or fashionable names?
Looking at the works presented by the children, I couldn’t help but think of the saying that children are born creators.
Yes, children are born creators. As long as we choose to believe and dare to let go, they will always bring us more surprises. Freedom and exploration are children's nature and the source of creativity. Education should comply with this nature, adhere to and defend children's independent rights, and guide and promote their further exploration and discovery.
On the contrary, blindly forcing indoctrination, simply "telling" and mechanically repetitive training will only harm children's freedom and nature of exploration, and "hurt" children unknowingly.
I remember that British education expert Ken Robinson once gave a speech at TED, the theme was "How schools stifle students' creativity." He told an interesting story: a little girl took a painting class, The teacher asked her with great interest, what do you draw? She said, I draw God. The teacher said that no one knows what God looks like. The little girl said that they would know it in a moment.
Children speak without restraint, and the little girl’s childlike answers are beyond the expectations of adults.
It also makes me more convinced that every child is a born creator. Their world has no constraints, no dogmas, no experience, no taboos, and is full of infinite possibilities, so creativity blooms like flowers.
However, in our painting classes, there will definitely be many teachers who give little girls a failing grade. But for children, do apples have to look like apples and bananas have to look like bananas?
I have no way of knowing how the teacher in the story would have reacted at that time, nor how he would deal with the little girl’s thoughts next. But for me, there is one thing that I must reflect on and be vigilant about, that is, as a teacher, facing innocent children, I must believe them from the bottom of my heart and give them more autonomy and free space. Don’t do it every day. Stifling students' creativity without realizing it.