Needed: Less curriculum content, more creativity, innovation

"Certainly on the road of failure... hopeless... rather a clown in the class and wastes other people's time."

These were some of the words a school report used to sum up performance and abilities of a boy called John. For John, learning by rote and memorising pages proved to be a Herculean task. He was labelled a failure. However, John the boy left school one day... and became John Lennon.

This true story leads to the question: 'Are we measuring what we value or do we merely value what we can measure? One reply could be: 'The importance of examinations may, on account of the high place it occupies in an unwisely managed school, become unduly exaggerated. The fear of an approaching examination has been known to rob school life of a good deal of its spontaneity and freshness.'

This is quote from a British Board of Education report published way back in 1937. It is as true today as it was then... in Malta too. We have an overcrowded content-based curriculum and we have never truly invested in pupil creativity as an effective form of teaching and learning at our schools.

On January 7, the European Commission launched 2009 as the European Year of Creativity and Innovation with the theme 'Imagine. Create. Innovate'. From an educational perspective, the aim is primarily to stimulate all educational stakeholders to reflect on the extent to which children are experiencing quality time learning creatively at schools. A challenging task indeed.

Why do we still have students who fail? In his 2008 book, Leadership with a Moral Purpose - Turning your School Inside Out, Will Ryan says some of the possible reasons - which are deeply embedded into the educational system - include our learning hierarchy being based on age rather than stages or levels, excessive emphasis on speed at the expense of quality or thinking time, stressful preparation for and on passing exams, fear, lack of relevance, children's needs being given second rather than first priority, and inappropriate marking and feedback.

But do teachers have time to teach thinking skills? Teachers who try to, often hear their children complain 'But teacher, we didn't write anything today', meaning 'we didn't learn anything'.

How can the syllabus be fully covered in time for exams? What would parents' reaction be when they see less written work on copybooks when compared to students in other classes? Who would appreciate and support teachers who seek to go beyond the short-term exam objectives to develop children's thinking skills?

Learning is very often narrowly defined and presented as a temporary acquisition of knowledge for examination purposes. Rather than following a system where exams dictate what should be done in class and where teachers are stressed out to coach children to answer questions, children should learn how to learn, question and solve problems.

In her 1999 book From Thinking Skills to Thinking Classrooms: A Review for Developing Approaches for Developing Thinking, Carol McGuiness defines classrooms as places where thinking, questioning, predicting, contradicting and doubting are actively pursued not merely tolerated. Throughout the Gozo College we emphasise that learning is only effective when it leads to independent learning. Learning should be seen as a discovery of knowledge and the development of literacy and social skills, self-esteem and self-confidence.

The curriculum is undoubtedly the main vehicle through which children learn. The problem is that it is seen as the content rather than a source of discovery and fulfilment. This content is believed to lead to intelligence, to be able to pass exams and receive certificates. But frankly, what skills are children getting out of this content and strategy?

In his 1984 book Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligence, Howard Gardner identified nine different types of intelligence: the verbal linguistic, logical mathematical, visual spatial, bodily kinaesthetic, musical rhythmic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalistic and existential.

In Maltese schools, there is a lot of emphasis on the verbal linguistic and the logical mathematical. What about the other seven types of intelligence? Why are they not included, or given only marginal importance in the curriculum? Are they perceived as less important culturally? Or is it because such intelligences are not measured by written exams?

It is said that success in life is 80 per cent determined by emotional intelligence and 20 per cent by IQ. If we truly believe all children have different needs and abilities, then our schools need to adapt to these needs, otherwise some will struggle and fail.

But is this possible? Taking a glance at the Gozo College, one immediately notices that multiple intelligences are given a lot of importance across all schools. This is evident from college's policy of de-streaming all classes, introducing successful team teaching strategies and establishing a Celebration Day in every school within the college to promote a culture of learning attainment, collaboration and collegial spirit among all stakeholders.

Albert Einstein once said that imagination is more important than knowledge. If we need a creative and flexible workforce in future, we definitely cannot rely anymore on a system that has repeatedly failed.

Laying foundations of new policy-making, implementation strategies, providing enough resources and using technology are only a means to an end. Resources in themselves will not lead to a creativity culture at our schools. Teachers and children should be given enough time and space to indulge in creative activities.

One may ask: How can teachers make Mathematics useful, relevant and real to students if to cover the syllabus they have to cram four to six Abacus pages a day for the 11+ exam? How can low-achievers manage to keep up with the pace of learning in such a competitive environment?

Several European and Asian policymakers have realised that the curriculum needs to be less crammed and better connected and offer more choice and enjoyment. In Singapore, an ex-British colony similar to Malta, 30 per cent of the curriculum content was cut to provide space for creativity and innovation activities at schools. Effective schools are ones where the curriculum is competency- rather than content-based.

Ryan (2008) clearly pinpoints this when specifying that effective schools place high importance on pupil creativity because they believe it (a) makes primary education enjoyable and memorable; (b) is the most powerful way of learning; (c) develops the brain; (d) motivates young people, raising confidence and self-esteem; (e) develops skills of communication and social interaction; (f) encourages tolerance and understanding; (g) promotes social responsibility; (h) promotes inclusion rather than exclusion in a world of rapid social and economic change, and (i) increases employability in the longer term.

Let's hope we choose the right route - the one that leads to successful, creative students. Let's not be like Alice in Alice in Wonderland. When she reached the crossroads, she asked Cheshire Cat which road she should use. Cheshire Cat said, "Where do you want to get to?"

"I don't know," replied Alice. "Then it doesn't matter which road you take," said the Cheshire Cat.

Mr Tabone is assistant head, Gozo College Nadur Primary.