Module 1 Big Idea

       In Sparks of Genius-the 13 Thinking Tools of the World’s Most Creative People, Robert and Michele Root-Bernstein argued that “while the universality of the creative process has been noticed, it has not been noticed universally (p.12).” Their statement can be implicated in the field of education, our schools are facing the fact that “the intuitive tools for thinking that tie one discipline to another are entirely ignored (p.12).” I personally experienced teachers’ ignorance of the connection among different disciplines. When I was in high school, our Chinese literature teacher asked us to write a self-reflection after we read an article by Xun Lu (one of the major Chinese writers on the 20th century, and considered by many to be the founder of modern Chinese literature). I was fascinated that Xun Lu was so strongly influenced by the theory of evolution. He was originally a well-recognized doctor and decided to become a professional writer to cure Chinese people’s “sickness” – the sickness being the apathy and other ‘spiritual illnesses’. I was uncertain how evolution affected Xun Lu’s thinking and why scientific biology made him change his personal career choice, so I asked my Chinese literature teacher’s help. She told me that she could not provide any help because she was not a biology teacher who was supposed to explain evolution, and, as she suggested, I did not need to write how the theories of evolution affected Xun Lu’s thinking and decision-making process. Instead, I should merely write what I think I should do after reading his article, such as learning harder and striving for better grades, so I could be a successful writer. I was very confused but did not dare to ask her any further questions, and, I wrote what she instructed. When Robert and Root-Bernstein state that it is crucial in education that we need to learn to “use the feelings, emotions, and intuitions that are the bases of the creative imagination (p.13)” I am wondering what my Chinese literature teacher would do upon learning this approach, and what I could have written differently if I was allowed to examine my feelings, emotions and intuitions in that assignment.
     
      Facing the current education with “divorcing what and how in education is that knowing about things is not the same as understanding them (p.20).” Robert and Root-Bernstein point out that a main failure in our schooling is that neither the educators nor the students make the achievement of mastering knowledge by understanding, practicing and transforming it into their own knowledge. Instead, with the enforcement of the No Child Left Behind act, both teachers and students are working hard to memorize facts in order to pass various tests. As a Chinese language and cultural educator, I have taught students who know rather than understanding information. Mike, a new student of mine, showed excellent Chinese academic writing skills on paper, but failed to communicate face to face because of his poor Chinese speaking ability. He said that “my previous teacher told me it (the academic writing) is all I needed to get a great score”. Mike’s previous teacher failed to educate him by stressing that passing the test was more important than Mike mastering the language. This example demonstrates that all educators must consider a fundamental question in education: Why do students need to learn?

      I have been teaching Chinese language and culture for 11 years, and I notice that many times I, as many other teachers are, am in the dilemma of educating students knowing and understanding. If the educators’ job was merely helping students to pass the tests, why should the educators be worried about how to teach the students to put their knowledge into practice? At the same time, when the students fail to connect their schooling to reality, whose responsibility is that?

       In Chapter 16, Robert and Root-Bernstein claim that we need a new kind of transdisciplinary synthetic education (p.316). We do not need to change what we teach, “a synthetic education requires only that we change how we teach (p.316).” Take the Zoom In- véjà du assignment as an example, the course’ instructors set a great example on how they teach the course - Creativity in Teaching and Learning. Frankly, I was very confused about how to complete the assignment, as it was unlike anything I have done before. I observed the course instructor Kristen Kereluik’s samples of véjà du. Then, I copied and imitated the similar idea by taking many photos of my husband’s guitar from different angles with different lighting sets and zoom in techniques. When I looked at the pictures, I suddenly noticed that the very familiar parts of the guitar such as a small nail appeared completely different and were sometimes hardly recognizable. Suddenly, I realized that by finishing this assignment, I learned a priceless lesson: if I use my intuition, feelings, imagination, and learn to trust them, I can be creative, just like the artists! Also, the teaching and learning process can be different if we think outside of the box. More importantly, my learning experience from observing, imitating and creating my own piece, was so much fun and I want to learn much more!

       After reading Chapter 1, 2 and 16, I cannot wait to learn all of the concrete tools to grow creatively and how to use them in my personal and educational life!