Barriers to Fostering Originality and Creativity in Students

The vision to let them be themselves rather than having to constantly be categorised into a box that society has created for them.

The limits and boundaries we put into Primary school playgrounds is where it starts too. No cartwheels, nothing in your hands so you can’t hurt someone etc. etc.
Let kids have some items and let them create new games, less restrictions at home, at school, less at work with constant OHS issues etc.
But of course people sue about anything and everything and that’s another issue of society.

A healthy amount of non restrictions so more things can be played with, imagined with etc.

the curriculum these days is very tight and there is more and more less time to teach. It is often the case as assessments expand teachers find themselves often teaching to the assessment schedule which stifles originality and creativity.

I really see automation as a threat to creativity in students

Following a prescriptive approach doesn’t foster originality. The focus is on what needs to be written to clear the assessment.

We need a system change preferably one that looks at the real job market which will involve taking away the restraints of the curriculum which is now apparent is no longer reflecting the current job opportunities for the learner

Time. We don’t have time to teach the content, let alone time to consistently deliver it in ways that enable the development of creativity. The system requires the boxes to be ticked, and it is hard to quantify, so they don’t ask for it or allow time for it to be developed.

The restraints of the curriculum

The bigger systems…..being told what to think, tick the box attitudes, not allowing individuals to explore, discover or imagine!!

Safe spaces and time to play with the idea.
Usually we don’t allow nor permit the time to “try”.

We all have mental barriers to creativity and innovation in our heads.The knowledge barrier is one of the main barriers to creativity and innovation. It exists because your creative potential is largely influenced by your personal experience and knowledge, your character traits and your creative abilities. How to overcome this barrier to creativity and innovation

If the time and effort required to produce something creative and original is not assessed, students may not see the purpose or point of spending the time and effort doing it.

Whenever i have introduced exercises such as simulated industrial experience into the lesson it generates a great deal of creativity and original thought as well as a competitive aspect. Thus deviating from the norm of curriculum content is sometimes beneficial in fostering creativity.

Time. I am early childhood/ primary trained and I have spent a lot of time studying the benefits of play based learning, theoretically this is fantastic. The benefits of this are wide spread and positively impact on all developmental domains. In reality though, there is only so much time in a day, and unfortunately non-structured, play based learning is difficult to assess. These benefits, however valuable, do not align well with the outcomes of our syllabus. Yes we can incorporate some of these principles into our existing teaching and assessment, however if we are guiding children’s play to suit an… Read more »

Definitely the lack of free time. Students are pushed from one subject area to the next without time to be creative. There is so much pressure on achieving results, that the free time/thinking time just doesn’t exist.

Originality/creativity is something that I have felt has been lacking for quiet some time. when you take this outside of the classroom how often are we seeing people involved in undertaking creative activities. It is like we are loosing a whole range of skills because we are not encouraged to be creative but it is more socially accepted to be on devices and being creative. When you put this back in the classroom it seems as if this relates to us all following the exact same pathway as each other and what has been before. Bring back that creativity.

I believe one of the biggest barriers is a rigid Syllabus that is content heavy and assessment driven.

For My students it is the need to conform to assessment criteria, performance evidence and demonstration of knowledge set out by a governing body that doesn’t make allowances for creative non-conforming student submissions.

As a teacher, it is difficult to foster this in students when we are so laden with paperwork and ensuring we all ‘stay within the lines’.

Not embracing “left field” ideas because we are not used to them and they don’t fit with what we are delivering.

Social conditioning by social media and stereotyping is preventing students to think outside the box, thus being creative.
I think it is great the new unit Critical thinking is now included to teach students to be creative, to empathise and solve problems.

Finding a way to foster originality and creativity in a science base learning is not easy. So much of the unit involve a great deal of theoretical knowledge. Is there an opportunity for innovation at all levels of study and training. There is a great opportunity for innovation and creativity in the research and development areas. But can that be stifled by the pressures of funding. Are there still opportunities for research for the love of science and exploring new ideas? How can I as a Tafe teacher with limited time and strict training package guidelines encourage creative thinking in… Read more »

Idling is a pastime, so crucial for creativity, but unfortunately, students don’t have time to be idle anymore, each moment is filled up by the sheer pressure of living in this 24/7 connected, modern , multi-skilled, multitasking society. even teachers! Whatever time and energy students have it is passed, in doing what is expected, whether it is to do with social life or study. They don’t have time to think up things on their own. Same I see in teachers, being creative is a waste of time. There are e-books, lesson plans, activities, assessments, already there, and teaching has become… Read more »

Delivery time constraints coupled with training package parameters within VET can impact the opportunity to foster originality and creativity in students

I think peer pressure and trying to conform to the norm on social media distracts students from being creative – also the fear of being seen as different if they come up with something creative (though they may be seen as innovative and smart) – they don’t want to risk doing something that is different and have not time to be creative as they are watching others be creative (on tik tok etc) – they are led by influencers on social media

the lack of understanding we have to how learners use technology

Unless the students see it on social media, there is no originality. which is a great shame

students want to go with what ever else is going – they do not want to be shot down for thinking differently

Social media is a huge distraction for students.

Glued to devices, following and mimicking, not wanting to be original to avoid negative feedback on social media

As we grow up we loose imagination & creativity due to the structural processes of teaching which further creates a barrier in our learning and in the essence of learning.

Distractedness and relegation of imagination are main factors to nip originality and creativity in people, not only students. If we give students rubric and they don’t follow, they fail. When I was a student, I did not follow the requirements closed, I failed. Imagination is not part of most of our subject content and assessment requirements.

Too much watching, not enough reading

Sticking to devices constantly can be a barrier to fostering creativity in students.

As an Educator of my Craft ,I always really enjoyed preparing creative ways to teach students new skills and knowledge, and unfortunately over time i spend my time making sure compliance is covered and boxes are ticked .this is also effecting the students enthusiasm of learning.

Lack of imagination. Being distracted. lack of perseverance.

Many years ago I delivered real skills to students, using many hands on, creative and fun learning methods and techniques.
Now it is just a rush to tick boxes and sign forms, preventing students to learn through creativity.

Once upon a time, students learned a variety of skills that built up to being assessed with integrated assessments that replicated the workplace, using creativity and originality. The system some of us operate in is stifling the creativity and originality of students. Making sure assessments are done in a specific way, disregarding skills that overlap, and forcing students to duplicate tasks over and over again to meet the compliance requirements laid out by regulators. Unfortunately, I believe the system is one of the biggest barriers here.

We seem to be compelled in education (particularly in VET) by compliance and meeting financial goals rather than fostering creativity and imagination, not only are we directed to teach to assessments, we are limited in our delivery time to ensure financial viability the student is almost the last consideration of education system – as long as we have all the boxes ticked and a signature on every page education is guaranteed

The biggest barrier is ourselves as educators We have to create and foster an environment where this can flourish We can blame something on every generation, but as a teacher/educator, we need to let our students be creative, be original, make mistakes but help them understand that it is ok to make mistakes but the important thing is to get them to learn from them I don’t know what I have done this year, but I have classes where one out of 15 students is distracted by their phone, the rest are too busy solving problems and building circuits –… Read more »

I see that as we have specific content we need to get through, while ticking boxes for accountability to show we have done this, we run out of time to allow for creativity. There is too much paperwork now, not allowing the assessors (us) to be the tool and to leave it at that. Now we have to give too much unnecessary written feedback, which could have been summed up in a matter of words orally, then the students have to tick boxes to say they have read and understood the feedback. All time which could have been spent allowing… Read more »

Time constraints to ” cover the syllabus” to get the structured assessments done and reported in time is one major factor. Teachers are under pressure to meet deadlines, so the little bit of creativity on the student’s part also goes unnoticed.
Besides, all teachers would have their own capability(limitation) to appreciate creativity in a certain area, they may not be able to nurture all students needs

‘Teaching to the test’ (assessments) and constant paperwork around this is the biggest barrier to fostering originality and creativity in students.

No time for this concept, just teach and get assessments done. Sad but true.

There is a definite challenge for educational institutions trying to ‘teach’ creative aspects or creative thinking or artistic subjects and trying to make them fit the structure of a less creative subject. We need different approaches to this.

In line with Michael’s wonderful comments, I would like to add that procrastination can be healthy and necessary. We are pushed to perform but it is not our natural state of being all the time. Pottering around in your garden or house can be essential to creativity.

The need to teach to assessments! There used to be so much more area to add creativity and originality to our courses but now its so streamlined to teach to assess that the students are missing out on a alot of the original flair that some of these courses were once prsented with!

One of the biggest barriers is the ‘systemic low value’ placed on these skills by society, education and as a consequence – parents. If it is not seen as important or worthwhile by important institutions/people why would the students see any value in it. Recently the cost of Arts degrees were raised and that of ‘proper’ degrees that lead expressly towards a career, reduced, what does that tell you?

What liberating knowledge. Give me liberty or give me death. Sidonnie Meredeth Vas

One barrier is lack of time. Our lives are so full of extra-curricula activities that as parents we feel we must provide or be forever branded a bad parent and our children disadvantaged. I crave time when I have absolutely nothing to do.