Obstructing Creativity

Reem Abdelmagid | April 8th, 2020 | Student Life

Stanton College Preparatory School gains much of its prestige from students’ above average test scores, making testing culture an integral part of its environment. Amidst preparing for these tests, students must also work to maintain their grade point average (GPA) while keeping up with the academic rigor of high school, which may force students to sacrifice their creativity for the sake of their grades. 

“Stanton overall is solely academic,” said senior Yoe Moo. “It’s very competitive. You can see artwork in the hallways that shows creativity, but at the same time, it’s all about academics and getting into the college of your dreams.”

Standardized tests and GPA play a large role in getting accepted to the college of a student's choice. Some students feel this standardization can leave little space for creativity. Certain skills can create a mindset where there is only one way to solve a problem. This promotes an inflexible way of thinking that can limit students' cognitive abilities. 

“While some students can strive with standardization, not all are able to,” said sophomore Ansley Mercer. “When students are taught more freely, teachers can adapt to an individual’s needs. Through a more freely taught class, students would be able to more efficiently absorb the material.”

However, while some students struggle with standardization, others see it as an organized way of education that benefits them instead of limiting them.

“Standardization provides a very clear framework for progress and development, and more importantly, it holds students accountable for their development,” said senior William McCoy. 

Standardized tests grade students based solely on academic intelligence instead of including other skills. Dr. Robert Sturnberg, a professor at Cornell University was quoted in a 2015 article on Hamilton College’s website saying these tests are “often trivial with little use outside an academic setting,” and that they “don’t find the people who are going to change the world.” Students often feel the standardization of curriculum in favor of these tests results in a lack of growth in creativity and inspires disillusionment with the school system.

“The extensive workload can often hinder any creativity outside of school work,” said Mercer. “I often do not have the time I wish I had to independently write and create. I find myself devoting the majority of my time to schoolwork and, in turn, I do not get to do as much creative projects for fun and growth.”

As standardized testing becomes a more common way to determine an individual’s growth and learning potential in the United States, many high school students face a “creative crisis.” According to a study conducted in 2011 by Dr. Kyung Hee Kim, a professor of education at the College of William and Mary, more than 85 percent of children from kindergarten to 12th grade scored lower on the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT) than the average child in 1984. Current educational systems seem to be struggling to provide the necessary environments and materials that allow students to flourish as they once did.

Stanton is unique in its intense focus on academic rigor, but for students who feel this kind of environment may limit their creativity, there are schools such as Douglas Anderson that focus solely on the arts. Some classes, such as dance, cinematic arts, and orchestra, provide students with an opportunity to be innovative while not suppressing their academic strengths. 

“The administration is so heavily involved in each arts area and encourages students on a daily basis to work towards their passions,” said freshman Jacob Skidmore. “Even academic teachers respect and acknowledge the creativity of students and often present opportunities to really let their skills shine in class.”

Public school systems help adhere to students’ creativity by providing more artistically based education through schools like Douglas Anderson. 

Although Stanton is an academic magnet with a heavy workload, the International Baccalaureate program works to include creativity in the requirements for a diploma. There are four programs within IB that do this: the Primary Years Programme, the Middle Years Programme, the Diploma Programme, and the Career Programme. Even though there are students who feel bogged down by work, educational systems are making an effort to promote well-rounded students that have more than just intelligence to include in their college resumes. 

“IB encourages, but also requires, creativity,” said Mr. Benjamin Nasrallah, Stanton’s IB coordinator. “The CAS program encourages students to explore their creative energies and expand on the things they're doing and learning through reflection and deliberate practice.”

While schools are not always perceived to play a leading role in promoting a student’s creative process, the sacrifices it makes for students are not overlooked. In 2018, the Duval County School Board made $62 million in cuts in order to stay below their $1.7 billion budget, which resulted in district changes. While the Board reduced staff, reverted back to seven-periods a day, and lost 50 district-level positions, they managed to save art, music, and physical education classes from budget cuts. 

As the academic climate of schools increases in rigor, students at schools such as Stanton are expected to reach higher standards year after year. Some students are able to develop creativity by taking classes in the arts or participating in extracurriculars, but often academics still take precedence. Structured education systems in America may be designed to help students succeed in life, but by not accommodating to their imaginations, generations of students could lose their drive for creativity.