Creativity pivotal to education's success

Bae Sang-hoon, a professor at Sungkyunkwan University’s education department, gives a class on educational administration at the school in Seoul, May 12. / Courtesy of Sungkyunkwan University

Lee Kwang-hyung, professor of bioengineering at KAIST

Kim Chung-tag, professor of cognitive science at Seoul National University

Park Young-tae, emeritus professor of education at Dong-A University

By Chung Hyun-chae

Educators are calling for the nation to reform its education system to cultivate creative future leaders.

“According to recent educational theory, getting absorbed in something can generate creativity,” said Bae Sang-hoon, a professor at Sungkyunkwan University’s education department.

The question, he said, is how to create an environment in which all students can discover subjects they can feel passionate about.

“Under the existing educational system, students have little room to develop interests other than schoolwork,” Bae said. His solution is to simplify school curricula, which he believes are too demanding.

The professor said he favored a “free-semester system” in middle schools, an initiative that is also being pushed by the Park Geun-hye administration.

The pilot program would allow middle school students to spend a semester exploring future career paths without the burden of preparing for tests or studying non-essential subjects. The government hopes to implement this program in every middle school starting in 2016.

“During one semester, without pressure to study for examinations, children can ponder what they are good at and what they love to do,” Bae said.

The “free-semester” initiative is part of the government’s “creative economy” policy platform, through which it hopes to rejuvenate the economy and improve the country’s competitiveness by stimulating creativity.

Lee Kwang-hyung, a professor of bioengineering and brain engineering at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), called for a change in people’s perceptions about education.

“The biggest problem is that teachers and parents in Korea are sparing with words of praise,” the professor said. “Praise builds confidence, and thus students who receive it will actively pursue their interests. This leads them to think creatively.”

A number of Lee’s students have gone on to establish businesses and enjoy great success in their fields, he said.

“Compliments are behind a lot of successful business startups, I think,” he added. “As people are admired for trying new things, they rarely hesitate to take risks and do not feel embarrassed even if they fail.”

Meanwhile, Kim Chung-tag, a professor at Seoul National University’s cognitive science department, said Korean students had great potential to be creative but were not encouraged to think creatively.

“For example, one Korean can come up with more than 10 great ideas, while an American can generate only two or three,” Kim said. “The thing is, in Korea each individual comes up with almost the same great ideas, while people in the United States have very different ideas.”

He pointed out that the nation should build an educational environment in which people embrace diversity, as a way to help students develop creativity.

“Many different kinds of people live in the United States, and its society is willing to accept diversity,” he continued. “In contrast, Korean society has yet to come to terms with cultural diversity.”

For Park Young-tae, an emeritus professor of education at Dong-A University, the key to nurturing creative students is to encourage them to ask questions and engage in debates to learn to solve problems.

“Creative ideas barely come from one person,” Park said. “In order to have innovative thinking, one should always make efforts to gain new knowledge. And asking many questions is the best way to learn new things.”

He pointed out that creativity was only part of the solution to Korea’s needs, however.

“Scholars say that young infants have the highest levels of creativity that they will ever experience in their lifetimes,” he said. “But babies cannot build startup companies, which suggests that a well-rounded background is essential if one is to create new ideas.”