Jul 12, 2016

Creativity in the education by Salman Khan

This article based on the book Salman Khan “The one world schoolhouse”. Khan Academy is situated in California and is aimed to teach children in a new way. For example, there are 100 children different ages in one classroom. Few teachers lead them in the learning process based on the personal knowledge level of the each pupil. More skilled and older children help them to educate. The Academy has very friendly and creative atmosphere.

Learning to teach

Salman Khan suggests figuring out what aspect of the subject test had given the pupil trouble to ensure successful education. All students can learn if give them possibilities that fit them. It is effective to teach by figuring out the flow of a subject, the chain of associations that relates one concept to the next. No one has to be restrained or put in a way that guides to the academic failure. We have to remember that no two brains are the same.

Saint Augustine wrote that the higher your structure is to be, the deeper must be its foundation. Salman Khan added this idea: there is no such thing as an ideal learner. We have no pupils that understand everything the first time. Smart people revisit basic ideas and seeing even deeper layers, get the entire realizing that they have so much to know more. It means that gaps in learning can be repaired and we need to build strong connections between different disciplines and lay the foundation to move forward in the education. We have to revisit until the concept makes more sense.

The students have to be encouraged, at every stage of the learning process. To encourage them, use active learning: learning by doing. Give the kids the freedom to choose where and when to learn, engage them to be a part of the process, learn to make decisions as well. Also, success lies in the ability to solve problems in novel and creative ways.

The author said that we need all the talent and imagination we can find. Our current educational system tends to filter out the creativity. We need to allow the creativity to take a part in the education and to integrate the technology into our learning process.

Broken model and creativity

“Normal is what you’re used to.” Sometimes we need to rethink the normal system. For instance, make the educational system suitable to the modern world. Now system uses one way to educate but there are many possible ways as well. We need to have a fresh look at the basic knowledge about the education, to be focus on the really key problems and to get insights what really works and what doesn’t . The educators don’t appreciate the creativity and try to hide it. Also, they don’t recognize science, math, and engineering as creative items but they are.

Into the real world

In the Khan Academy are used videos to learn new things. They admitted that videos that show a dialog between a student and a professor will be more effective than just the lecturer alone.

Nearly all the students needed some degree of remediation, and the time spent on finding and fixing the gaps turned out both to save time and deepen learning in the longer time.

Its system focuses on the letting the teacher knows who needed her attention most. A student who had already mastered a particular concept could be paired with one who was struggling. Two students, stuck in the same place, could work together.

They try to learn by having productive, mind-expanding fun. The most importantly, that the kids repeatedly build, test, and refine their unique concepts.

The Academy gives a space for their private mulling in a supportive environment. It allows most kids to thrive academically, creatively, and emotionally. Because the curiosity and creativity are more important attributes than a mere facility for a particular subject. That’s why we need to make time for kids’ creativity.

The successful education may reach your full potential using your creativity and brain. Now it is better to use active learning — learning by doing. To teach by the chain of associations that relates one concept to the next. We need to start the education from the filling the gaps in some subject and then move forward. We have to build the foundation to get deep understanding and great results. The kids must repeatedly build, test, and refine their unique concepts.