EDUCATION, LOVE, AND CREATIVITY

by Fitriani

As a student, you can imagine when you are in the midday class and you must pay attention to the teacher or lecturer who is explaining the subject in front of you, but your mind is not present, your brain is busy remembering something else beyond the class’s topic, or you have fallen down to the sleepy circumstance. Then, after the class is over, you are back to the fresh condition as the duck takes to water. This condition is commonly found in our daily study in school, even in college. However, this is not your entire fault. Who will be comfortable with the teacher who actually must be the lovely source of knowledge, but in the practice he or she looks either as cold as marble or as dull as dishwater? I think you must ignore your conscience if you say that you enjoy to study in that condition. So, we can take a conclusion that a teacher must be creative and attractive in teaching. It is because he or she does not share his or her knowledge to a group of people who has permanent good mood, the same motivation, or the same reception ability.

However, those learners, as the object of the teaching process, contain different personalities with their different teaching materials reception; even we often find a very contrast capability between them. Good teachers surely understand that the students have a lot of variation in their abilities to receipt or demonstrate what they know. They certainly know some students are good test takers, others possess excellent orator skills, while others fare best through writing. Besides, some students are individual hands on learners while others work best in a group environment. In fact, those students must be responsible to completely understand the subject, whatever their manner. Yet, we may not forget, this is the teachers’ talent application time.

As the man, the learners’ motivation to study is naturally like a wave, sometimes going up, but may be later it is immediately low. In addition, we all know that teachers are the leaders of themselves and their students. It means they must be capable to control themselves and the class in bringing a suitable situation in order to develop the learning spirit of the students. So, what they should do is that they not only must increase their knowledge and skills, but also must keep their understanding of the students. The fact is, today’s students are completely different than those of just a few years ago. Nowadays, the students become more critical and sophisticated than previous generations. So, the teachers must be responsive to that and they however should learn how to be counselors. We can say this problem needs the teachers’ creativity to be solved.

Let’s explore the essence of creativity. In this case, I mean teacher’s creativity. We will discuss creativity within the classroom, between the teachers and the students. This creativity is an innate ability and a natural outcome of specific personality styles, or it can be stated as a set of guiding principles and procedures that can be analyzed, quantified, duplicated, and then taught to others in efficient ways. Moreover, we can define creativity as a mental process in term of ability in thinking and finding something that is different from before. Why? Because the world changes. We will find a bunch of differences. Deal or not, we will face several new problems too. We cannot beat them well by our old style. Here, we need creativity to solve each problem we find in our common lives or educational lives. The teaching profession should be endured well if a teacher wants to be creative. Besides, a teacher must be diligent in finding time to share ideas and follow the expertise and the creativity of others, not only within their own school, but also everywhere as well. This may be realized through a stronger commitment to attend conferences or seminars to develop their quality, or look for some teaching styles in websites. Shared perspectives, knowledge, and experiences with other teachers are some other keys of foundational building for creativity. Furthermore, creative teachers learn from life and the experience. Applying their own experience during the class, not just applying the books theory, positively makes a natural study circumstance, and it will be more interesting for the students. Therefore, they can understand soon and well.

In addition, in increasing expertise and better understanding of students, teachers must also be active to routinely seek out new information about knowledge that will they deliver. For many teachers, the textbook is their exclusive source of information. But, other teachers often increase their knowledge with other manner beyond reading. Internet has come as a good helper. This source may help to serve various materials, discussion with other professionals, hand on activities, or even trip into the community to better understand how the theories are taught in the classroom in the real life. The most creative teachers have come to the understanding that they no longer need to be the master of knowledge. They have come to the realization that they only need to use some informational sources so they can more effectively take their message and create that message into interesting acceptable form. These are lessons that all teachers can and shall learn.

Do you know Michael Jordan? He is one of the ex-NBA basketball players. I give you a little of his memoir. While he was asked by some journalists about his secret beneath his success in being the best basketball player in his era, simply he said, ‘because I love this game’. This answer maybe too short in our ears, but it directly catches the most substantial secret in living our life. That is love. Love is not anything, but anything can be started by love.
Actually, it is very difficult to deny that love is the most important energy source in spending our time in every step of our lives. Although love is abstract and sometimes difficult to define, mainly love is identical with commitment, sacrifice, gift, honesty, seriousness, and altruism. In addition, a lover must be total in struggling, giving, and making the object that he or she loves happy. The same philosophy is applied if we talk about how to develop our education quality and if we dream about future better education day to day.

However, the most expected part in raising the successful education is the educators, teachers or lecturers. They must lead their student to the bright future and cover them some capabilities that can be used in their real life, to develop themselves or their environment in taking part in this global life. The students not only need theories knowledge, but also need some constructions to build their positive self portrait, integrity, commitment, and competency.

Let us talk again about creativity. Actually, it is the essence or logic consequence of love. That is love which is possessed by the teachers to their job.  When the teachers sincerely love their profession, they will pour more attention to make the class better. They will be busy to introspect themselves, check their minus in teaching, and they motivate themselves to increase their knowledge and teaching ability. As the results, they can handle every problem they find in the class, such as when a student gets difficulties in understanding the topic. They can immediately maneuver their teaching style while they realize their students are sleepy in learning process. Besides, a creative teacher is able to act freely and attractively in the class during the teaching process although he or she finds a lack of facility around him or her.

Simply, the creative educators are the teachers or lecturers who educate the students sincerely, be able to against their selfish, be brave in solving the problem during or beyond the class, be diligent in advantaging even there is only a very lack of facilities during the class, be suitable to be counselor and guidance, be able to gain the class’s attention, and can be always be wait by their students. Consequently, only the educators, who have a pure love in their job, can bring all of these capabilities.

To be a creative teacher, someone must hug this job with love sincerely. If in the beginning you just force yourself to choose this profession because of some reasons, now, you must be conscious immediately. You must realize that you are now a leader of the generations. Through your hand, you can bring to the surface our nation’s education. Of course, you can do it by your hand, because you are a teacher, or a teacher candidate who will be a teacher. At last, because of your profession, you can lead the generation to their prosperous lives in the future.

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