Creatives wanted

I´ve published this on the Cultura Inglesa Teacher´s Portal, replying to Guilherme Pacheco´s editorial of this Month. Guilherme works at the Teacher Training Division.
I think it was worth it sharing my post:

Hello Guilherme!

One of the possible answers to the question you raised: "How can we help these children to foster their imaginative growth?" crossed my mind last week.

Last Tuesday, I had my first LANGUAGE STUDIES I lesson at PUC, with professor Regina Lucia Montedonio Borges. During the lesson, among other things, we discussed What is Linguistics, what is language and What is Grammar. After studying the plethora of information in all the texts we are supposed to read before next lesson, two quotations called my attention:

"When we study human language, we are approaching what some might call the "human essence", the distinctive qualities of mind that are, so far as we know, unique to man." Noam Chomsky, Language and Mind

"I feel very strongly about change. As teachers we must believe in change, must know it is possible, or we wouldn´t be teaching - because education is a constant process of change. Every single time you "teach" something to someone, it is ingested, something is done with it, and a new human being emerges. I can´t understand why people aren´t dying to learn, why it isn´t the greatest adventure in the world - because it´s the process of becoming. Every time we learn something new, we become something new." (Living, Loving and Learning - Leo F. Buscaglia)

There are two crucial movements to think creatively: the divergence - to amplify perspectives, to make different associations, to resort to new concepts - and the convergence - the focus on the practical ways to apply new things. The less creative ones resort to common answers. Whereas, the more creative ones, dare with alternative answers, which are not always aproved by the majority. The creative mind sees similarities where others only see differences. The good news is that we can change our behaviour pattern.

Some ways to give room for the creativity is: look for analogies, let the mind lose itself in its thoughts and look for new experiences.Studying always helps, because it amplifies the choices of information that we can recombine."Creativity has more to do with the way you absorve and connect information than with gift." Says the adman with a Major in History Flávio Cordeiro, quoted in an article published in Época magazine: "Creatives Wanted".(Revista Época 2 Agosto 2010 Nº 637).

What I mean is: teachers must be as curious as the children they teach. Why do we partialy lose this intrinsic curiosity and lust for life that children have? This is something we should hold dear for the rest of our lives, to become better persons, therefore, better teachers.