Creativity and Curiosity: My Thoughts - Special Post #12A

I want to begin this post with my favorite poem. Here is "Curiosity" by Alastair Reid:

"Curiosity

may have killed the cat; more likely
the cat was just unlucky, or else curious
to see what death was like, having no cause
to go on licking paws, or fathering
litter on litter of kittens, predictably.

Nevertheless, to be curious
is dangerous enough. To distrust
what is always said, what seems
to ask odd questions, interfere in dreams,
leave home, smell rats, have hunches
do not endear cats to those doggy circles
where well-smelt baskets, suitable wives, good lunches
are the order of things, and where prevails
much wagging of incurious heads and tails.

Face it. Curiosity
will not cause us to die–
only lack of it will.
Never to want to see
the other side of the hill
or that improbable country
where living is an idyll
(although a probable hell)
would kill us all.

Only the curious have, if they live, a tale
worth telling at all.

Dogs say cats love too much, are irresponsible,
are changeable, marry too many wives,
desert their children, chill all dinner tables
with tales of their nine lives.
Well, they are lucky. Let them be
nine-lived and contradictory,
curious enough to change, prepared to pay
the cat price, which is to die
and die again and again,
each time with no less pain.
A cat minority of one
is all that can be counted on
to tell the truth. And what cats have to tell
on each return from hell
is this: that dying is what the living do,
that dying is what the loving do,
and that dead dogs are those who do not know
that dying is what, to live, each has to do."

The first two sentences of the third stanza are my favorite part of this poem, and I think they tie in perfectly with this assignment.

Schools in the United States don't encourage creativity and curiosity for basically two reasons. They put the subjects they think are the most "useful" in life (as far as getting a job, or so they think) at the top of their lists, and that is tied in with the second reason which is university entrance. They don't make anything in school about the power of learning. They just make it about school, school, more school, and some boring job that they probably won't be happy with. Students need creativity and curiosity so they will have fulfilling lives. One way to increase curiosity in students is to make lessons so interesting that the students can't help but want to learn more. This way the students are always engaged and wanting to learn more. Then there is creativity. Art fosters creativity. Therefore, incorporating art into the classroom will help students show off their creativity. Teachers have to lead by example, though. We need to be just as curious and creative so the students can see how fun learning can be. Also, we need to motivate ourselves to inspire our own creativity and curiosity, and that motivation should come from wanting what's best for our students. Everything we do should revolve around our students. For their sake, we need to be willing to do whatever it takes to ensure they have the best learning experience possible because I think they deserve it. Don't you?