Wednesday December 20 | 2023
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EDUCATION
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‘We should actively encourage our children to be as creative as possible in their life…’
Ahead of celebrating Christmas, the Times spoke to former teacher-turned-author Leonora Langley about why we should nurture the development of our children’s innate creativity, curiosity and imagination to ensure they become well-rounded, integrated human beings… AS we approach the wonderful time of giftgiving, I was recently taken aback by an email from a friend which made me think deeply about how important it is to celebrate the non-material gifts and talents that are innate within each of us, especially in our children. My friend’s message described the work of scientist Dr George Land who, in 1968, undertook a research study for NASA because it was interested in hiring more innovative
‘During my thirty years of experience as a teacher, I was becoming increasingly concerned that there was too much emphasis on the functional and mechanical rather than the creative and inspirational’ engineers and scientists. The initial project led Land to look more widely at the genius potential of 1,600 children aged 3 to 5 years old who were enrolled in a Head Start programme. He found that a staggering 98 per cent of them qualified as geniuses. Using the same creativity test on a group of 10-year-olds, it had dropped to 30 per cent and on 15-year-olds it had become 12 per cent. Finally, when testing 280,000 adults, it had
plummeted to just two per cent. “What we have concluded,” wrote Land, “is that non-creative behaviour is learned.” This seminal research backs up the argument in my book, ‘Let The Souls of Our Children Sing’, that the development of young people’s innate creativity, curiosity and imagination is vitally important on their journey to becoming wellrounded, integrated human beings. I believe one of the main purposes of our existence is to create. Human beings are not only homo sapiens but also homo aestheticus which means that the left and right hemispheres of our brains need to work in harmony. Wisdom doesn’t emanate exclusively from either the left or right brain but from the integration of the two. While we need the left-brain facility of logical and scientific reasoning, it is the nurturing of our artistic right side of the brain, our inward state of being, that has the potential to offer us greater joy and fulfilment. During my thirty years of experience as a teacher in mainstream education, I was becoming increasingly concerned that there was too much emphasis on the functional and mechanical rather than the creative and inspirational. There seemed to be too much emphasis on cognitive skills and logical reasoning because they can be counted and measured and not nearly enough on developing young people’s inner and invisible needs to help nourish their souls, which is beyond measure.
The pursuit of spiritual sustenance and qualities such as kindness, empathy and compassion have become less desirable than the pursuit of fame and fortune. As young people search for external validation and approval through social media, they have become less inclined to look inward and develop ‘an inner net’ of resources, such as resilience and strength of character, to deal with adversity and challenge. We need to teach our children, at home and at school, that happiness is less likely to be found in the pursuit of materialism and more likely in a harmonious relationship with themselves and others. As American writer,
William Arthur Ward, said in his inspirational maxim, “Happiness is an inside job.” Young people yearn for a learning experience that is more personal and human to help them make sense of their lives and the world around them. They already have access to most facts and figures they need via computers and the internet. By studying data and acquiring mechanical explanations, it may be possible for them to understand the intricacies of a machine but it does not prepare them for the complexities of life. What they search for is meaning in the mountain of information that they are presented with in a bid to become better human beings. As we approach 2024, above all, our present generation of young people, who are under unprecedented levels of stress and anxiety, seek personal development in the form of self-awareness and self-acceptance which will, hopefully, lead them to experience radical self-love and a greater appreciation of their own place, and the place of others, within the world. Let the Souls of Our Children Sing (Giving Voice to Their Feelings and Emotions) is available as a paperback book at £8.99 from Amazon, Waterstones and Austin Macauley and also an e-book at £3.50. austinmacauley.com
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