Tan Haoyu, Class 9, Senior 2, Shenzhen Xin’an Middle School Instructed by Lin Qiuxia, Tang Ying

    深圳市新安中学高二（9）谭淏予 指导老师：林秋霞 汤颖

    Do schools kill creativity? My answer is “No.”

    As we all know, Steve Jobs founded Apple, Bill Gates started Microsoft and Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook. These people are regarded as extraordinarily creative. So what is creativity? Ken Robinson, the well-known creativity and education expert, defines it as the process of having original ideas to solve real-world problems.

    Apple’s products enable people to live a digital life, making life more convenient and communication more efficient. The mission of Microsoft is to help people to realize their full potential, while Facebook’s mission is to provide people with a platform to share their ideas and make the world more open and connected.

    What is school education? Why did they drop out of school? Do they think the standardized school-based education system prevents them from innovating and inventing their products? Actually, these are the following reasons for them dropping out of school. Steve jobs’ parents couldn’t afford his university tuition; Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook upon Harvard’s demand, then he left school to spend more time on developing Facebook. In my opinion, it was the education that Steve, Bill and Mark received that was the most fundamental and most essential factor in cultivating their innovative capabilities.

    They studied computer science at school which provided them with the knowledge and the conditions that aroused their real interest in computer science and helped their natural talents develop.

    Therefore, school education should provide an environment where students can share creative ideas and create their lives as they explore their different talents in relation to their circumstances.

    Human communities depend on a diversity of talents. How can a school cultivate student creativity? First of all, various subjects should be included in the curriculum in order to help students to have a wider range of knowledge as well as develop their talents.

    Some students may love language subjects, some may enjoy math and physics while others may have a passion for music or dance.

    Besides, all kinds of extracurricular activities should be held, such as school sports meets, music festivals, dancing competitions, English speech contests and so on, all of which provide good chances for students to show their talents as well as solve some problems in their real life with their own unique ideas.