FOSTERING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE THINKING IN TEACHERS THROUGH EXPOSURE TO ART EXPERIENCES FOR QUALITY EDUCATION

Abstract

It is often said that no education system can rise above the quality of its teachers. It is imperative therefore, that the quality of the teachers should be appreciably above that of the learners, to facilitate quality education in the overall development of the nation. Art has robust experiences to equip its recipients with the technical-know-how of creative and innovative thinking to broaden their reasoning for quality service delivery. Most times, products of teacher training institutions are confined to the study of the particular course for which they are admitted and are not allowed to interact with other relevant disciplines such as Fine and Applied Arts, due to the structure of the curriculum for each course of study. This limits the scope of the would-be-teachers and deprives them of the possibilities of understanding creativity and innovation. The paper therefore focuses on understanding creative and innovative thinking and its implications to teaching and learning. It reveals the robust nature of art and its experiences which can be leveraged upon by teachers to enhance creative and innovative thinking for quality education. It identifies some of the challenges of the 21st century bedeviling todays’ teachers which can be tackled with insightful knowledge of art with its creative and innovative tendencies. The paper concludes that creative and innovative thinking will boost the imaginative thinking of the teachers and enrich their language from using one language of spoken word to using nonverbal or visual imagery in solving teaching learning problems. The paper recommends that an art section or a department of Fine and Applied Arts should be created in all educational institutions, be it primary, secondary and tertiary, to cater for the need of development of Nigeria citizens in creative and innovative thinking. It suggests ways teachers can be better equipped for efficiency and productivity and proffers recommendations on how to entrench creative and innovative thinking in every teacher for quality education in Nigeria for a better tomorrow.