TEACHING CREATIVITY & COMMUNICATION THROUGH LIBERAL ARTS

The US economy is certainly the most technology-driven economy across the globe. The integration of technology in every field as well as in our routine life has led to a substantial decrease in human conversations. Technology has charted a logical, tactical and calculated path for everything and anything. Imagination, creativity and ingenuity aren’t often encouraged in the world driven by machines, formulas and methods. Liberal arts through nonconformity and experimental thinking aims to fill the void created by technology-driven minds and those who value professional skills over individuality and creativity.
It stimulates intellectual curiosity and assists one to develop their perspective on the most fundamental issues faced by our societal fabric. Liberal Arts ideology aims to strengthen one to critically analyze their past, understand their present in-depth and construct solutions for a better future.
The current perception of Liberal Arts among Americans present a saddening picture.  Owing to the aggressively competitive job market in the US and escalating cost of higher education, Americans have come to think that higher education in Liberal Arts cannot provide a fulfilling career or a meaningful employment to them. They are oblivious to the fact that Liberal education does more than just providing a set career path; comparing it with vocational courses is a redundant exercise.
Liberal arts teaches one to grow on all developmental aspects. It encourages originality of thoughts and character; provide direction and motivation to explore areas that truly inspire and interest one. It explains– the essence of human life, criticality of being distinctively creative and the significance of learning communication. Essentially, a liberal arts education includes a bouquet of subjects. While satiating one’s curiosity by pursuing performing arts or fine arts, he or she can also acquire worldly knowledge by studying psychology, history, literature, anthropology, sociology, political science, and philosophy.

For a Liberal Arts educator, it is of prime importance to understand how ‘creativity’ and ‘communication’ can be taught through Liberal Arts education. Artistic innovation among the youth can be an engine for America’s social, cultural, human and financial prosperity.

NURTURING CREATIVITY THROUGH LIBERAL ARTS

Liberal Arts education is not based on the practice of accumulating certain credit hours; it promotes curricular designs and strategies that amalgamate personal and societal development. It teaches students to vision a life beyond a job and challenge our traditional educational patterns that lack sense of individuality and distinctiveness. For promoting creativity among students, an educator needs to adopt an innovative thinking model.

• The pupils need to embrace originality of thoughts as a part of learning. Through Liberal Arts, a teacher can drive the students to present creative solutions to real-world problems. This exercise can incorporate issues that appeal to student’s cognitive and emotional abilities. For homework help on providing solutions for issues that plague our world, the educator can suggest a few media-oriented programs to students to extend their thinking capabilities.
• Our minds have been wired in a way that qualities such as creativeness, resourcefulness and innovativeness aren’t seen as skills. As a Liberal Arts teacher, it is your job to develop a thinking among your students to do not see these qualities as mere traits but as proficient skills that can be broken down into smaller sets. The idea of social and cultural sophistication through creativity need to be floated among the Liberal Arts students. They need to recognize creativity as a talent which has the power to drive biggest societal changes; it gives a break from archetypal thinking thus makes it possible for one ‘to be different’ and think about the larger front. In-depth classrooms discussions and workshops on ‘creativity as a skill’ are the best way of starting a conversation on learning ingenuity through Liberal Arts.
• Encouraging divergent thinking through class assignments is another effective way of boosting creativity among students. Problems based on perceptions and on social or psychological insights can be included in these assignments; students would be required to provide break through from the set image and critically analyze the ramifications of every move they suggest. For providing homework help on this exercise, the instructor can provide case studies on would teach constructive attitude to the young minds.

• Deep learning and creativity can also be facilitated through social-emotional imagination. Clearly, those who are able to see relevance in their learnings, are more capable of envisioning an active connection between their present work and their success later in life. Imagination allows students to reflect comprehensively on every activity that they undertake; it makes it easier for students to classify their school-related tasks such as Liberal arts assignments into exercises that are meaningful, rewarding and facilitates personal growth. Imagination enables creativity, critical outlook towards new information and skills by assisting students conjure up new relationships between the novel ideas and innovate original ways to represent and apply the newly-gained information.

FOSTERING COMMUNICATION THROUGH LIBERAL ARTS

Liberal arts teaches self-expression; it encourages the willingness to convey ideas and opinions against the conventional norms. It persuades one to communicate using a different kind of vocabulary; it doesn’t have to be written or verbal communication, conversing through art could mean a painting, a picture or mere gestures that express your thoughts, opinions or outlook towards an issue. Liberal arts teaches one to effectively communicate through their preferred mode of communication rather than feel pressurized to communicate in traditional ways.

Employers in the US have been repeatedly recorded discussing the ‘communication’ issues they feel their employees have. The workforce is often equipped with marvelous technical skills, but when it comes to conveying what it is in their mind, a lot of people lag behind.

Through motivating individuality among the youth, liberal arts education teaches one to develop their thoughts, give words to them and pen them down at every chance. Liberal Arts educators need to add momentum to the thoughts and words of their students; they need to be taught using their power of free will and speech. Discussions on societal and cultural issues must be encouraged within the classrooms to let everyone participate and contribute in it. They should be taught the importance of channelizing one’s thinking and speech. Through the assertion of one’s own thoughts and individual traits, he or she can be enthused to learn the art of communication with today’s globalized humans.

Liberal Arts through its inventive teachings teach an impressionable mind to exert his individuality while also showing respect and gratitude to the society. Creativity and communication further help the individual to grow on academic, personal, psychological, spiritual and emotional level. This kind of education provides the sight to recognize complexity in every setting and embrace humility to act out.  Presently, Liberal Arts education is seen as an easy and unconventional route only for those who are affluent. We as a society needs to admit that the knowledge and skills imparted through Liberal Arts can help young Americans to grow on all fronts- social as well as economic, while proactively participating in designing solutions to tackle critical issues at both local and global levels.

Author Bio:- Aditya Singhal is the co-founder of Transtutors, a leading Online Education platform for college students. Having graduated from prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) – Delhi, Aditya has a personal interest in helping students.