Thinkers Call For Creative Learning

University leaders suggested at a Dubai conference yesterday that conventional teaching methods may block one’s creative instincts to continue life-long learning and solve personal and professional crises. Educators now advocate "creative learning" as critical to a student reaching his/her full potential.

In an approach long advocated by Malta psychologist and physician Edward de Bono, educators said students of tomorrow must see life as a series of creative opportunities rather than challenges.

De Bono joined 20 Nobel Laureate speakers and educators at the three-day Festival of Thinkers which wrapped up at Dubai Men’s College yesterday.

Author of 75 books, De Bono’s pioneering work on lateral thinking was a central theme of the conference which included a panel of educators who asked how they can prepare "creative and responsible citizens".

Dr Kerry Romesburg, President of Jacksonville University, said: "We need a broader range of understanding. We actually train creativity of our students… The biggest challenge is keeping that creativity alive."

Richard Stephens, a member of the American Education Commission and a senior vice-president of Boeing Company, said universities need to transfer knowledge to students but they also must teach students how to define and solve problems "to put that knowledge to use".

Dr Monte Cassim, President of Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in Japan, said university is "a place to shape one’s destiny. Marriage of arts and science is absolutely critical, we have to go beyond disciplines".

Instilling creativity in students, he said, is "not just a matter of the head but a matter of the heart."

Dr Thomas Rocco, Provost of the three-year-old Greece-based Hellenic American University, said the school is "focusing on a culture of competence. We emphasise outcomes and frequent assessment of those outcomes". He said that students must evolve beyond their individual learning capacity.

New York Institute of Technology President Dr Edward Guiliano said he believes there will be a new 21st century teaching model for universities that will morph alongside a changing culture that demands higher degrees of creativity.