Nicaragua: I'll be your platinum
Is creativity a skill that can be taught?
One of the main focuses of the entrepreneurship curriculum we are working with here in the high schools is creativity and innovation. Our goal is to foster an environment in which students can think outside the box and turn available resources into solutions for everyday life. Then comes teaching the technical components of operating a business: market studies, SWOT analysis, accounting systems, publicity, quality control, etc. Out of all the topics included in our implemented curriculum, however, I would argue that creativity is the single most important one. It is also one of the most challenging.
Sure, we can teach the concept of what creativity is: the capacity to create. But, having our students copy the definition in their notebook and then moving along to the next topic does not serve our goal. We seek to teach students how to be creative, a task which should have guidelines but no limiting structure.
Among the groups of students with whom I am working (approximately 40 groups in total) there are both creative and not-as-creative ideas for starting a new business utilizing local resources. Their product ideas, to name a few, include: flaxseed shampoo, arthritis medicine made from orange rind, eggshell facewash, lemon honey, starfruit jelly, coffee made from corn, sweet rice flour, lemon deodorant, coconut cookies, yucca powder, glitter made from glass, chili powder, rat poison, composted fertilizer, coyol oil, banana vinegar, rain gutters/roofing made from recycled plastic bottles, soccer shinguards, and paint made from a red stone and other natural resources.
As a motivator for the class, we organize a series of competitions at different levels building from school, to municipal (town/city), to departmental (comparable to state), and finally the national competition which will be in November. These events give the students the
opportunity to display their products, sell them, and show off their business plans.
This week and next my students will be competing in the municipal competitions. I work in two municipalities, so that means twice the organization and preparation fun for me. From there the top businesses will advance to the departmental level (competition set to happen on October 30th), and one team from the department will go on to compete at the national level.
The creativity concept was introduced in class at the beginning of the school year in March. Since then our students have been developing their product ideas and business plans. We shall see how the events play out in the coming weeks as they present their work from over the course of the year.
One of the main focuses of the entrepreneurship curriculum we are working with here in the high schools is creativity and innovation. Our goal is to foster an environment in which students can think outside the box and turn available resources into solutions for everyday life. Then comes teaching the technical components of operating a business: market studies, SWOT analysis, accounting systems, publicity, quality control, etc. Out of all the topics included in our implemented curriculum, however, I would argue that creativity is the single most important one. It is also one of the most challenging.
Sure, we can teach the concept of what creativity is: the capacity to create. But, having our students copy the definition in their notebook and then moving along to the next topic does not serve our goal. We seek to teach students how to be creative, a task which should have guidelines but no limiting structure.
Among the groups of students with whom I am working (approximately 40 groups in total) there are both creative and not-as-creative ideas for starting a new business utilizing local resources. Their product ideas, to name a few, include: flaxseed shampoo, arthritis medicine made from orange rind, eggshell facewash, lemon honey, starfruit jelly, coffee made from corn, sweet rice flour, lemon deodorant, coconut cookies, yucca powder, glitter made from glass, chili powder, rat poison, composted fertilizer, coyol oil, banana vinegar, rain gutters/roofing made from recycled plastic bottles, soccer shinguards, and paint made from a red stone and other natural resources.
As a motivator for the class, we organize a series of competitions at different levels building from school, to municipal (town/city), to departmental (comparable to state), and finally the national competition which will be in November. These events give the students the
opportunity to display their products, sell them, and show off their business plans.
This week and next my students will be competing in the municipal competitions. I work in two municipalities, so that means twice the organization and preparation fun for me. From there the top businesses will advance to the departmental level (competition set to happen on October 30th), and one team from the department will go on to compete at the national level.
The creativity concept was introduced in class at the beginning of the school year in March. Since then our students have been developing their product ideas and business plans. We shall see how the events play out in the coming weeks as they present their work from over the course of the year.
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