Freedom and Creativity: An Approach to Science Education for Excellent Students and Its Realization in the Israel Arts and Science Academy's Curriculum

Abstract

The contemporary world of knowledge, characterized by an explosion of information and ways of communicating it, requires creativity more than ever in handling scientific knowledge. Thus, science education, especially for the gifted, must encourage the development of creativity. But, as creativity is not something that can simply be taught, we must create the conditions for its development. The main condition is freedom—freedom to raise original unorthodox ideas, freedom to deal with complex issues even when the student's body of knowledge is insufficient, and, most importantly, freedom to fail. This article describes, through examples, the main principles of the science education program in the Israel Arts and Science Academy and how the foregoing ideas are translated and applied there.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Berlin

(1969). Two concepts of liberty. In Four Essays on Liberty (pp. 51–132). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

de Bono

(1990). I am right, you are wrong. Middlesex, England: Penguin.

Diezmann

Waters

(2000). An enrichment policy and strategy for empowering young gifted children to become autonomous learners. Gifted and Talented International, 15(1), 6–18.

Landau

(1990). The courage to be gifted. Tel Aviv, Israel: Devir.

McCann

(2002). Identification of the gifted: A specific focus on students gifted in science and mathematics. In Proceedings of the Korean International Conference on Education for the Gifted in Science (pp. 1–2). Pusan, Korea: Science Dream, GT.

Renzulli

J. S.

Reis

S. M.

(1986). The Enrichment Triad/Revolving Door Model: A schoolwide plan for the development of creative productivity. In Renzulli

(Ed.), Systems and models for developing programs for the gifted and talented (pp. 216–265). Mansfield Center, CT: Creative Learning Press.

Sternberg

Lubart

(1992). Creative giftedness: Theory, speculation, and data. In Colangelo

Assouline

S. G.

Ambroson

D. L.

(Eds.), Talent development: Proceedings from the 1991 Henry B. and Jocelyn Wallace Symposium on Talent Development (pp. 66–89). New York: Trillum Press.