Creativity is vital to the development of a person, from childhood to adulthood, because of the key set of skills that are established which can be used across various activities, opportunities, careers and goals.
The One-Act-Play festival is approaching in August on the Sunshine Coast, and as a drama tutor and theatre director, I wanted to shed a light on the importance of creativity.
Although creativity is a prime ingredient in the Creative Industry; motor skills, self confidence, self-expression, focus and concentration, problem solving and new ways of thinking are skills sparked from creativity and are portrayed in life situations or other career paths.
According to an article discussing 4 stages of creativity; preparation, incubation, illumination and verification. The versatility of preparing, problem-solving and deciding are used in day-to-day activities and all career choices with different extremes.
Creativity is often overlooked as part of the key criteria to the overall development of a child in school against the logical and critical thinking of maths, English and science.
However, according to an adobe report, 71% of college educated professionals say creative thinking should be taught as a course like maths and science with 85% of people say its critical in problem solving within their career.
Education student, Tristan Bishop says self expression and a sense of play are vital to childhood development.
“It is really vital for creativity to be present in childhood,” Mr Bishop said.
“I think there is an element of self discovery to it.”
There is a misrepresentation surrounding the creative industry and whether people can benefit from it.
“I think to dismiss it all together as not educationally worthwhile is a mistake,” he said.
There are numerous youth theatre companies that perform at the One-Act-Play festival and is an awesome way for youth to showcase their talent.
Last year it was located at The LIND Theatre in Nambour and created a platform for a collaboration of emerging artists, young talent and experienced performers.
The Podcast below is an interview with Tristan Bishop, a drama tutor and education student at the University of the Sunshine Coast. It further discusses why the use of play, imagination and creativity is used in the classroom to develop the creative minds of children.
Film Lovers 