He insisted that creativity is tremendously important in education in his speech. He said present education killed student’s creativity. I agree with his idea, and I think that is true especially in public education in Japan, because students are required to derive one determined correct answer, and also they make a habit to do that.

He said that now the purpose of public education was deeply attached to develop university professors. That is because, these are good things for students to get great scores in schools and to aim higher position in the industrial society. Currently, everyone who goes to high school in Japan can enter university without difficulties, as he said the inflation of university education has been occurred. Most children think that it is the goal of their lives to enter more intelligent high school, and then more intelligent and famous university. Actually, I also think that is the very right thing, being got such education from my parents and teachers. Definitely, from my point of view, in present society, getting higher position need to graduate some intelligent schools. And it also means that it is a good measure to make excellent grades in schools because of entrance examination systems in Japan.

Lately, however, it is reported that not intelligent but personality decides one’s school records, according to a new Australian study.

 Personality is a better predictor of success in school than intelligence as measured by traditional standardized tests. Specifically, students who were more open and conscientious performed better academically than those who were merely intelligent.

Australian researchers compared measurements of the “Big Five” personality traits to college students’ grades and test scores. The “Big Five” are extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness to experience. They asked students to complete personality self-assessments, and also asked others who knew the students well to complete assessments of them. They found that the students’ self-assessments were as effective as intelligence in predicting academic performance, and that the reports from those who knew them well were nearly four times more accurate in predicting academic performance than intelligence. The researchers found that openness and conscientiousness factors exerted the largest influence on academic success. Studies have shown openness to experience to be the number-one predictor of creative achievement.

In other words, the findings told that children who may not be considered “smart” by traditional measures may still become highly successful, both by traditional measures and in their own right. And since personality may be more malleable than intellectual capability, helping struggling students to cultivate beneficial personality traits may be a powerful means of improving academic performance. In the field of education, I think all teachers should break away from admire only intelligent students, then give students their lessons which students themselves would really like to learn.

(459 words)