STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING THE IMAGINATIVE AND CREATIVE COMPETENCE OF STUDENTS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS (Published)
Recognizing the several roles that education can play in turning a country around had prompted the Nigerian nation to change from the system of education that was bequeathed to her by the British colonialist into an education system that was believed, could move the country forward and accelerate a rapid growth and development. The Nigerian nation needed a system of education that could favorably compete with its developing counterparts in the area of science and technology, good governance and in socio-economic advancement; a system that could create a national consciousness in the citizens and a holistic development in all spheres of life. There was the need to have an education system that is result-focused and development-driven.With this challenge, it became binding and fundamental to design an education system that could transform the Nigerian nation in all respects and a system of education that is capable of building a sound and virile society for the Nigerian nation state. It was the general belief therefore, that the 6-3-3-4 system of education could make a dramatic and the desired change that the nation had long aspired to have. The system has taken more than a period of three decades now in practice, it is not too early nor out of purview to assess the product or take stock of its successes, failures, strengths and weaknesses. It is with this in view, that this paper has tried to look at one of the cardinal components of the New National Policy on Education, its functionality, how much it has impacted or challenged the imaginative and the creative competence of the Nigerian child especially at the secondary school level and how much it has transformed the beneficiaries of the system and the entire sectorial life of the Nigerian nation. In doing this, the paper has tried to look at few of the core techniques of teaching that are used often by teachers and how the traditional teaching techniques could be assisted to provoke the latent imaginative and the creative ability of the child by teachers in our secondary schools so as to achieve the goals that were set for the 6-3-3-4 system of education. To address this impasse, the study has stressed how the traditional teaching techniques could be fostered and be better strengthened through the use of strategies that could help to transform theories and practices learnt by students in the classroom to functional assets. In addition, how the strategies could synchronize with the existing teaching techniques to make a change in secondary school teaching and make learning easier was given a pertinent consideration. Recognizing the preponderance of the challenges foisted on our education system, some recommendations were made to the relevant bodies that oversee the running of education in Nigeria and, to those who are suppose to complement the efforts of those vested with the responsibility of managing the education industry in Nigeria
Keywords: Creativity, Imaginative competence, Innovation, Self-actualization, Self-improvement, Self-realization