Fenny Duijaniarti _ Article Writing

The 21st Century Creativity Skill in English Learning

Introduction

As we know the conditions before the 21st century took place, we can see traces of communication between nations, countries, and regions which is not easy to do. Many limitations are faced so that events that occur in one place are not easy to be known by people who live in other places. These conditions give rise to a variety of social arrangements and lifestyles. However, thanks to the development of science and technology towards the 21st century, distance seems to be no longer a problem in this world. Suppose this minute an event occurs, the next minute the whole world can know about it. The discovery of satellites made communication easier. It is this ease of communication that brings the inhabitants of the world into a common life, which allows them to interact, influence, and be influenced, as well as in choosing and determining the current and future views and lifestyles.

The 21st century is marked by the increasing mingling of nations, citizens of the world community, in one order of life for the wider community that is diverse but also open to all citizens (Nurjana Siti Ahadiah, 2019). Lifestyles that involve the choice of work, busyness, food, fashion, and pleasure have undergone changes, with the certainty that the influence of big cities will flow to small towns, even to villages. Traditional forms are shifting, replaced by global lifestyles. The pleasures of the international lifestyle began to hit. Communication technology has indeed made it possible to develop relationships with anyone, anytime, and anywhere, in various forms, namely sound and images that present information, data, events in an instant.

21st-century skills are abilities that today's students need to succeed in their careers during the Information Age. The 21st century is marked by the development of information, computing, automation, and communication that have penetrated all aspects of human life in all parts of the world. Along with the times, the competencies that need to be possessed by a child or student also certainly change from the previous era.

21st-century skills are a series of soft skills that are here to answer the challenges that exist in this century (Syahroni Irfan, 2021). Moreover, Skills are fundamental in a very highly competitive global market environment. According to Hendarman & Cantner (2018), Soft skills and hard skills are great competitive weapons. The management of soft skills and hard skills can make employees and firms more aware of changes in consumer demand (Efendi, 2021). The reason is, the collection of abilities that exist in the 21st century will certainly adapt to the challenges of the existing era.

Talking about the 21st century, the discussion will focus on the rapid development of science and technology. The rapid development of science and technology in the 21st century will have consequences on the magnitude of challenges that are different from those that have been faced before (Among Guru, 2018). 21st-century skills have become a topic that is quite busy lately. These skills are intended to help students keep up with and deal with developments in today's modern era.

Education is a necessity that is needed by all humans around the world. Nevertheless, education in Indonesia has advantages compared to these countries or other developed countries with the basic education of Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution which is rooted in the nation's culture that puts forward the character that is indispensable in facing the challenges of the 21st Century. Instead, we are preparing students to measure and add an era driven by innovation, referenced by the planet Economic Forum (2018) because of the fourth historic period. it's a world characterized by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. Thus, there's widespread recognition that the abilities required to achieve success within the 21st century are substantially different from the abilities that contributed to success within the 20th century (Puccio & Lohiser, 2020). 21st-century learning is learning that integrates literacy skills, knowledge skills, skills, and attitudes, as well as mastery of technology.

In this century, every student will learn differently, so teachers are challenged to find ways to help all students learn effectively. Educational institutions are challenged to find ways to enable students to succeed in work and life through mastering creative thinking skills, flexible problem-solving, collaboration, and innovation. Every skill that is taught must be able to help students in dealing with the current situation. In the field of work, the 21st century is much more international, multicultural, and interconnected. This paper will discuss all aspects of creativity and the implementation of creativity.

Aspects of Creativity in English Learning

Creativity is equally important as a way of adaptation. According to Wiramiharja (2003) People have long believed that intelligence, especially intellectual abilities, could be a type of learning ability necessary in concluding tasks or work (Efendi, 2021). This skill empowers students to determine concepts in a very different light, which ends up in innovation. Creativity is that the act of remodeling fresh and artistic thoughts into truth. However, other concepts of creativity relate more to small ideas associated with everyday problem-solving, experimenting, and fresh or distinct expressions of common operations. They get the concept of using imagination and creative thinking to make something original and valuable (Lee et al., 2015). Creativity is that the ability to develop, implements, and convey new ideas to others; be open and tuned in to new and different perspectives. Creativity is additionally defined as a personality's ability to make new combinations. Creativity will greatly rely upon one's ability, namely the method of one's mind in creating new ideas.

Creativity that will produce new discoveries is usually cited as innovation. Creativity was specifically highlighted because the third most vital skill for professional success in 2022. Also, a better examination of those top ten growth skills shows the creativity that's embedded in a very number of places on this list (Puccio & Lohiser, 2020). The technological era is marked by more and more jobs being confiscated by machines within the future. Creativeness in creating new innovations is one amongst the 21st-century skills which will make someone able to survive and not get replaced by robots or machines in their field of labor. Creativity is usually considered a fundamental aspect of human intelligence (Cross, 2011). Creativity can be said to have an important role in initiating an innovation, solving problems, and capturing a large market share (Sarkar & Chakrabarti, 2011). So, what's creativity? To define what's creativity, it's important to look at what's not creativity. According to Fox and Fox (2010), outline four myths about creativity: 1) mystery, 2) magic, 3) madness, and 4) excitement. Creativity isn't shrouded in mystery. It has been studied for spill fifty years with academic programs and centers dedicated to both creativity research and creativity education. Creativity isn't synonymous with magic. It is not something that's gifted to some people and not others; in fact, creativity is innate to all or any or somebody and perhaps a competency that's teachable and learnable (Puccio & Lohiser, 2020). Here are the aspects of creativity of English learning:

First, Ideation is the creative process of generating, developing, and communicating new ideas, where an idea is understood as a basic element of thought that can be either visual, concrete, or abstract. Ideation also can be conducted by individuals, organizations, or crowds. As such, it is an essential part of the design process, both in education and practice. Ideation is often the most exciting stage in a Design Thinking project, because, during Ideation, the goal is to generate a large number of ideas which the team can then filter and cut into the best, most practical, or most innovative to inspire, find solutions and design products into designs, new and better. So, it can be concluded that ideation is the brain of creativity to be built.

Second, Elaboration is part of fleshing out the ideas in a group of collaborators, carrying an idea to fruition, and adding the details to make something real, understandable, or aesthetically pleasing. Elaboration means “to explain something in greater detail.” It comes from a Latin word meaning “to work out.” Strong writing elaborates ideas with specific information; weak writing is sketchy and general. Elaboration takes an inspiring or original idea and completes it. Sometimes "the devil is in the details" to accomplish a creative task. Just as diners are disappointed in a meal that lacks important ingredients, readers are disappointed in writing that lacks specific details. We can also use writing activities to help students practice elaboration. For example, we could have them write a review of one of their favorite foods or meals. As they develop their reviews, remind them to look for places to elaborate their ideas with what they see, hear, smell, taste, and touch when they eat the food.

Third, Risk-taking is often associated with creativity or being open and responsive to new and diverse perspectives; incorporating group input and feedback into the work (Piirto, 2011). The intersection of creativity and risk-taking is the key to defining the present and future of education. This reflects the need for practical stories from educators who are open to new ideas, creative risks, and a willingness to accept new things (albeit with uncertain outcomes), in finding solutions for students and society. Likewise, risk-taking and creativity are inherently linked to the fear and failure that result from the potential for new initiatives to be taken that could risk a misstep. This interrelated element of risk and failure is not easily handled by most education systems. Globally, educational contexts are often driven by caution and standardization, where risk or trial does not match the intended purpose, narrative, or outcome, given the much emphasis placed on productivity and test scores (Henriksen et al., 2021). There is never just one way of doing things. When you exercise this skill look for new ways of doing things and new ideas but then don’t stop there. If creativity is about new ideas and innovation then you have to be able to use failure and mistakes positively. If you look at failure in this way then you will be more able to try things that don’t work the first time but might give you useful ideas for later work. According to Koh et al., (2015) to enable the creative risk element, educators make a decision about activity design. This may include designing lessons sequencing and creating a climate that allows risk, experimentation, failure, and iteration (Henriksen et al., 2021).

Next, Refinement creativity is about finding a sweet spot that can communicate ideas concisely in a relevant way, and is also extraordinary. Completing the elements of character education is important in the face of the current era of disruption. This country needs something that can make it more competitive with cognitive, affective, psychomotor, and spiritual strength. In the era of the industrial revolution 4.0, education is no longer oriented to the transfer of knowledge, but rather to create innovative, creative, democratic, and religious students with good character and entrepreneurial spirit especially in the process of learning English (Priyanto, 2020). An example is they are great at pushing concepts out further not just fixing problems. They know how to take a concept to the next level, without straying too far away from the core idea or insight.

And the last, Cyclical creativity means that the stages of the cycle are carried out in determining several aspects of the creative process. Cycles affect individual ideas, as an example like my everyday creativity normally. Starting with a plan, then a flow of ideas, then I am going into the flow of realizing ideas. This revving-up is my favorite part of the cycle. At the height of the cycle not only the flow of ideas but the particular production, work, action. In other words, create. But at that time peak, because the project rolls on and therefore the flow of ideas turns to detail, sometimes within the middle of the work, I prevent. And soon, the deceleration could be a remarkable characteristic. Not making the thing, I'm having brunch (introducing the thing to the world) or I'm slowing down within the middle of it.

The implementation of Creativity Skill in English Learning

Creativity may be a multifaceted term, and in art and digital education it has been variously expressed as thinking about the possibility, change, development, content creation, play, and cognitive endeavor to touch the surface. Creativity is one of the important 21st-century skills that need to be developed in students because we are in an ever-changing and unpredictable age. Students should be encouraged to think outside the box not only through subjects such as art, music, science, literature, etc. but also in educational settings such as English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classes. Teachers certainly have the most significant role in fostering students' power abilities by applying creative teaching in their lessons (Akyıldız & Çelik, 2020).

A person intends to be creative in making something, as well as other people who they also want creative. Creativity takes a long time and a number of obsessions. Creative people must have motivation. This is because motivation is the only and primary personality attribute that all creative people possess and need. One must prepare well for the learning process and mental readiness. Creative people want and need in making something in their area of ​​interest. They also have the necessary talent to create creativity in their domain, and they have the environmental influences needed. The influence of this environment includes the influence of family, community, and the surrounding environment. Environmental factors are 'school' and 'community' in general. The sub-areas for school factors are school setting, classroom atmosphere, curriculum, school subjects, and provision of gifted resources to students. Then, according to Chan & Yuen (2014) as for community factors, the role of parents and the community is related to the sub-sector. Sternberg & Lubart (1995) think that individual factors on the other hand are personality, intelligence, knowledge, thinking style, and motivation. According to Ma (2009), creative people can be defined with reference to personal factors such as personality characteristics, demographic features, cognitive abilities, academic achievement, thinking style, motivation, attitude, and experience.

For the implementation of Creativity Skills in English Learning, Genius Hour is a project-based learning activity that allows students to explore their abilities, for example giving students a choice of a certain time during the lesson. And act on creative ideas to make real and useful contributions to areas where innovation will occur, such as core attitudes (tolerance to ambiguity, self-discipline; group trust (Piirto, 2011). Furthermore, teachers can make room for creativity, it aims to realize creative ideas in the form of real work so that educators and students can apply and develop their creativity in managing the class during the lesson, such as when students play Lego by using ways and patterns of thinking that can make it easier for students to hone their creative thinking patterns. Design thinking is like directing students to design ideas that they will develop with mindmaps in English lessons. And finally, to test the idea the teacher can apply STEM Challenges, for example, the same as the maker space but more towards science with examples of how to paint on liquids using milk, dish soap, and food coloring. This is intended so that student creativity in learning becomes more focused and more developed in accordance with what is expected by educators and others.

Conclusion

In conclusion, creativity in learning English is the key to developing ways of learning, ways of learning thinking, and also how the process of learning. Because many people think English is difficult, creativity skills are needed. Likewise, in the application of the learning process, a lot of skills are used, and the skills needed by today's students to succeed in their careers during the Information Age are more or less creative. This creativity aims to help students keep up with existing developments. Creativity in carrying out an activity turns out to be a collection of new and imaginative ideas things come true. Studying creativity as a skill requires one to understand that the "way of things" can always be done" maybe what is being done now was the best thing 10 years ago. But one day, it must change. In addition, skills in learning English are very important in this day and age highly competitive global environment.

References

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Sarkar, P., & Chakrabarti, A. (2011). Assessing design creativity. Design Studies, 32(4), 348–383. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.destud.2011.01.002