CREATIVITY IN SCHOOLS

Creativity In Schools



Creativity In Schools

Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.

Why don't we get the best out of people? Sir Ken Robinson argues that it's because we've been educated to become good workers, rather than creative thinkers. Students with restless minds and bodies -- far from being cultivated for their energy and curiosity -- are ignored or even stigmatized, with terrible consequences. "We are educating people out of their creativity," Robinson says. It's a message with deep resonance. Robinson's TEDTalk has been distributed widely around the Web since its release in June 2006. The most popular words framing blog posts on his talk? "Everyone should watch this."

A visionary cultural leader, Sir Ken led the British government's 1998 advisory committee on creative and cultural education, a massive inquiry into the significance of creativity in the educational system and the economy, and was knighted in 2003 for his achievements. His latest book, The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything, a deep look at human creativity and education, was published in January 2009.

Creativity was suppressed and doing things the way you are told to do was encouraged. Not my kind of system. I could have used my time so much better than sitting at the desk and memorising loads of information I knew I would never use. At least I had a good friend in the same class, who shared similar point of view to that of mine.

Even while I was a pupil, I found many crazy beliefs that people bought into. Now, as I am more mature, I can see many more faults with the schooling system. Here are the most common and obvious school system faults:

Are traditional teaching methods killing creativity, and failing to get the best out of students? Visionary cultural leader Sir Ken Robinson thinks so, and makes the case for revamping our education system so that it nurtures creativity, rather than undermines it.

He argues that schools teach kids to be afraid of being wrong, afraid to make mistakes. They don't understand what's underneath the restless mind and body that often possess creative children, and label them ADD/AHHD or simply not bright. Quoting Robinson from his lecture, schools are “educating people out of their creativity.” Focus should be placed on creativity, not literacy.

He's is an entertaining speaker and injects stories to illustrate his points. Our favorite of this lecture is the story of a teacher who asks a young girl in her class what she is drawing. She answers that she is drawing a picture of God. The teacher informs the little girl that no one knows what God looks like. The student's response: “They will in a minute.” Priceless. You see, kids will take a chance at something, not frightened of being wrong. But after spending enough years in the educational system, they will be. Listening to this enlightening talk just may change the way you think about ...