Schools and Creativity

I came across a video that is thought provoking. It confirms some of what we value here in Mt Lebanon in how we educate our children. The video is a talk given by Sir Ken Robinson at the TED conference in 2007. The title of the video is "Do Schools Kill Creativity?"



TED is a group is very intelligent and creative minds that get together and share their ideas once a year at an event in California. Some of the most inspiring videos I have ever seen have come from talks at TED. Go to www.TED.com to check it out for yourself. A friend of mine recently attended the conference in Long Beach this year. She posted a review here (see the Dream Date with TED post).

But what about the ideas that Sir Robinson is talking about in his presentation. I hear often about how teaching to tests is simply killing the ability of our teachers to teach what matters. I had a conversation with a teacher friend of mine just the other day on this very topic. Teaching kids how to take tests educates a generation of good test takers not a bunch of world leaders. This is one of the reasons I am opposed to the Governor's Graduate Competency Assessments.

How about his other points? Is creativity as important as literacy as he contends? That is a great thought. What is the best way to reach those kids that are in the back of the room muddling through what to them is an uninteresting lesson?

His point about how the hierarchy of subjects taught in schools is well taken. It makes as much sense as teaching science classes in alphabetical order (biology, chemistry, then physics). Sir Robinson says that the hierarchy of subjects was based on the fact that national education systems did not come into being until the industrial revolution was underway. Education systems were constructed to prepare students for entry into the industrial world. That is why the focus on subjects went (from top to bottom) mathematics, language, humanity, and then the arts. Unfortunately at the time there were no jobs for dancers or artists on the floors of these factories. The story about Gillian Lynne and how she became a dancer was an interesting one- especially when you think that Sir Robinson could be right in that someone today might have simply given her some Ritalin and told her to calm down.

Perhaps my favorite point in his speech was when he said, "If you are not prepared to be wrong then you will never come up with anything original."

Sir Ken Robinson's book which he alludes to in this talk is now available on Amazon.com. It is called "The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything".

Thanks for reading.

James