How Schools Kill Creativity

Hello!

     One night I was writing lesson plans on my computer as my husband sat on the opposite end of the couch, listening to a TED talk that was required for a class he was taking.  As the video played, I couldn't help but start to listen, especially when it started to talk about school and the education system.  Now, my husband is going to school and taking courses for business management, none of which have anything to do with education or teaching.  The purpose of his class was to focus on creativity and how it applies to the workplace.  Not only did the information I was hearing in the TED talk intrigue me, but made me think that the course my husband was taking as well as the job that he currently holds are what I have to prepare my students for in order to be successful in their future.  
     Immediately, I asked my husband what he was listening to and started focusing on the information itself.  When I identified the title, "How Schools Kill Creativity", I suddenly became defensive.  Schools do not kill creativity; school was the place where I learned to draw, sculpt, paint, and craft.  This is where I was able to create a story from my imagination and act in plays about characters that I could never actually become (like a talking/singing pine tree <- true story).  I was outraged!  Who was this TED talker and what was he talking about?!?!
     I then did my research.  This talk was given in February of 2006.  The person giving the TED talk was Sir Ken Robinson, an English author, speaker, and international adviser on education in the arts.  He advises governments, non-profits, education and art organizations (additional information located on Wikipedia).  Ok, so he has some credentials but what exactly does he mean by "schools killing creativity"?  I then listened to the entire TED talk and instantly became fascinated.

(Found on YouTube and TED)

     Sir Robinson explains that "creativity is as important as literacy."  He continues to explain that schools all over the world have a hierarchy in terms of subject matter; mathematics and literacy are at the top, with the humanities following, and ending with the arts.  Currently, the "most useful" subjects are at the top because these are the skills that help us acquire a job.  Sir Robinson explains, however, that quickly our society and world are changing where this type of academic knowledge will not be as useful as it is today.  To paraphrase Robinson, in the next 30 years, more people will be graduating from college than all of history combined.  This means that a traditional college degree will be worthless and that we must change the way we look at intelligence.

     I was shocked while listening, especially since I am a self-proclaimed "education nerd" and value it with the utmost of importance.  But what Sir Robinson is saying is not that what schools are doing is wrong, but we have to change our system to evolve with the new generation.  Already, companies like Apple and Google are not necessarily hiring the smartest students from Harvard or Yale, but the ones who are showing the most innovation, work ethic, and are willing to take risks.  As teachers, we have to create an environment and  allow our students to make mistakes, understand why the mistake was made, and grow from those failures.  We must teach and model to our students that failure is a stepping stone towards reaching our goals.

     As mentioned in an earlier post (which can be read HERE), creativity is crucial in the classroom.  This is still my toughest challenge as a teacher due to all of the requirements that are necessary. Incorporating academics with creativity is what I am trying to do with my second graders as much as possible.  I know that personally, when I come home from work and am able to create a craft from Pinterest, develop a new dish in the kitchen, or design decorating ideas for a room in my house, I am able to focus on work much easier and do a better job than if I came home and went straight into lesson planning.  If a child comes home from school and wants to dance out his spelling words in the basement, or if another child wants to shoot a basket in the net when thinking about her vocabulary words, these techniques can be even more useful than sitting down at a desk and memorizing.  Students need someone to help inspire creativity in their own lives and be told that it is valued!

      I cannot wait to hear the ideas that you utilize to promote creativity in the classroom as well as continue to research ideas that can be implemented by educators in order to meet the needs of our current learners.

     Enjoy!