Do schools kill creativity?
Creativity = Original ideas with value
Like Richard, I think this is a very thought provoking and humorous video where Sir Ken Robinson talks at a TED (Technology,Entertainment,Design) conference about the teaching of creativity in schools. He asks the question – How do we educate children for an unpredictable future? Ken believes creativity is as important as literacy and should have the same status in society.
Ken remarked “Kids will take a chance. If they don’t know, they will have a go… they are not frightened of being wrong”. I wish this were true – possibly it is for most children in the first couple of years at school. In my experience (which is limited to a few teaching practicums and through watching my own 9 year old daughter progress through school), children hate to fail. An important aspect of a teachers job is to create a classroom environment where children feel safe to make mistakes.
A safe environment is necessary if children are going to be creative. Sir Ken says if people aren’t prepared to be wrong they will never come up with anything original.
He makes some interesting points on the value society places on the different subjects taught at schools which had me reminiscing on the heartbreak I felt when the 3 creative subjects I studies for my HSC (Visual Art, music and dance) were not valued in the same way as the other more ‘important’ subjects such as Science or Maths and English.
Are we really educating children for a creative future or merely following an old recipe?
