Creativity Who?
(Google)
Every child in the world today, has the potential to change the world. They could become the next president, invent something life changing, there are so many endless possibilities. In order for those possibilities to be discovered, our world needs the creativity in these children to not be destroyed. In the TED talk by Sir Ken Robinson, he states that humans are born with an amazing amount of creativity; but by attending schools, creativity in children are diminished. Robinson's attempt to creating a better future is by changing education to include creativity. He states that, "...Creativity now is as important in education as literacy."
In Sir Ken's talk, he discusses how children are not afraid of being wrong and as they get older, become more afraid of it. Thinking about the time I've spent in school for the last 10 years, I know that I have become more afraid of being wrong from kindergarten to now. For me, it's because I know that if I get the answer right, for me that means I get praise; but if I say something wrong, you can easily get made fun of for saying something stupid or just be frowned upon by the teacher because it was wrong. Sir Ken Robinson says that you have to be prepared to be wrong and most adults loose that. Even though I am not an adult yet, I feel that I am not prepared to be wrong. For me, I'd rather not say anything at all if there is a slight possibility that I could be wrong. It is better to say quiet and be right then to say it loud and be wrong, in my opinion. Is my fear of being wrong all because of the past 10 years I've spent in school?
"We know three things about intelligence, one it's diverse...." stated Sir Ken. My younger brother Anthony and I are two years apart. Both of us have brains, both of us have hearts, both of us have bodies, does that mean we have the same intelligence and think exactly the same? According to the school, we do. We both have very different learning styles, he has dyslexia, hearing things helps him learn better. I am a very visual learner. I need to see things to take it in. For the first 7 years in our education careers, we were taught exactly the same material in exactly the same ways. Some things I was able to do better and some things he could do better. Everything we participated in was very structured and had so many guidelines, there was no room for creativity. I agree with Sir Robinson that the lack of creativity in schools affects everyones future. Everyone is taught to learn in the same way whether it works for them or not and ruins the creative juices that need to flow.
(Google)
Schools are responsible for destroying creativity even outside of school. Ever since I was in Kindergarten, I have taken piano. Piano is what I love to do and it's my escape from the world. The longer you play, the higher up in levels you go. The higher levels up you go, the longer you're required to practice. With the amount of homework that schools give today, many pianists are unable to reach their full playing time and some nights, any playing time at all. This is my time to be creative, some of the only time I get. And it gets ruined by the structured homework that I have to do step by step. This is what Sir Robinson means when he says that math becomes more important than art class or music class. Teachers do not see that this is what's important to me, this is what matters to me.
In the book A Whole New Mind, it talks about how the world is becoming more right-brained which happens to be the creative side of peoples' brains. Sir Ken Robinson backs up Daniel Pink's novel when he says the the left-brained people are more dominant in the world today. Sir Robinson is trying to get the idea across that we need MORE right-brain use in schools today and less left-brain. Daniel Pink's take on this is a little bit stronger by thinking that left-brained people won't last in this world. Both gentlemen are right in thinking that left-brain dominance is bigger in the world today and that it needs to be changed.
Sir Ken Robinson's technique of relatable stories, witty comments, and always keeping you entertained really draws you into his idea and keeps you from the occasional day dreaming. I agree the society needs to be reminded of the importance of creativity in the world without completely destroying the structure in schools. The structure should be bendable but not broken. If schools today take creativity into consideration, they will perfectly balance each other out and create a world where right-brained people and left-brained people can thrive in our world today, tomorrow, and every day in the future.
Sources: "Google Images." Google. Web. 17 Apr. 2011. .
"Google Images." Google. Web. 17 Apr. 2011. .
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