Are Schools Killing Creativity
A thought provoking video from Sir Ken Robinson, who makes an entertaining and 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.
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.
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It is so sad that the education system around the world is killing that creativity. Finally, someone else is saying what I have been saying. Albert Einstein said, “Knowledge is limited, but creativity encircles the world.” I too believe that every person has creative ability. It only lacks the environment to let it free.
I am an art teacher, three of my six children are also artists not because I trained them but because I allowed them to explore their own interest. This is one of the reasons I chose to educate my children at home and not submit them to a public school system. I feel sorry for children who are locked up in a classroom for seven or eight hours a day where they are forced to conform to one mold, that of a single teacher. So, when I go to pick up my art students, I allow them to talk as we walk to and from class and during class. They always seems to be hungry to talk and have something they are eager to tell me. Since my classes are small I get to know the students on a personal level. Sometimes I feel slightly guilty that my small classes are not so orderly walking in silent straight lines as I see the other groups do. I understand the need for large groups to have order but I feel the school system of order is more designed for the teachers and administrators rather than the good of the children. God help all the children behind these prison bars of a school desk in restricted courses.
I thoroughly enjoyed this talk. Fascinating! Actually listened to it twice through. Thanks for posting!