Do Schools Kill Creativity?

Sir Ken Robinson's 2006 TED Talk made me seriously think about how schools and teachers can kill the creative minds of children. Some of the things that Robinson said that I found very interesting were that creativity is as important as literacy and we should treat them both as equals. We, as teachers, are caught up in teaching children Math, Science, and Language Arts first and we let the rest fill in when possible. Not all students will be good at these subjects - is it fair that they should suffer through them and put their interests in other subjects on the back burner? I certainly do not think so. Another thing I found interesting was when he said children are not frightened of being wrong. I have realized that adults make them feel that way, especially in schools. We are always looking for the right answers and look down on the wrong ones. We are teaching kids not to take chances and not go to outside of their comfort zone. After watching this video, I have discovered that we all think this way and we prevent children from being original. This both surprises me and troubles me all at once.

I also found the story about Gillian Lynne to be extremely amazing. To think that she could have been put on medication to "calm her down" seems wildly outrageous to me. It is quite possible that we have already done this to many children. It would be very comforting to think that there are more people out there like her childhood specialist who, instead of diagnosing and labeling her, was able to let her talents flourish by suggesting her mother take her to a dance school. If there is one thing that educators take from this video, I hope that it is the realization that not all students who are distracted or not paying attention have a disability but may need to "move to think", as Robinson says.

Two things surprised me during this TED Talk. One was the fact that we get educated out of creativity rather than growing out of it. Once we go to school, our capacity to be creative diminishes and when it is not used, it is lost. The other thing that made me really think was the fact that every education system around the world uses the same hierarchy or subjects, in that Math, Science and Languages come first and the Arts come last. I have never thought about this before and I can now see how true that really is. This is outrageous to me, since not all children have an interest in these three subjects.

It is very troubling to me that teachers help to squander the talents of young children. Going back to the case of Gillian Lynne - her amazing talents could have went unrecognized if it was never brought forth that she needed to move to think. Isn't it our job, as educators, to bring out the very best in children and not to put them down in any way? I believe it is important to get to know each child in your classroom for this reason. It is also important to take into consideration Gardiner's Multiple Intelligence Theory when teaching, since not all students will learn the same way. I believe we were shown this video in class for this reason - so that we come to realize and hopefully prevent a student's creativity from being diminished because of school.