I have watched several of Sir Ken Robinson’s speeches on education, but one of my
favorites is his speech entitled “Do School’s Kill Creativity.” Through the use
of humor, personal experiences, and reasoning he is able to make a very
compelling argument towards the lack of creativity in education. I think that
one of the most bold statements he makes is that “ . . . being wrong isn’t the
same thing of being creative. If you are not prepared to be wrong, you will
never come up with something original” (Sir Ken Robinson, 2007). He goes on to
say that kids will take a chance if they do not know the answer. They are not
frightened of being wrong. By the time they are adults they transition into
being frightened of being wrong because of educating them out of their creative
capacities. Our educational systems have trained them to believing that
mistakes are the worst things you can make (Sir Ken Robinson, 2007).
I do believe creativity is still present in education, but
only when it does not get in the way of completing the task at hand. Throughout
our educational system we grade students on his or her ability to get the
correct answer or solve the problem. We barely ever grade them on creativity
and the process. Why don’t we ever listened to what we as teachers all preach,
and actually evaluate the students by means of creativity and his or her
process of trying to solve the problem. Even if they do not get the correct
answer, it still is a valuable lesson. I personally feel that one of the
greatest life long skills and skills you can have while in school is being an
effective problem solver. How can we instill this within our students if we are
so focused on a testing material that does not involve creativity? If you think
about it, when is creativity applied or evaluated during standardized testing?
I may be wrong, but I don't think it is.
Yes, I understand the importance of getting the right answer
and why the process is only part of the overall activity. I would have to argue
though that at the lower levels of education, the process should be more
important. In higher-level education you are preparing for real life
application where getting the correct answer is critical. In lower-level
education you are more focused on understand why and how. This is a learning
process that needs creativity for valuable learning. In my classes, I am
fortunate enough to design a curriculum that is project oriented. This allows
for the use of digital media and creativity on a daily basis. The students
still need to understand the background knowledge, but they are evaluated more
on the process than the end result.
Through digital media in my classroom, students are able to
research topic more effectively than using a book, design his or her idea in a
ray of different means, and communicate his or her solution to the problem /
task at hand in an engaging and visually appealing way. For example, I gave my
Graphic Design class students the problem of designing, creating, and marketing
a custom key chain for a company. The students were able to research the
company and the size and material of key chains. They then were able to use a digital
tablet to hand sketch their ideas into the computer where they later refined
them through computer applications. Next, they were able to output them in the
form of either 3D printing them in ABS plastic or laser engraving them out of
any accessible material, such as plexy glass. They then were able to do the
same process when creating a package design. Finally, they were able to
communicate the result through a digital visual presentation.
Incorporating more digital
media applications like this into our every day class activities will help
instill creativity into education. In a speech that Gardner did at the Ecolint Meeting in Geneva, he quoted two famous minds, Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. and
philosopher Ralph Emerson. “Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. said, ‘Intelligence
plus character—that’s the goal of true education’. And philosopher Ralph
Emerson said, ‘Character is more important than intellect’ (Gardner, 2008).
Gardner, H. (Director) (2008, January 13). Five Minds for
the Future. Annual Educational Conference. Lecture conducted from
International School of Geneva, Geneva.
Sir Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity? - YouTube . (n.d.). YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. . Retrieved May 31, 2012, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY
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