This week, I had the pleasure of watching a TED Talk, which I absolutely love. They are exciting, engaging, and informative ways to present information and incorporate real world situations. This week's TED Talk was given by Sir Ken Robinson, and I have to say, he hit the nail on the head! Creativity is something that we often associate with classes/subjects like Art in school. We often don't think of subject areas like Math or Reading being creative. They are often composed of skill, drill, and practice, and seldom offer opportunities for creativity. This brings us to the focus of this week and the major question that people often forget to address: Do schools kill creativity? In my opinion, the answer is a blaring "yes!" Education in our society has become the picture perfect vision of a disaster. Education is focused on test scores, data, closing the achievement gap, and inducing necessary stress on our children. Students are no longer looked at with the idea of tuning in to them and their needs, but are looked at as scores which define success in a classroom and division.
My personal experiences have shaped my strong opinions above, and rightfully so in my opinion. I taught kindergarten for ten years, and was often criticized for not using time to "teach" rather than explore and art project that directly related to content. It would drive me insane, because I think that we often forget that children learn so much about themselves through creative activities such as dramatic play, the arts, and self based inquiry or inquiry with peers. My five year old students held an attention span that was their age plus two in minutes (or 6-7 minutes) and often times became restless or frustrated when stretched too thin. This was a problem because behavior declined, performance declined, and student engagement was nowhere to be found. If students are encouraged to complete a task that they created, I feel as though we will see the opposite. Engagement that lasts for much longer as well as students that are intrinsically motivated to finish are some of the major differences that we would see.
Digital media has become such a power player in the classroom today, and has replaced many of our existing ways of instruction. Applications for reading, writing. math, sight words, and discovery (for science and social studies) have now replaced most textbooks and students can now find answers, videos, and deeper understandings with the touch of a button or swipe of a finger. Digital media has really launched the platform for incorporation of creativity and creative based projects, because students can now add video, photos, drawings, and music to all presentations and ideas. A great example of this is the SeeSaw app. My students use this app each day, and can create books and presentations to share with other students and their parents. These projects are all student created and are a true reflection of what an engaged six year old mind looks like. Digital media has allowed students to take ownership of their work while allowing them to share and launch creative ideas to their peers at the same time. Long gone are the days of colored pencils and paper, and welcomed are t student created videos with dialogue that showcase just how powerful the minds of today really are!
Source: Gardner, H. (2007). Five minds for the future. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
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