This year I took a leap.
After years of studying and teaching English, I've begun a new journey: teaching technology. My new position has brought with it a flood of creativity and energy. I'm challenged in new ways, and I am able to challenge my students in new ways.
As I revamp my curriculum and step into such a radically different position, I find my thoughts continually returning to one central question: What is the purpose of school?
Attempting to answer this question, I have been turning to the one place I know I can always receive some expert advice--TED talks. As I began watching some of my favorites, one key theme appeared.
Schools should and must cultivate creativity.
Sounds simple enough. So why don't we see it more? Why does it seem so challenging? Why do students resist this type of free thinking? I found a few answers in these thought-provoking talks.
1. Schools are NOT made for creativity.
In his talk, the witty and poignant Sir Ken Robinson discusses the progressive and radical severing of the body from education. He argues that schools are designed to address only our brains "and slightly to one side" (Robinson, 2007). In one of his most convincing points, he highlights the fact that there are no education systems that teach dance to children everyday. Instead, as we all know, students spend the vast majority of their time pouring over math textbooks and reading materials.
By placing so much emphasis on the subjects valued by higher levels of academia, we are suppressing the other areas of the brain and body. Students are pigeon-holed into the select and elite subjects, and physical education, the arts and technology become viewed as fluff. (As in any binary, if it is not the valuable piece, it must be worthless). We have limited the creative outlets in our schools, and--even worse--we are killing the little creativity that is left inside our students.
2. Creativity means failure, and we just can't have that in our schools.
Dr. Tae enters into his analysis of the lack of creativity in schools through the lens of skateboarding, his personal passion. What Dr. Tae reveals is that skateboarding requires A LOT of failure. He shows videos of mess ups, goofs, misjudgments and even some bad spills. But he argues that this failure is necessary for learning, for creativity, for expression. He also critiques the fact that most schools do not tolerate failure. Failure is stigmatized. And after enough time, students begin to internalize this concept; in their fear of being "wrong," they often shed any last glimmers of creativity. Our schools must accept failure as part of the journey, as necessary for the development of a growth mindset. Only when this paradigm changes can creativity really take hold and thrive.
3. We still believe that creativity is something that you are either born with or without.
In a her seemingly outlandish TED talk, Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love, discusses ancient notions in regards to creative success. She reminds listeners that the Ancient Greeks and Ancient Romans believed that exceptional displays of creativity were from external, divine, inspirational beings that would grace artists, providing them with the innovate fruits necessary to create. Although I expect that most creative minds will run into trouble while trying to communicate with these geniuses (that's the Ancient Roman name for these beings), the underlying principle is extremely relevant.
We have become so dedicated to the belief that artists are born with this these supernatural gifts of creativity. Our schools must shake these notions, acknowledging the external factors that help plant, foster and sustain our creativity.
Start Getting Creative
The best ways for us to break this mindset is to first identify it. Do you value some subjects or classes more than others? Do you tend to assign a specific types of projects? What is your personal relationship with creativity? What about failure?
As you begin deconstructing these answers, check out the world around you. Does your school value creativity? How is this demonstrated? Does your school stigmatize failure? Do your students have growth mindsets?
And of course, start talking about it! Feel free to post insights or questions here! We teach students to co-construct their knowledge, let's do the same!
References:
Gilbert, E. (2013). Your elusive creative genius. [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HBJa279i8M
Robinson, K. (2007). Do schools kill creativity? [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Tae, Y. (2011). Can skateboarding save our schools? [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHfo17ikSpY
Brittany,
ReplyDeleteI really like your commentary on creativity. It was a nice touch to add the Ted Talks clips in. They are almost always so inspiring. I do lean toward teaching certain subjects more and others less. Part of it is standardized testing. I know if a subject is going to be tested they become tier 1 subjects. I think I need to become more creative in cross curricular lessons. Those lessons tend to bring out the creativity in the students too.
Andrew
Thanks for sharing those Ted Talks- I love the "do schools kill creativity". I know many teachers at my school feel the pressure to teach students to prepare for the standardized state testing that we lose time spent on teaching students how to love learning. And like what Andrew said above, if there is a way to crossover content through the different subjects would be a great way to reinforce topics and skills. Our students would become "experts" in those areas.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments! You are both right. If we were to cross literacy and math into other subjects, it would allow those teachers to still remain creative while providing students with the necessary practice and exposure to be successful on mandated testing.
ReplyDeleteGreat ideas!
Brittany
Brittany,
ReplyDeleteI've seen that clip by Sir Ken Robinson several times and I am always left feeling very moved by it. This is a wonderful topic and I think so many teachers want to be creative but feel limited by the accountability put on them from standardized testing. As a science teacher, I believe in learning through discovery. No great innovation ever happened without a few mistakes made along the way. I struggle to be creative in the area of math because there is typically one correct answer to a problem. What I've done to try to work around this is have "math talks" in which students create and share their own strategies for solving a problem. There may be one correct "destination" to a problem but there are many paths to get there. I am always looking for more ways to encourage creativity in the area of mathematics.
Jess