Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Schools are killing Creativity!
After watching the TED video on how schools are killing creativity, I couldn't agree more with what was being said by Ken Robison. Maybe because being an art teacher I've seen how the arts have always been an afterthought in American school system over so many other subjects. I was so inspired by his story about the girl not being able to sit still who then was told to either be put on meds or be put into a dance school. She picked going to a dance school and then ended up being one of the top dancers in the country. It just goes to show that not all students will become professors proficient in the subjects of math, science, or engineering and we really need to be nurturing art as much of the other subjects. Ken made so many great points that I had to send this video to the powers above so I really do hope that they watch it. I worry about my job becoming non-existent as schools will become less and less giving children the ability to be creative. By the time students get to high school level, they loose that freedom to be expressive as they had as a child in elementary school. All I can hope for is like what we continue to talk about being an advocate for change but also be an advocate for the creative, imaginative, expressive kid in all of us.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
The TED video really caught my attention as well. I see how schools kill creativity in students in so many ways! My own children attended good schools, but so much of it was the stuff of the past - straight rows and lectures and paper/pencil tests. NCLB sustains this. It does not promote creativity. I see it in the districts I visit and the district in which I work. It's funny, but working with technology I seem to be fighting the same battle you are as an art teacher. I am confronted daily by tech use that sustains the teacher centered classroom - displayiing video to be watched, giving lectures as presentations... My goal is to show them that there is so much more. Not that what they do is "bad" or "wrong". It just is so limited! It's a place to begin not a place to end or sit and stay... Technology offers great opportunities for creativity, but students need to be IN the technology not just watching it, using it and manipulating and mashing it with their curriculum. Then their creativity can flourish and enhance and enrich their educational experiences.
ReplyDelete