Last year, a close friend of mine sent me this video, Do Schools Kill Creativity. It is pretty interesting and has some "British" humor. The speaker discusses many of the things we have discussed in faculty meetings, and several ideas resonated with me.
After watching the video again, several thoughts and questions come to mind. First, I agree with many of his ideas and think that some areas in school have been relegated to the back (even more so with the advent of standardized tests and the enormous focus on reading, math, and language arts). A perfect setting would be one where the other subjects are considered just as valuable.
Another point that Mr. Robinson discusses is that diploma inflation has occurred. 50 years ago, a high school diploma was the door to success. Now, an advanced degree is almost required to separate yourself from the flock.
The above, combined with hungry and willing professionals in China and India, who will do what Americans will do for less, makes the need to educate the whole child even more important. The book, Catching Up or Leading the Way addresses how we can continue to be a global leader. Like Mr. Robinson, the book's author discusses the focus on testing and lack of emphasis on "right brain" activities in other countries and the automatons this type of schooling turns out. By teaching the whole child and fostering creativity, we allow kids to invent, create, design, innovate, and many other higher level skills that will help them be successful in a changing world.
What are your thoughts? How do we do what we realize is important while meeting governmental requirements? Do we educate creativity out of students? How does fostering creativity help the whole student? What would a school look like if we followed Mr. Robinson's suggestions?
