I was blessed with a creative bone in my body. I loved to draw and dance and sing. For the first few years of my education this was encouraged and fostered. I attended a Stiener school until grade three.
Upon enrollment at a public primary school I was no longer allowed to climb trees; that was what the metal climbing frame was for. It was safer. I was too far behind because I couldn’t yet write a story, but I could tell one with more imagination than anyone in the class. Art was a boring affair of cut and paste; hardly engaging or inspiring for a student who had come from making candles and real wooden jigsaws. Class was inside; outside was to noisy, cold and messy.
Are we destroying potential in our classrooms? Are we unintentionally killing creativity in our kids?
Today I was on the hunt for inspiration and stumbled upon Ken Robinson on TED about how ‘schools kill creativity’ which in turn reminded me of Yong Zhao (who I had the pleasure of listening to live) and I couldn’t help agree with what they were implying… we are unintentionally restricting our students and their futures.
Our education system is based on the old tradition; a conveyor belt manufactoring line pumping out our everyday workers. In the old days there wasn’t room for creativity and imagination; it got in the way of the real work. Now, sometimes it seems the main purpose is not to create critical thinkers or active citizens rather compliant university applicants.
All this got me thinking, how am I contributing to this sad state of affairs?
If I want a good review I feel like I am forced to teach to the NAPLAN. If I want to show value adding in VCE I need to teach to the exams. I am preparing students for year 12, but am I really preparing them to think? For real life? To be creative and inspiring? To be innovators? As a high school teacher sometimes I feel like the damage is done. I set a creative task or an open task and students are lost and confused.
I think Darcy Moore said it nicely in his post “If the education system was destroyed last night” that the purpose of our education should be to ‘learn how to learn’ so that students are able to be lifelong learners and critical consumers of information in this increasingly hectic global age. We should be teaching creative skills not forcing bland often outdated and irrelevant information down our students throats.
I heart Ken Robinson
When I was in infants school, many moons ago I loved to sing but at the age of 5 we were divided up into singing groups. I was put in the Kookaburras. It didn’t take a genius to work out that the Canary’s were the ones that could sing! I never before that considered that singing was something I wasn’t good at, and still remember feeling shame sitting in my new Kookaburra group and feeling self concious about singing. Talk about killing joy!
Hi Jenny,
I can empathise with that feeling! Isn’t it ironic that they chose to put the bad singers in the ‘kookaburra’ group… I think they have a lovely song. Beauty in the ‘ear’ of the beholder? We all have different ideas of what ‘good’ is.
Isn’t it funny that a label can do so much damage? Because it really isn’t even about singing is it? It’s about expression, freedom, joy and confidence. So sad that this simple grouping could create a sense of shame and stigma. Creativity crushed before it had even had the chance to bloom!
Thank you for taking the time to comment
I feel your words. However, it is never to late. Case in point – When I was in 7th grade (parochial school), our teacher asked us to put our heads down on our desk for a few minutes. She turned off the lights and put on Peter and The Wolf. This was a very peculiar request as we did not have music, art, etc. But were trained to follow directions – no questions asked. We complied with this directive 10 minutes before the end of our school day. After about 5-7 minutes, our teacher turned off the music and asked us to take out a piece of paper and pencil and write our thoughts, i.e. how did the music make us feel, what kinds of things popped up in our minds while listening to the music, etc. With mouths wide open we just stared like deer in the headlights. We were conditioned to obey .. what to do, how to do, when to do, what to say. Now we were faced with a challenge … She wants us to think freely AND express ourselves? What a novel and totally foreign idea! Our teacher also told us our writing would not be handed in or graded, and that we did not have to share our writing with the class but that we could if we wanted to. Some children did. Absolutely amazing – the creativity that rose up in those few, unexpected, unencumbered moments. For me, that was the beginning of finding my voice, and a lifetime of creative writing. Who knew? That was 45 years ago! A subsequent event also added impact for writing and simple adventures. In high school, I took a creative writing class. One day, our teacher told us were were going outside for class. That in and of itself was unusual. She rolled out large pieces of white paper, brought out all manner of paints, and then asked us to remove our shoes and socks so that we could paint with our feet! We were then encouraged to write about our experience. As teenagers, we were in hog heaven with this unconventional activity. And, again, more creative juices flowed – at least for me. I’ve also used this activity with my children, grandchildren, and children in my PreK classes. So, please do encourage the creative and unexpected in the moments that present. As educators, we can never know the ‘full’ impact of our offerings. We must simply continue to offer, trust, and let go.