Do Schools Kill Creativity? A Comical Inquest at TED
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If you think of yourself as someone who understands creativity, this is an essential talk by Ken Robinson, from the TED Conference. He calls into question the antiquated teaching models we have in the Western world, and asks many great questions about creative thinking and the business world.
Key quotes from Mr. Robinson:
"My contention is that creativity is as important as literacy and should be treated with the same status."
"They're [children] not frightened of being wrong. I don't mean to say being wrong is the same as being creative. What we do know is if you're not prepared to be wrong, you won't come up with anything original. And by the time most children get to be adults most children have lost that capacity."
It's a funny, enlightening and well reasoned 20 minutes. Highly recommended.
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Probably one of my favorite TED videos of all time. Prior to seeing this video last year I found another with a University class editing Google Docs to answer a survey about their educational experiences.
The results are displayed in a unique way http://www.iaconsultants.ca/index.php/2007/10/13/a-vision-of-students-today/
What I found interesting about Sir Ken Robinson was his concept about academic inflation. What good are my undergraduate and graduate degrees in this day and age? If I'm interested in learning about any subject, I don't need to spend tens of thousands of dollars on an education.
Anyone can go online, learn about the courses needed to graduate with a BA in any subject. I can go online and look up the courses in the subject needed for a degree; buy the books; attend the classes; even write the papers; short of getting a grade and a piece of paper that is a diploma, anyone can gain knowledge about anything.
As Lord Robinson points out, we must change the way we view what and how we are educating our children because...
"If you think bout it children starting school this year will be retiring in 2065. Nobody has a clue; in spite of all the expertise that has been on parade for the past four days what the world will look like in five years time, and yet we're meant to be educating them for it."
- Posted by Jeff Parks
July 19, 2008 8:20 AM
I was lucky enough to go to elementary, middle, and high school at a place that rewarded and encouraged creativity and lateral thinking. We regularly did exercises from Edward de Bono's work. We read Use Both Sides of Your Brain and had an all-day seminar on mind mapping with the author, Tony Buzan.
While I know that there's a lot to be said for whatever raw talents we bring, I also know that the encouragement, and, ironically, the rigorous treatment of creativity and a conscious review of our thinking patterns was fundamental to my developing those talents into the strengths they are today. I know that my peers, who had different strengths, were similarly inspired to open up to alternatives and broaden their sense of the possible.
In a time when "[...] most undergraduate degrees in computer science [...] are basically Java vocational training,"1 we need creativity a first-class citizen in education more than ever.
1Alan Kay
- Posted by Tripp Lilley
August 17, 2008 12:45 PM