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26 June 2007

Do schools kill creativity?

This excellent talk was given at TED, the annual conference on Technology, Entertainment, and Design. "Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining (and profoundly moving) case for creating an education system that nurtures creativity, rather than undermining it. With ample anecdotes and witty asides, Robinson points out the many ways our schools fail to recognize -- much less cultivate -- the talents of many brilliant people. 'We are educating people out of their creativity,' Robinson says."



What do you think? Do you agree with Sir Ken Robinson? Do you have any stories from your education where you remember some aspect of your creativity being squelched? How do we correct this imbalance without detracting from the other important things kids must learn (math and literacy, etc.)? Teachers are already struggling to try to fit in every subject, and kids are already overwhelmed. Have we outgrown the usefulness of a universal education system where everyone goes through the same track all the way through high school? Home schooling is a phenomenon that has grown rapidly in the US, partly for ideological reasons which I disagree with (a topic for another post someday perhaps), but also perhaps partly due to the recognition that not all children learn alike, and they will learn better if their education is customized to their own unique talents and gifts and interests.

2 comments:

Ched said...

He makes some very interesting points.

Anonymous said...

Well The Romantic Painter Friedrich believed that schools kill creativity....
& I value his opinion.

But would we not be genralizing by saying all schools do so?