Creativity

Are we educating our children for the future? Sir Ken Robinson discusses this matter in his video The Importance of Creativity . Our world is rapidly changing around us, but are we preparing our youth to successfully change and grow with it? Sir Robinson said that we are “squandering kids’ talents” by not allowing them to use their creativity while learning. It is important to have creativity in the classroom because children thrive on figuring things out for themselves.  If we “squander” their abilities, or tell them that there is only ONE way to do something, they will never have the chance to develop into a well-rounded citizen that is dynamic in several things; not just math and/or science. Sir Robinson also discussed educating people outside of their educational capacities so that they are able to expand their horizons and not get stuck with only being good at one or two things. In today’s teaching methods, we are growing out of creativity, or rather; we are “being educated out.” A thought to ponder and a possible proposal to some school districts is why aren’t more arts being taught on a daily basis like math and science are? The arts are just as important because it allows a new method of thinking to be brought into a child’s learning experience. It enables their brains to expound upon new ideas and also new ways to get something done. Sometimes there is a grey area; not just black and white. Figuring out what is in that grey area is important because a creation that could change the world could be stored in it, but without creativity, could it ever come out? People are steered away from pursuing a career in the arts because it doesn’t get you to the top. If Steve Jobs had never let his mind explore new ideas and come up with some of the most amazing technology products out there, Apple products wouldn’t exist.

Many people believe that science and math will change the world, and while it just well may, the goal-minded artist in the background is changing things too. “The whole world is engulfed in a revolution,” Sir Robinson stated. He also mentioned that in the next 30 years, more people will be graduating worldwide since the beginning of the universe. With the way our education system is going, our minds are being mined like strip mines for one specific purpose; teaching to the test. We are all about scores and numbers and a specific solution to solve something. Grades make or break your school endeavors, and without making the grade, you fail. Even though it truly is about what you learn and take away from a course and not just your grades, school systems worldwide say that if you don’t pass, you’re not doing something right. For me, if I don’t make a good grade in something, I get down on myself and can’t let it go. Even though I most likely still learned a lot of information from something by figuring it out in the process, if I didn’t meet the criteria for the assignment, I fail. It is a corrupt system we are in because really, who is to say who is right and who isn’t? Another interesting fact that Sir Ken Robinson stated was that if all bugs were to disappear from the earth, in 50 years everything would die, but if all humans were to disappear from earth, in 50 years everything would flourish. We need to educate the whole being of a person and not just a part.