Ken Robinson; Schools Kill Creativity

Ken Robinson – Schools Kill Creativity

            When I watched Ken Robinson speak about how schools kill creativity, I consistently thought of personal examples from my own education and observations that I have made in schools that are consistent with his thoughts on the subject.  While I do not think that school systems and teachers stifle creativity intentionally, I think that it is more of a product of the educational system as a whole and what expectations we place on students.

            As a child, I was in a gifted program in my school and this teacher praised creativity throughout each lesson.  We met as a class twice a week for about a half hour and it was my favorite class.  Thinking back, I remember only having about eight classmates and I assume that there was testing involved to be included in this class.  I always wonder why we were the only ones who had the opportunity to learn from such a wonderful teacher and what my friends back in the classroom missed out on (or vice versa).  I had some great teachers and some not-so-great ones, but I always wonder about the impact of using creative lessons used in gifted classes for all students and encouraging student individuality in all classrooms.

            I would love to invite Mr. Robinson to speak to some teachers I have had the opportunity to observe, if only to tell them that stifling creativity doesn’t help students very much at all.   For example, in one classroom where students were given a choice of birds to pick for a report only two students could pick the same bird and one student was actually discouraged from picking one certain bird and was assigned another (the species name evades me, but it would have been common enough for the student to research). 

            My favorite point is how Ken Robinson speaks about how children are educated for skills only and not what they enjoy.  One need only to look in any field and find grumpy workers who chose their career based on skills and earning potential and not what they had a passion for.  I have heard many a co-worker speak of what they enjoy but drone on in a boring existence just to earn a paycheck.  I would like (in a perfect world) to educate students and encourage them to follow their passions and find something that they would enjoy doing; not a job or even a career, but something that fulfills them.  On that note, I need to discuss this talk with my friend. While she doesn’t have the largest paycheck, she is more than happy teaching belly dance lessons, creative writing courses, working as a theater stagehand, selling craft items and writing novels.  It seems like a life that isn’t financially secure, but she keeps busy all the time and enjoys every minute.  This is the kind of student I want to educate.