Ken Robinson: Do Schools Kill Creativity?

Ken Robinson delivers an important message to educators in a comical, yet meaningful way. I encourage all who read this blog to watch this video http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

He is right, as educators, we have no idea what education is going to look like in 5 years, but we are supposed to educate students for the future. If we do not know what education is going to look like in 5 years, how can we say we are preparing students for the future? I think it is a nice catchy thing to say but are we really educating beyond what students need to know for next year? Ken also makes the point that kids take chances, they are not afraid to be wrong. While I think kids are afraid to get things wrong, his point is more that kids have the courage to try things. Adults, not so much. We have an embedded fear suggesting we cannot be wrong, especially when it comes to education. We as teachers must know the best way to educate students; we are the ones who are supposed to know. What happens if we do not know how to reach every student? Ken believes that we educate kids out of their creativity. We sure do! It starts early when we tell kids to color inside the lines…both literally and figuratively. We tell them it is not ok to be creative. There is only one-way to do something and it is the teacher's way.

Additionally, Ken makes the point that kids are educated from the waist up. We have told students that the only certain subjects are valued. Skills that can get them jobs. This has been the push since industrialization where the idea of formal education was to get a job. Times have certainly changed but we still tell kids they need to have the skills such as math and science in order to get a good job. However, in today's market a college degree does not mean you will even get a job, let alone one that will pay the bills. Robinson attributes this to universities who are trying to create students in their image of higher academic achievement. They focus on the standard academic subjects and are essentially try to produce college professors.

Perhaps the most interesting one of Robinson's stories was of the famous dancer. How clear and striking was his message of pointing children in their own direction instead of a diagnosis needed medicinal intervention. If there were a diagnosis of ADHD in the 1930's this very talented and respected dancer would have been directed to take medication and settle down and be quiet. My quick summation will certainly not do his point justice so please take the time to watch this video. His points are so interesting and completely applicable to us as teachers.