Do Schools Kill Creativity? Sir Ken Robinson

Sir Ken Robinson’s talk, entitled “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” was not only entertaining, it was mesmerizing. He speaks exactly how I think, what I call “A.D.D. ing out” Our students really need more adversaries like him. Every time we turn around, we hear about some form of creativity being yanked from our public schools, primarily the art and music programs. Locally we are hearing that children have to pay money to participate in after school sports, which could definitely create a negative down spiral. Those who can’t afford may end up spending that time and energy doing things they shouldn’t.

Ken reminds us how important it is to not be frightened of being wrong, how vital it is to take chances, “if you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original.” We would live in a different world if people like the Wright brothers had been afraid to be wrong. Our fasted mode of transportation might be trains!

The claim of his talk was that, we are really hurting the future by making academics the focus of education, while creativity is either dead last or extinct in the school systems. This doesn’t apply exclusively to children who have ADHD, this applies to all students. Every student needs balance in their curriculum, to not only exercise their brains, but to also have an outlet for stress and expression. This is similar to the idea of taking small breaks at an office job and doing stretches. This helps you to stay alert and present.

I felt that he was dead on when he speaks of educating for a time that we can’t predict. “If you think of it, children starting school this year will be retiring in 2065. Nobody has a clue…..what the world will look like in five years’ time. And yet we’re meant to be educating them for it. So the unpredictability…. is extraordinary.” Basically, Ken is asking, how can we know what education experiences children really need, who are going to live in a world we can’t even foresee?

I completely agree with Ken’s opinions, because of the experience my daughter Susan has had. She started out in a Montessori school in Hawaii, where creativity leads. She was the model student and excelled until we had to switch to a public school system here in Bellingham. Even though she maintained her A status, her best work was anything she could put her creative spin on. Her work was used as examples by the teachers who marveled at how far she pushed the art portion of the assignments. When she got into high school, she started to tumble down the slippery slope. She exited high school mid junior year and got her GED. She is now a full time graphic design student @ WCC and loves school. It wasn’t that she couldn’t do the math or English, it was that there wasn’t any balance for her. Sitting idle through four 90 minute classes a day, with minimal stimuli didn’t work for her. She is completely involved and valued in her art classes.