Ken Robinson Says Schools Kill Creativity

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

Sir Ken Robinson begins this 2006 speech by questioning where the future of education is headed. He begins his analysis of how schools today deteriorate the creativity and talents of young minds. His belief lies in the fact that schools place so much emphasis on grades and academic ability. In such a setting, those whose creativity shines, yet whose grades may be less than above average, feel as if they are inadequate and unintelligent. As a result, studies of the arts have become less important whereas scientific and mathematical studies have become the main focus for schools across the nation.

In Robinson’s eyes, we’ve all been somewhat jaded by the school system. We’ve lost sight of what makes us unique, creative, and individualistic. Instead, all we’ve focused on is good grades, a high GPA, and a great ACT score. We’ve learned to all think the same and solve problems the same way. Whatever happened to thinking outside the box?

I agree with Robinson to a certain extent. Junior year of high school, all anyone could talk about was the ACT. It drove me insane. Why place so much emphasis on one test? Would people really be that shallow as to judge me by one insignificant score? My entire life I’ve been told to keep my grades up to get into a good school. I agree with Robinson that this obsession with grades and loss of creativity has gone a bit too far. Students have slowly strayed away from raising their hands as much as they used to – they don’t want to be wrong because they’re afraid they’ll be labeled as dumb or stupid. Some can only think the way that they’re told – they can’t solve problems on their own.

Grades are still an important part of school, but we need to find a happy medium between intuitive thinking and drilling definitions into children’s heads. We all need to be encouraged to think differently and to be wrong once in a while. We need to celebrate each other’s errors because we can learn from them – especially in a classroom. I know that when I become a teacher I may not explain something well the first time around, so by seeing what errors my students are making, I can learn what else I need to teach. Students can also learn this way. I plan to have at least one group activity per week in my classroom because students learn best from hearing perspectives from people their own age. They are encouraged to think differently, which I think is a main part of the education system.