Tuesday's TED Talk: Schools Kill Creativity

If you're at all familiar with TED Talks, you've probably already seen this one. Sorry. But I think you should watch it again. It's been viewed nearly 13 million times, and I'm personally responsible for at least six of those views. (You're welcome, Ken. :)

Sir Ken Robinson speaks simply and directly. No visual aids, charts, graphs, bells, or whistles. Just a man on stage, sharing his ideas and insights.

My Takeaways

• At the current rate of change and innovation, we have absolutely no idea what the world will look like 10 years from now, let alone 60. And we're meant to be educating and preparing our children for that world.
• "All kids have tremendous talents. And we squander them, pretty ruthlessly."
• Every child is born an artist. The point is to remain an artist as you grow up.
• We run an education system and our corporations such that the worst thing you can do is make a mistake.
• Creativity means being willing to make mistakes. If you're not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything original. (!!!)
• In our future world, creativity will be as important as literacy.
• If you look at who really succeeds in public education, you'd have to conclude that its purpose is to produce university professors. And university professors are just another form of life.
• A quote that makes me giggle every time I think about it, "Terry, please. I'm trying to fry an egg in here!"

I loved the story of Gillian Lynne, the choreographer of Cats and Phantom of the Opera, who was suspected of having a learning disability because she couldn't sit still and listen in class. Her mother took her to a specialist who wisely concluded, "Gillian isn't sick. She's a dancer; take her to dance school." And that one declaration opened up a new future for a little girl who "has to move in order to think."

I'll close with this quote:
"[We must start] seeing our creative capacities for the richness they are and our children for the hope they are."

Comments

[Jen]

Wow... Very moving. Thanks for sharing!

[Felecia]

I love Ken Robinson. He has done a number of leadership programs I've been privileged enough to attend. I'm a huge proponent of nurturing our uniqueness and knowing our children's gifts and talents deeply. I heard a preacher say once that the scripture "Raise up a child in the way they should go" actually means knowing our children's unique gifts at such a deep level that we can help them navigate away from all the paths that would kill their passions and toward the path that feeds them.

That said, my oldest attends public school and we have been trying to help him learn to listen respectfully, follow directions, learn the lessons that are there to learn, but not to own labels others might place on him as his truth. He's wildly creative, loves to sing and dance and make art. He's also reading far above his peers and does wickedly well at math...we want him to know what we value in him is not his grades, but that he works hard and does his very very best. Its a tough road to walk...

[Angie]

Great comment! Thanks for sharing. Robinsons ideas are definitely ahead of the curve, which means even if schools start catching on to them, it will be YEARS before meaningful changes happen. So, in the meantime, I think having an involved, aware, and proactive parent (like you!) is truly the best weapon. :)

[Angie]

Also, I hate how all apostrophes disappear when I reply to a comment via email. I do know how to make a proper noun possessive.

[URL]

I think it is not school that kills the creativity, but the pressure professors actually put on their students. I have experienced this when we were in a basic design class. I loved the course, but the pressure of how much professors expect from you (without considering how subjective the course is) hindered me to perform at my best.