I went back and watched Sir Ken Robinson's video on schools killing creativity again because I thought it was a very important topic. Many of today's schools do seem to be killing creativity in kids. Robinson makes the point that creativity is just as important as literacy, and I don't think I'd argue with this at all.
Our schools kill creativity by telling kids that they must learn in specific ways, and by making students learn by rote memorization (in some places), and by forcing teachers to teach to tests in order for students to pass those tests in order for schools to continue getting funding. It seems to me that this goes against everything we as future teachers are learning about how to most effectively teacher children. And yet we continue on in the same vein - doing things the same way - and getting results that seem to be getting worse and worse.
Robinson is correct in another point he makes. He says we have to be prepared to be wrong in order to learn. That's another idea I believe we foster constantly in our children. Parents refuse to ever tell children they are wrong - and teachers make those same children afraid to be incorrect - it all adds up to the fact that we are producing children who will never take any chances. And if these children grow up refusing to take chances out of fear, then our entire society suffers for it.
Below is a link to an interview with Ken Robinson on the same topic.
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Alex,
I wholeheartedly agree with you that we are becoming afraid to tell our kids that they are incorrect. I have heard in the past, that some parents were against teachers using red ink to mark off wrong answers on tests. I fear that some parents have become too afraid of hurting their kids' egos or something. Parents need to tell their kids that making mistakes is nothing to be ashamed of, but should be used as a step in their growth as a person. I forgot what movie it was, but a father asked his son, "Why do we fall?" The answer was "so we can get up." He meant was that our kids will need to learn from any obstacle in life in order to grow as a person. Another movie, Rocky Balboa tells his son that "It is not hard you get hit, but it is how you come back from it" that makes a person. I also like to use the analogy of learning how to ride a bike. A kid will always fall down, but that is how he or she will learn.
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