Do Schools Kill Creativity?

I decided to post this in this section because I think it's more of a philosophical discussion than anything else.

I think the guy makes some very valid points.

What do you think about what he has to say?

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That was interesting Bookie, and I agree he has some good points.

I think that primary and secondary school does mute creativity in children. I don't think it's intentional, but more a result of not being able to accommodate the various learning styles of children, and in placing a higher value on academics over artistic talents. The way most teachers instruct is ideal for auditory-sequential learners, so it doesn't work well at all for visual-spatial learners, who tend to be more creative. I understand that the teacher/student ratio is often prohibitive to taking a more individualized approach, but that's what's often needed to ensure all students have an opportunity to benefit from the instruction. Additionally I think there are significantly more gifted students than are identified as such, due to the difference in learning styles. A high proportion of gifted children are visual-spatial learners and therefore they can appear as if they aren't bright because they just don't learn the way most people teach. It's unfortunate, and there's no easy solution.

I think another issue is that individuality is often viewed as a bad thing. I met with several directors of the various private schools a few years ago when I was looking for an alternative to public school for my son, and one of them after meeting him told me 'I see that he's one of those kids that marches to a different drum, don't you worry we'll have him marching in line with the rest of the kids by the end of the year'. Frankly that scared the hell out of me! I would never encourage my children to be part of the crowd. IMO not encouraging people to think for themselves is one of the worst things you can do.

 

For me I think creativity was encouraged in so many other places that it wasn't heavily needed in school. Truthfully I think more emphasis needs to be placed on science and math. As long as we choose to participate in capitalism we're going to need more engineers and science orientated people to keep us globally competative. I know we as adults want to encourage children to follow whatever dream they have but it's unrealistic to believe every single kid with talent will be the next Chopin or Hendrix.

 

I think the problem is that they need to find a better way to teach math. I've noticed that very few kids get math easily the way it's explained in textbooks. Both my kids always had to bring it home for me to go over with them. Sometimes you have to explain it a variety of ways before it clicks. Everyone learns differently, so you just have to keep trying until you find the key that unlocks it for them. I can remember my math teachers in school and they all sucked, especially the Algebra teacher. In college I had two professors that were excellent and one that sucked. The Trig and Calc professor made it so easy to get, she was really amazing, and it was one of my favorite classes. Obviously people tend to do better at something they at least half ass understand, and I think when you don't grasp what they're trying to teach you, and they can't explain it another way, you get frustrated and then it's just impossible. They really need to find a way to make it more interesting, understandable, and applicable. Since Science requires a good grasp of math, that would help boost kids in both subjects. Science was always my favorite.

 

Have you heard of the Everyday Math curriculum? It used here. I am impressed with it at the grade school level. http://everydaymath.uchicago.edu/about/

 

That looks like a better approach to what they teach here Jordan. I think anything that focuses on real world applications is superior to the standard textbook approach.

 

It is supposed to teach them there are more ways than one to arrive at the answer. I think it encourages problem solving as opposed to memorizing.

 

I agree. Everyone learns differently and for me, algebra and calculus were much easier for me to learn than geometry. I HATED geometry. LOL.

I've never heard of this. I wonder if they use this in my daughter's school. Huh. I'll have to check it out. EDIT: As I look to my right, I see my daughter's math journal and in big bold letters it says: Everyday Mathematics. LOL. I guess they do use it! Derrrr....

Agreed to both.

 

Absolutely agree. Not everyone is going to be a world-class composer, guitar player, basketball player, etc.

However, I do think that creativity is needed in all areas of life and all subjects.

Where would researchers be without creatively thinking of problems, experiments and interpreting the subsequent results? Every invention and everything we take for granted in this world is due to someone's creative thinking. You need to have creativity in order to think outside the box.

It's not all about the arts, in my opinion.

 

This I have to agree with.