Paola Merrill
English 101
Unit 3 Final Paper
12/7/2013
According
to education legend Sir Ken Robinson, "people grow out of
creativity." He believes that the K12 school system oppresses creativity
and diverse ideas in children, and makes many singular thinkers believe that
they are unintelligent. In our modern world, the K12 curriculum puts math and
science as our top priorities, and cuts financial aid to art programs the
moment it is in need of funding. While many schools claim to encourage creativity,
they do it in a controlled manner by telling a child to be creative, as long as
they follow their rules. While concrete subjects suited to logical thinkers are
crucial to progress and invention, so are more ambiguous and creative subjects,
that not only inspire unique ideas, but encourage critical thinking. Creativity
is not only self-expression, but a way to define ourselves as humans.
Creativity is primarily associated with the arts, but it is even broader than
that. Every time you express an opinion, be it genius or misguided, people are
being creative, and that defines us as a people. The K12 curriculum needs to
recognize the importance of creative thinking and encourage it as a core part
of achieving a rounded education. To encourage creativity and free thinking in
our students we must increase funding to our Arts programs and form after
school clubs, for instance during their Junior High years where children are
beginning to form their identities, and always have opportunities for children
to take part in creative endeavors.
Free
thinking and creativity, is for the most part, unwelcome in our school system
and the K12 curriculum. This stems primarily from the way children are taught,
to simply accept information without reflecting on it. In his paper, The
Banking Method of Education, Paolo Friere states that in the classroom,
"Narration leads the students to memorize mechanically the narrated
content... turns them into 'receptacles' to be 'filled' by the teacher."
(4) Friere refers to teacher lectures as just another way that students are
conditioned to become great test takers, proving their intelligence on a Scantron
sheet and their ability to consume temporary information. Simply absorbing
information without truly understanding it is not an effective way to learn,
since students are not acquiring a deeper understanding of a subject to be able
to apply it later in life. Learning this way also prevents a child from forming
opinions and finding opportunities to be creative. By creating multiple after
school clubs and celebrating the arts, Junior High students can discover a new
form of learning that is dynamic and full of passion. In her book, Teaching
Critical Thinking, celebrated author bell hooks affirms that, "Schools
shun independent thinking, and by the time the student reaches college, they
come to dread it." (8) She explains that children are predisposed to be
critical thinkers, and begin life wanting to pursue knowledge. Schools that do
not fund their creative art programs create an environment that is completely
toxic to those who wish to think deeply and form creative opinions on subjects.
Those in favor of the present K12 curriculum, including members of the National
Association of State Boards of Education, argue that math and science
encourages students to think critically, but the truth is that concrete subjects
always have definite answers, while creative programs are ambiguous. Creative
subjects allow students to find their own answers to questions and be creative
with their homework assignments. There isn’t one correct answer, so students
get to form their own voice. This can only be achieved through schools giving
students constant opportunities to take part in creative subjects, helping them
believe their ideas are worth hearing, which spark confidence along with
creativity.
In
John Gatto’s Against School; How School Cripples our Kids, he reflected that,
"I taught for thirty years... and during that time I became an expert in
boredom." He claims that schools are designed to make sure that no one
ever really "grows up." Schools create people that follow trends
mindlessly and don't have singular thoughts that allow them to ask questions
and to improve themselves and their community. Some might think this behavior
has nothing to do with oppressed creativity, but it is actually the core of the
evil it does to children. When children are encouraged to be creative they are
being encouraged to think for themselves, which is not only revealed through
their artistic endeavors but their ability to become free thinking citizens
later in life. To writer Keith Gilyard
society can benefit from encouraging creativity, as he states in his article
Children, Arts, and Du Bois, that "The common good. Creative arts programs
are integral to this vision." (2) Funding creative subjects in our school
systems would allow many children to thrive in an environment that holds
mastering music and poetry in such high regard as calculus. Multitudes of
scientific studies have revealed that not everyone has the same abilities to
process and understand the same subjects, but our school systems treat us like
we should. Encouraging creativity will also allow students to unravel their
sense of self, confidence, opinions, and be able to better apply them later in
life.
While
increasing opportunities for Junior High students to take part in art programs,
Schools must hold creative subjects, such as the arts and classes that
encourage singular thought, in high regard. Instead of seeing it as a pastime,
schools should celebrate these subjects, and show their students possible
career opportunities along those lines. Schools need to stop teaching children
to pass tests, but give them an education that will benefit them in the future.
As Paulo Friere adequately stated, “Liberating education consists in acts of
cognition, not transferals of information.” Many teachers might make the
argument that concrete subjects like math and science are more important than
art, because they are used in the real world. It is true that these subjects
are extremely important, but to say they are more so than art programs is to
say that culture is irrelevant. Our culture is made up all forms of art, and if
that is lost our culture will loose its identity. As the K12 school system,
they cannot let this happen.
Sir
Ken Robinson stated during a TED talk “At the bottom of every school system is
art,” and that "Intelligence is diverse and dynamic... and distinct."
Intelligence is relative, but school systems tend to make students believe that
a test score makes them competent or not. When students evaluate their own
intelligence by grades, many feel lacking. The moment, however, that you allow
children to begin expressing themselves through any form of art, many show a
deep understanding of human emotion. This reveals that intelligence is
‘diverse’ and discouraging students to pursue free thinking is suppressing a
large amount of people that could make a difference in the world, if given a
chance. Creativity and critical thinking are inexplicably intertwined, and to
reap the full benefits school systems must fund and form art programs. As bell
hooks summarized in her paper, “In such a community of learning there is no
failure. Everyone is participating and sharing whatever resource is needed at a
given moment in time to ensure that we leave the classroom knowing that
critical thinking empowers us.” (11) As a society we can continually be
improving ourselves, and the greatest difference we can make is in the next
generation, and the only way is to do this is to encourage each and every form
of intelligence. Only then is when we can truly make a difference in our
students, and the world.
Works Cited Page
Hooks, bell. “Teaching Critical
Thinking: Practical Wisdom.” New York and London: Routledge 2009. Print
Freire, Paulo. “The Banking
Concept of Education.” Pedagogy of the
Oppressed. New York: Continuum Books, 1993. Print.
Gilyard, Keith.
“Children, Arts, and Du Bois.” The
Council Chronicle. National Council of Teachers of English, Sept 2012. Web.
11/29/13.
Robinson, Ken.
“How School Kills Creativity.” TED Talk: Feb 2006. Web.
Gatto, John.
"Against School - John Taylor Gatto." Wes Jones, 2003. Web.
