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. The few
schools who claim to encourage creativity 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 school system needs to recognize the importance of creative thinking and encourage it as a core part of achieving a rounded education. To
increase creativity and free thinking in our students we need to increase
funding to our Arts programs, for instance during their Junior High years, which
stimulate these abilities, and always have opportunities for children to take
part in them at whatever age.
Free thinking,
the most important benefit of encouraging creativity, is for the most part,
unwelcome in our school system. 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 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 for
creativity. In her book, Teaching Critical
Thinking, 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. One might 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 students to take part of art programs, Schools must hold
creative subjects, such as the arts, including writing, 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. More importantly, schools need to stop
teaching children to pass tests, but teaching children to achieve 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 of
song and prose and all forms of art, and if that was lost, that it is in danger
of being lost, our culture would loose its identity.
Ken
Robinson stated during his 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 of one school systems must encourage the other. 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
Hooks,
bell. “Teaching Critical Thinking: Practical Wisdom.” New York and London: Routledge
(2009)
Freire,
Paulo. “The Banking Concept of Education.” Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York:
Continuum Books, 1993.
Gilyard, Keith. “Children,
Arts, and Du Bois.” National Council of Teachers of English, September 2012.
Robinson, Ken. “How
School Kills Creativity.” TED Talk: February, 2006
Gatto, John. "Against
School - John Taylor Gatto." Wes
Jones, 2003.
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