Like many who have seen his TED talk, I’ve been incredibly inspired by Sir Ken Robinson. He’s shone a bright light on a huge problem we face as a nation: our education system and how it’s failing our next generation. We’ve lost creativity in our current systems. Other nations are leaping over us in creative thinking and expression (as this recent Newsweek article describes). States keep cutting and cutting, slashing programs from second languages to art to music (one of the early casualties), in lieu of a focus on learning how to take standardized tests. Huh?
I have the highest respect for teachers. They are the cornerstone of modern society. They are creating the next generation and the amazing teachers out there aren’t nearly compensated for all the work they do. The system has failed them (the good ones). Like too many things today, it’s become robotic and formulaic, which is in turn sucking the creative juices from our kids. Some argue that technology is pushing us there. That’s simply a cop out. As we’ve learned in Cognitive Surplus (Shirky’s awesome book), modern technology has given way to an excess in time and energy–alluding to MORE time for creation. Instead of focusing on how “silly and trite” LOLCats are (which they aren’t…what would we do without our cyber feline friends?), could we encourage our next gen to play with arduinos and learn how to create the next awesome gizmo instead? Be creatively productive?
Personally, I don’t think I could do what I do now without some awesome opportunities in the arts. I still remember my favorite class in elementary school,”Creative Expression”. It was a class of a brave teachers creation–loosely built on the traditional art class (which I also had) but focusing less on skills and more on making stuff you loved. A little crafty, a lot of freedom for a 10 year old. I undoubtedly believe it contributed to my appreciation for the arts now and helped lead me to my home in the creative industry.
We are so “skill centric” today that sometimes we miss the less overt learning that can occur in exploration and discovery. We all have a responsibility to cast a critical eye on our education system (if you have kids or not!) and support a higher order learning. Selfishly, I want the next generation to have ALL of the creative outlets as possible, if for nothing else, my own gain. Who will entertain? Who will innovate the next technology to save lives? Who will design the most amazingly beautiful structures? If the answer is no one, we’re in a whole lot of trouble…
Click here to view the embedded video.
Robinson’s book, The Element is a must-read for all. It’s not about the industry or even communication systems specifically. It advocates diversity in our education system to make a dynamic, innovative and inspired next generation. It also does an amazing job of demonstrating through sound examples of the GREAT stories of fostering creativity early on.
Image via Behance: http://www.behance.net/gallery/Creative-Truths/263281 Shirley-Ann Dick
