Does the current educational system kill creativity?

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Permalink Reply by J Harrington on January 13, 2008 at 1:59pm

TED is an excellent source for my classes too. I teach biology and am always able to find some amazing clip that ties right in with what we are studying. Watching TED invariably gets one or two students to ask some provoking questions!

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Permalink Reply by dsgran on January 14, 2008 at 4:32am

Ah, that's a great video, an absolute must see. I'll just follow up by suggesting a thought provoking page- Marvin Bartel's
Top Ten Classroom Creativity Killers. While I believe that this is directed towards art teachers, in many ways its relevant to any classroom. Have a look!

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Permalink Reply by Rich White on January 25, 2008 at 2:26pm

I believe they do kill creativity - and that premise is one that leads us with Greenbush Labs to develop the solutions we do (with the Edusim project for example).. we want our solutions to not only enable teaching, but enable creativity and the human desire to create and contribute to their environment.

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Permalink Reply by J Harrington on January 29, 2008 at 7:36pm

Esther,

Excellent video. I use TED all the time and never saw this one. I appreciate your point it out! His ideas of intelligence inspire me to become more.

The theme of public education producing "university ready people" in a future culture that doesn't rely on education degrees for success.... is out of the box - thank goodness.

This is definitely a wind of fresh air that I need after a frustrating day in my high school classroom.

Thanks again, jack
http://www.educationreporting.com/

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Permalink Reply by Sandy on February 24, 2009 at 11:25am

Sir Ken raises some very good points. I don't believe, however, that new "technologies" will alleviate the problems he poses. "Technologies" are simply tools. Tools can neither educate nor can they inspire. They can, if used well, facilitate. As an educator and as a scientist, I find that creativity, problem-solving, and true innovation result from experience "playing" in the natural world (not the virtual world). It is a sad commentary on our society that we are increasingly encouraging children to learn from a "simulated" world - instead of having them step outside and experience the real world.

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Permalink Reply by Erik Johnson on February 24, 2009 at 1:01pm

Sandy,
I think that Sir Ken believes that the tools will allow students to learn in new and fantastic ways that non-digital tools do not allow. Much like this forum allows us to learn from educators all over the country/world in ways that are unavailable in a non-di, technology tools make information accessible in ways that were not accessible to prior generations and at incredibly convenient speeds. I think that tools can inspire students to want to learn more and I don't think that you have to give up anything by moderate interaction online. When was the last time you settled for not knowing the answer to a question? I don't settle, I just go find the answer online with some tool that both inspires me to learn more, and builds my confidence that I can learn. It's because of this that our students and kids are better educated now a days if they are better taught to most effectively use the tools that are available. Ken would say that kids should and will go towards the tools that suit their creative strengths, and I agree. I think this is a good thing to feed the interests of anyone to promote further learning and the desire to learn. How do you value your interest in this virtual world if it isn't appropriate for kids to learn?

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