Video Response

Hello everyone!

This entry is in response to Sir Ken Robinson's video about the role of schools in nurturing creativity within students (watched in class). I'll start out by stating that I agree with Robinson's view that the education system today extinguishes the creativity that children naturally possess. From my own experiences growing up and from what I've seen/learned so far in the education faculty, I feel as if young students start out thinking creatively and channeling it through everything that they do. But as they age and progress through elementary and jr/sr high one can very quickly see most of that creativity vanish. I think that imigination can be used powerfully but for the most part schools don't value imigination, they value facts and correct answers. 

When I was young, I didn't show much creativity in my work for fear of being wrong. I felt as if being 'wrong' was the worst thing that could happen when completing schoolwork. As a result, I never took chances, I always completed my work in the most straightforward way. I would assume that many students feel this way. One thing I feel that we should do as future educators to promote creativity is to encourage risk-taking in our classrooms. Students shouldn't have fear of making mistakes. Mistakes are proof that an effort was made. I also believe that a lot of creativity can show through the arts, but many times the importance of arts is neglected in school. I believe that creativity would have a larger chance of persisting with children if more emphasis was given to music, drama, dance, etc. 

Although I have little experience in the subject of mathematics, to promote creativity  in my math classroom, I would try to:

-Allow students to use different materials to solve problems/demonstrate their understanding of concepts.

-Allow input. Students should make some of their own choices in the classroom. Don't constantly give a lot of restrictions with assigned work.

-Be open-minded. (Don't assume there is only one way to do something correctly.)

-Encourage risk-taking - mistakes are ok to make!




"Every child is an artist. The problem is staying an artist when you grow up."
                                                                                 -Pablo Picasso