So for this blog, on Ken Robinson saying that schools are killing creativity, I decided to do a running blog. I got this idea from my favorite ESPN writer, Bill Simmons. He says what he feels during the games, as they occur, in a conversational style like he is talking to a person sitting there watching it with him. I wanted to do this to see if my position on the subject changes or not during the speaker's message and whether or not I agree with him on parts or on the whole of his speech.
3:16 in: The speaker says that creativity is as important in education as literacy. I'm interested to see where this goes. I'm not sold yet as literacy opens up a wealth of knowledge to a child that their own personal creativity cannot.
4:40 in: Mel Gibson joke on Nativity 2: not funny, but I enjoyed the Frank sent this bit (I hope he's planning on tying these stories in somehow).
5:50 in: Ties it in with: If you're not prepared to be wrong, you won't come up with anything original. I like that. I think that sometimes school districts can hold on so tight to an out-of-date curriculum or ideal just because they fear change, they fear mistakes. As an educator you need to be able to be wrong, if we don't learn from our mistakes, why should we expect our students to?
6:20 in: We are educated out of it. I do not dispute the fact schools tend to be less than enthralling, but schools aren't the only things killing creativity: video games, t.v., lack of social contact. These are things that are just as damaging to a young mind.
8:20 in: Taking pot-shots at his kid's ex-girlfriend is just dirty.
9:00 in: Dance as important as math, you've got to be joking. No one is going to dance everyday, but we all do basic calculations everyday. How would teaching dance everyday get you prepared for the real world?
10:00 in: Does this guy remind anyone else of Michael Caine? Anyone?
11:35 in: The most useful subjects for work are at the top of school importance is his point 1: isn't that what we're going for, to make students able to support themselves with a livelihood? If you are good at something and enjoy doing it, such as music and art, why can't students do them after school? I love watching sports, but I'm not allowed to take St. Louis Cardinals 101 at either the University or the high school level.
12:00 in: Academics are set up to get students into Universities: point 2. Fair enough, it's hard to argue that, what with standardized testing and teaching towards a test. The only other argument could be that teaching is set up so that students earn the most amount of funding for their school by passing tests (I love NCLB), but that's along the same lines as his point.
12:30 in: Wow, I still have 7 minutes left.
12:40 in: "Degrees aren't worth anything." That's a comforting thought.
13:10 in: Intelligence is diverse, dynamic, and (2 minutes later) distinct. Really what did this forage into the three d's of intelligence tell us that we didn't already know?
13:40 in: Creativity is defined by this guy as "the process of having original ideas that have value." How do we or who determine(s) value? What is creative and what is not? How can you have a definition like that and expect people to inherently know what is creative and what isn't?
14:05 in: Taking a shot at the wife and her cooking in front of a large crowd. This guy has a death wish, or likes the couch.
15:45 in: ADHD an invented condition, finally someone I can agree with on this subject. You can either sit still, or not, pay attention or not, and it has nothing to do with a brain/learning condition. It has everything to do with whether or not the student has structure and discipline towards his schooling or not. And that structure and discipline comes mostly from the parents at home.
17:40 in: Story of Gillian Lynne was, I guess in a way, proving his point, but really I've seen little evidence or proof towards his position. I'm not saying I disagree with his position, just that in this particular talk, the evidence towards his point given seems pretty thin.
18:30 in: he gives a great closing speech, but like I said, he gives nothing concrete, nothing for teachers to change or hang their hats upon.
All in all, I liked this guy. He was entertaining, funny (sometimes), and passionate about what he was talking about. He has all the marks of a great speaker, but insofar as proving his point, or giving me something concrete to use, I don't feel as if he did that.
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6 comments:
Hey Josh,
First things first. This is a great way to review a video. Honestly I love it.
But in response to your comments I really like the point you make when you say that teachers cannot be afraid of being wrong. This is a subtle point that Ken makes, but it is an important one. If teachers strictly "follow the book", with "no creativity" then the students will lose their creative mind as well.
The other point you made that I liked was when you talked about dancing being as important as math. I agree with you. This is ridiculous. Granted, dancing is very creative, but like you said its definitely not as important as math. To focus so much on dancing seems like almost going to college and focusing on a major that will be your final career. Which shouldn't be done until just then, college. You had some very interesting points.
--Bryan Musolf
Josh,
I agree with Bryan as I enjoyed your method of reviewing this video. I do have a few points I agree with you on and a few that I may take a differing opinion of.
I thought it was interesting the way you connected the fear of change to districts holding on to curriculums. I had thought of this more at the teacher level or as something that we are being taught. I think a lot of times we are forced to enjoy what is even if this is not equitable or in any way good, but I really enjoyed ( and agreed with) the perspective that you took.
I also agree with your statement that we should not just look at schools as the culprits when it comes to stifling creativity. TV, video games, or any other abused and mindless activity can be a huge detriment to the well being of a person. I also agree that social contact is not emphasized as much by parents or even society as it used to be. Social interaction is one of the best ways to learn about new ideas, ways of thinking, and individuality. Without this I find it hard to believe that a person could become well-rounded.
I must, however, disagree with you and Bryan above on the "math is just as important as dance" issue. I think the moral of the final story about the dancer proved that point well. People are not all the same and what works for some does not work for others. While math is a great skill for everyone to have and dancing may not be this does not preclude dancing from being just as important. I'll be honest and say here that I absolutely HATE dancing myself, but I firmly believe that without it our society would be worse for the wear. The fine arts contribute by opening up untapped regions of our brains that will make connections and can even contribute to the mathematical side of our brain. My point here being that dancing can help our minds understand math, physics, or any other subject if we think about the overall well being of our humanity.
Finally, I agree that it is hard to define what is of value and what is not. I think that works on an individual basis, but this may be just as important to recognize for us as future teachers. We need to realize that our students may draw value from and idea that means absolutely nothing to us. This in essence is what is inherently most important to what I believe Sir Ken Robinson's notion of creativity is. Individual needs are better served by supporting creativity ergo creativity supports the needs of the individual.
~Isaac Stewart
Isaac,
While I respect your opinion on dance, I still have to disagree with you and good old Ken. While society would be worse for wear without it, it would still go on. Without math, our society would crash to a screeching halt. What would we be able to do in everyday life without it? Now think on that and tell me which one is more valuable and which one should more emphasis be placed on.
That last sentence in my last comment made me sound like a prick and that was not my intention. As I am sitting here thinking about it, the only point that I wanted to make was that while life would be worse without dance, it would continue. The same could not be said for math.
Hey Josh,
First of all I do agree that there are several other things outside of schools that ruin creativity. It scares me whenever I hear the amount of television and videogames that children are playing. I do agree with Sir Robinson that the grading system in schools does not encourage creativity, but I also agree with you that schools are not the main culprit.
I understand the argument that math and science are more important to society than the fine arts, but you should consider one thing. Our culture is defined by our fine arts. If we were to eliminate fine arts there would be less music, theater, and other outlets to enjoy. Society would go on, but what kind of world would that be? I think Sir Robinson using dance as an example was a mistake, because dance hasn't been very relevant to our society, although it still is in many around the world. I think it is important that our society has more to contribute to the world than just making everything super-efficient. On a lighter note, maybe if the schools emphasized dance more we wouldn't have to endure horrible dance fads such as the Macarena and Soulja Boy.
-Paul Karnstedt
I'm sure like a lot of people I was really taken back by the comment that dance should be taught every day just like math is. I don't actually think that Ken Robinson is proposing we make all students take dance classes. I think he wants us to consider the question, "What is it about dance that it doesn't have much of a place in school?". I think it's because in dance like all art, there are no absolute rules. There is no ridge structure to be followed, it is based purely on the imagination and creativity of the dancer. Robinson is saying we don't want to try and teach creativity, we need a guideline to follow.
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