Tuesday, March 31, 2009

do schools stifle creativity?


It's a bit of a long lecture, yet a fascinating one, Sirken Robinson speaks about how school systems around the world, enforce the idea that there are only right and wrong answers, and therefore close off children from their creative potential. He also talks about the hierarchy of school systems, where the arts are secondary in education. According to him, we educate from the head up and from there only toward one side of the head, creating at the peak of the education system "disembodied professor types".

He gives one example of a choreographer who was told she probably had a learning disability as a child, because she fidgeted too much. The doctor, since they didn't have ADHD in those days, told the mother she wasn't sick she was a dancer. The girl went on to become a choreographer, for as she put she could only think while moving.

Many very funny observations and very true ones.

4 comments:

  1. Ah, no, it's a TED video that's slow to pop up...

    *waits patiently*

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes, yes, yes! I hate schools. I went to montessori school when I was 4-6 and it was one of the best experiences of my life. I'm pretty picky because I also disagree with homeschooling. It makes the kid too isolated.

    lindsay || newyorkwords.net

    ReplyDelete
  3. The speaker brought up many good points. It's hard to think of policies that actually fix the problems though.

    ReplyDelete