Sixth dispostitional blog: CREATIVITY

How do we encourage, teach and reward creativity and imagination in our schools?  How important is creativity as a skill for the 21st century?

 I've been watching a lot of TED videos lately; and I really like a couple by a man named Ken Robinson.  In such videos, he talks about how public schools are destroying creativity.  He then uses several stories and example of why he believes this.  Here is one such story.

Meet Gillian Lynne - one of the world's best and well known choreographer.  She is the person behind Cats and Phantom of the Opera, two of Broadway's best plays.  When she was younger, Miss Lynne would fidget in school.  And like most teachers back then - and still today - her teacher would command her to stop.  It became so much of a problem, in fact, that not only did she have trouble in school, but her mother took her to a doctor to see what was 'wrong' with her.  Of course there was nothing wrong; Gillian Lynne just liked to fidget.  At the doctor's office, the doctor took the mother into the hallway to talk with her privately, leaving Gillian in the room by herself.

The doctor turned on the radio while leaving the room, however.  And while in the hallway, the doctor and the mother looked inside and saw Gillian dancing.  "There is nothing wrong with Gillian," the doctor said, "Gillan is a dancer; take her to a dancing school."

Today, as Robinson pointed out, Gillain would be diagnosed with ADHD.   Thats not the problem; the problem is not a disease in which our kids need a diagnosis. 

The problem is the lack of creativity being taught in schools - how kids are not encouraged to develop their talents and their creativity.  Most schools today produce cloned students: all taught the same thing, all having the same opinion.  The problem is how our school has become like a factory producing machine-like students ready to take on a world in which students that can think, process, and change on their own is desired. 

Which brings us back to Gillian Lynne.  Her teachers did not want her to move; they wanted her to sit still and be like the other students.  But thats not what she was - she was and is obviously a dancer.  Yet schools did not want her to develop her creativity or to search for what makes her happy. 

Ken Robinson said, "Human resources [like creativity and natural talents] are like natural resources; they're often buried deep.  You have to go looking for them."  Our current education system does not dig deep enough for this.  This is a problem.  Education is teaching our students for a world in which we have no idea what is to come.  We dont know what kids would need to prepare themselves for the next fifty plus years, and yet we somehow have to make sure they are ready for it.  What we can give them is such skills as problem solving and creativity - skills that will allow them to not only change with tide of the future, but also to find their true talents and love what they're doing.

So; how do we encourage, teach and reward creativity and imagination in our schools?  In our current setup, we can't; our school system is not designed to teach kids to think 'outside the box.'  We don't need to tweek here and change there.  We can't do with only a reformation; our school systems need a transformation - a revolution of creativity. 

Abraham Lincoln once said to Congress, "The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise -- with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country."  As future teachers, we must let go of the out-of-date lesson skills that we grew up with; we must learn to think and act with a fresh set of mind in hopes of creating an atmosphere in which our students can dig deep within themselves to find their talents.  We must rise to the occasion.

Bring on the Revolution.  

Fifth dispositional blog: REFLECTIVENESS

Why do most teachers and students find it so hard to reflect?  Why do some people consider reflection to be the heart of the teaching process?  When and how do you reflect most effectively?

To begin this blog, I would like to start out with a quote from the latest book I am reading; The Global Achievement Gap, by Tony Wagner.  It is as follows:

"The majority of my years in the corporate world have been in sales.  When you're in sales and marketing environment, it's really important that you understand your customer.  I've found that the best way to understand people is to ask questions.  I ask questions all day long.  If I ask the right questions, I get information that allows me to be more successful in a variety of ways.  If I'm talking to customers, I'm more successful because I understand their business and their needs.  I understand their perspective on a problem that has to be solved.  If I'm dealing with employees and I ask questions, I understand how they think, where they're coming from as they try to solve a problem, what they've done so far to address an issue.  So it really comes down to how well you ask questions" (Wagner, pg. 5).

This quote came from a woman named Christy Pedra; she is the CEO of Siemans Hearing Instruments - one of the largest hearing-instrument manufacturers in the world.  She was talking about how - in order to ensure that she is being the best CEO possible and that she is giving her customers exactly what they want - she asks questions.  These questions allow her to get to know her customers and employers better; how they learn, how they approach a problem, etc.  The better she is able to do this, the more effective and prepared she will be for her job. 

In this sense, I believe teachers are a lot alike.  We have to ask our students questions to get on the same page with them; we must know how they learn that way we'd be able to compensate.  One of my English teachers did this.  On the first day of class, she had us fill out some questions pertaining to our learning habits;  she said she would use this information to decide what would be the best way to teach the class - E.g., if the class was overall more visual learner, she would incorporate more visual aspects in her lessons. 

"I'm more successful because I understand their business and their needs.  I understand their perspective on a problem that has to be solved."  This quote explains why teachers must reflect on how they're teaching their students.  They must know how their students are learning; they must realize why a student is making the mistake that they're making.  That's why being a reflective teacher is so important.