A typewritten blog?
This time on The Creative Collide, Philip Patston reflects on the state of education and the place of creativity.
* * * * * *
Education. It's been in the news a lot lately.
In New Zealand we've been talking about fining parents for truancy. In the US they've been talking about firing teachers for poor student performance.
The NZ Government has just announced it will stop funding universities and university students when they fail and will no longer give interest-free loans.
Not very creative.
Sir Ken Robinson, an international creativity expert, believes schools fail to recognise — much less cultivate — the talents of many brilliant people. He says schools kill creativity.
Dr Edward de Bono, widely regarded as the world's leading authority in the field of creative and conceptual thinking, says academia has no place in creating the future. It can only analyse the past.
But, in order to create a constructive future, we need to engage design thinking.
Our very own Gordon McLaughlin points out that, if technology had progressed at the speed of education, we'd still be using typewriters (and not electric ones). And this blog would be photocopied.
I think education is in a crisis. At best it's a system of extreme control; at worst it's prison for children. Even at tertiary level it works against creativity and individuality, requiring students to conform to a highly regulated system of theoretical nepotism.
Are the daily 30,000 truants wrong? Or is the system wrong?
I think education lacks creativity. I think music, drama, dance, visual art, multimedia, theatre, comedy and any other creative expression is at least if not more important than the three R's.
Sir Ken agrees with me and articulates it extremely well in the video below, so you can watch him instead of me this time.
What about you? As a creative, do you, like me, shout at the TV every time there's a news item about education?
Respond via Facebook or Twitter (tweet @philippatston and include #tbicollide) or enter a comment below and click ‘Post Comment’.
Comments
School is the killer of many great creative minds, it's simply common sense and does not need academic's to tell us that. notice I didn't say education. I enjoyed and continue to enjoy, a long creative career that had nothing to do with my time in school apart from the fact that school bullied and confused me. Luckily I left NZ. That is when my creativity flourished. This is a subject that needs totally rethinking, from the bottom up. Not, as is the case at present, from the top down. The best answers always come from the shop floor, the most honest, the simplest answers that is. Academia adds a complexity we do not need. I say, that to create a viable film and television industry, close all the Film and Television Schools and bring back apprentice training and mentoring. Those who are doing then get to pass on practical, user friendly training. Education comes after we leave school. As for TV in NZ, what an amazing waste of resources and tax payer funding. If I make a film in NZ it needs to be given an airing, no matter how good or bad. I know many film makers who self fund who are rejected because they don't play the 'Game'. Whatever happened to Peter Jackson's review of the Film Commission? has it been buried, wasn't it what the Govt boffins wanted to hear? We need to grow up as a nation, we need honesty, transparency and we need to return to simple, commonsensical values. Just my thoughts on a wet Friday, somewhere north of wellie!
Richard Clark Film Editor & . . .
film | photography | writing
http://kiwicafe.blogspot.com/
I think it is changing. I have two sons in primary school and there seems to be a lot more emphasis on creativity and arts than there was when I was at school. I am an actor and I came to it late, at 35. How I wish I'd been introduced to drama at school, but they acted like the theatre didn't exist. I was at Tawa College in the 1970s and I didn't even know that Toi Whakaari was about 20 kms away in the city. I would have loved to audition and perhaps trained there as an actor. Drama only made it into the legitimate curriculum about 10 or so years ago. Teaching creativity also teaches creative thinking and that can be applied to any sphere of life...even doing your tax return. Schools are slow to catch up with current thinking and teaching on arts and creativity, but, in all fairness, I think it is the politicians and education bureaucrats that hold us back. There are many young and not-so-young teachers at the coalface (don't you hate these media buzzwords/cliches?) who are extremely creative and do some really inspiring things with New Zealand's schoolchildren and it is up to parents and voters to get behind them and shake things up at the top. Right-wing governments (don't believe this "centre right" bullshit!) don't foster arts and creativity. They are more in the "get a real job" camp. But hey, Ann Tolley, the arts are a real job and a bloody satisfying one too! www.aotearoasunrise.blogspot.com www.squidoo.com/Andrew-M-Bell
Left or Right, politics are politics, that is mere window dressing and finger pointing, certainly it is un-creative :) to think for one moment that the Greens, Labour aka Labor, ACT, etc, etc, know anymore than anyone else or have answers to this dilemma that will be part of the solution rather than the problem. We have a form of Gov that is an anachronism, it is still based far too closely on the Brit system. We need to re-look, re-invent, re-open the issue to new minds, new thinking, removing academia from the equation. Academia and Politicians are a major part of the problem, period.
I love TED, there are ideas, free form, inspiring.
Richard Clark
Film Editor & . . .
film | fotography | filosophy
http://kiwicafe.blogspot.com/
I can't comment on the state of our education system...I can only speak from my own experience of it when it was still bursary.
However, what I can say is NZ has some very exciting ideas in the area of youth development.
These ideas include methods such as a the 'strengths-based approach', an approach to working with youth that recognises the amazing potential in all young people.
In my view this includes creative potentialities!
From what I gather, all people are creative, it is just a matter of each person finding a medium that clicks with them, this could be accounting, chemistry, social skills or even something crazy like art!
It seems like at the moment our system isn't set up to recognise young peoples creative strengths, therefore it has trouble with engaging them with material that doesn't inspire them.
Another thing I have observed is that, as much as we know about learning styles, the system isn't set up to really engage all the different styles in a way that is going to empower young people.
Like Ken says, the western education system is set up to churn out academics rather than vibrant young people who are connected to their own individual strengths and empowered to use them.
What if students were helped to identify their own learning style, and grouped in classes based on that?
What if students were asked to think about their creative strengths and interests?
What if they were helped with the design of their own study path, that they could be intrinsically motivated about?
16 March 2010 - 16:29 PM
Hey all, thanks for the comments! Here's another quick clip here from Sir Ken where he is eloquent, inspiring and imminently sensible as always! He also makes an interesting point that the system stifles teachers as much as it does kids. http://bit.ly/b3gzIg
I agree Rose, that there are pockets of strength-based approaches to education all around the world, but it seems to fall outside the mainstream curriculum. I was in a meeting with a school principal and deputy just weeks ago where they said the system was only interested in academic outcomes and that, even though in theory they agree with creative approaches, their performance as a school was measured on academic outputs.
What our education system focuses on and measures is the demonstration of a very narrow band of taught, practiced and studied learning, and it only allows for its demonstration in a very narrow form, namely writing. This is not only seriously out of date in a multimedia society such as ours in 2010, but it continues to ignore our children's diversity.
I agree with you Richard, too, that we need to re-look, re-invent, re-open the issue to new minds, new thinking, removing academia from the equation. The question is, how do we gain traction while academics and politicians hold control in a vice-like grip, (as you say, Andrew)?
From what I understand, all people are really creative, it is just a matter of each person finding a medium that clicks with them, this could be accounting, chemistry, social skills or even something crazy like art!
It seems like at the moment our system isn't set up to recognise young peoples creative strengths, therefore it has trouble with engaging them with material that doesn't inspire them.
http://www.mp3hunting.com/ music search