The Importance of Creativity

http://sites.google.com/site/drasresources/awareness-videos

Sir Ken Robinson's speech on the importance of creativity really hit home for me. Robinson says at one point, "If you are not prepared to be wrong, you will never come up with anything original." He points out that as adults, we become afraid to be wrong, as if mistakes are the worst things we can make, which is so true. Mistakes are seen as an embarrassment as we grow older, which tends to hold us back from attempting things we are unsure of. Robinson goes on to say that we are educating people out of creativity. Everywhere in the world, our educational priorities are all the same. At the top of the pyramid are things like maths and sciences, but the arts are always at the bottom. The arts are always the funding that gets cut when money gets tight. The education systems are built to meet the needs of industrialism, steering kids away from things they enjoy, like music and arts, because they are told they will never get a job in such a field. Kids are then steered to the most "useful" subjects of work like business and economics. Many brilliantly creative people think they are not at all talented, because they were stigmatized for their talents.

We think in abstract terms, with intelligence being dynamic and interactive. Therefore, Robinson asserts his beliefs that we need to rethink the principals upon which we educate our children. My favorite part of the video was when he quotes Jonas Salk, "If all the insects were to disappear from the earth, within 50 years, all life on earth would end. If all human beings were to disappear from the earth, within 50 years, all forms of life would flourish." We have to use our gifts of imagination, educating our children to make something of their futures. We do not know what the world will be like when children today enter the world of work, yet we are supposed to be educating them for that. It is an injustice to suppress today's students creativity for a world which we cannot predict what it will be like. As educators, we must preserve the wonderfully creative minds of our students, so that their imaginations and ideas will continue to flourish and inspire new concepts of advancement for the future. They must be able to imagine new things for the betterment of our world or our world may become static. To do this, we must incorporate as much diverse learning techniques as possible in to our classrooms. We must keep our students diverse in their thinking, and never let them fit in to a mold.

All throughout my schooling, I was involved in creativity. Specifically, in high school I joined the marching band. We were 6 time state champions and I have to admit, I got more out of that program alone than I did of all four years of high school academic education combined. Being involved in such an art taught me how to be creative, where I am now writing my own music, as well as teaching high schoolers now how to play it. It taught me how to be passionate about something, and how to have the energy and integrity to accomplish goals with the highest of standards. I gained more confidence than I have ever had and was instilled with an aggressiveness to chase down my dreams of success. Never in my life has something made me so happy, and I am one of few fortunate people that still gets to have such an influential thing still a major part of my life. With the high school students I am currently teaching, I hope to see the same experiences I had with music instilled in them, and that means more to me than anything. It makes me very sad to know that students are actually discouraged to be a part of such a creative outlet, especially when I know how powerful it is for me. Therefore, my goal as an educator now, and in the future, will now be to encourage creativity as much as I can in any outlet- art, music, dance, etc.

Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.
Plato

But the person who scored well on an SAT will not necessarily be the best doctor or the best lawyer or the best businessman. These tests do not measure character, leadership, creativity, perseverance.
William J. Wilson