Are we all creative?

[Chris Tomlinson]

I just recently watched a video from TED and it talks about being creative and how our educational systems need to place a greater importance on creativity.

Here's the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY&feature=player_embedded

So, are we all creative?

[Linda J Ranger]

Really enjoyed this video. There are so many truths in this humorous video including over medicating every student that has a learning style that does not fit the normal classroom setting.

Every person has a talent to share and I do believe that with all of our excesses of the last 20 years the push on our children to get the best grades to get into supposedly best universities to become the favorite professional of the decade is obnoxious to the determent of our children and society as a whole. Some of the most influential people of the past did not have a formal education and even Bill Gates did not finish college. It is more important to have a passion for what you do as your life occupation and when the passion is there you will learn how best to succeed. That is why so many today with college degrees only got the degree that their parents wanted them to get to make $$$ but they do not have that special spark that promotes them to an employer and they start to think that the degree means nothing. A college degree is important for some occupations but not for others. Whether it is an artistic endeavor or a logical skill we need passionate and "Out of the Box" thinkers to continue inspiring all of us to new heights in learning and product development.

[Chris Tomlinson]

Linda,

Yes, it is quiet a humorous video. I enjoyed every bit of it.

At the end of your response, you mentioned inspiration. Maybe that's what we need to be teaching - inspiration? Teach our young kids to be inspired and stay inspired and with that comes creativity on how to achieve that goal.

[PK Koduri]

I came from a School system that Sir Ken Robinson describes in his talk. What saddens me the most is the mad rush in the US to emulate that very system. A well-balanced education system is what we need with no one subject or area getting preferential treatment over the other. This world will be a boring place if we all are trained to be corporate drones plugging away on our keyboards.

[Ian Arkin]

I think ambition and passion are necessary for a creative person to excel. Most public education (particularly 4th grade onward) destroy the ambition and passion thereby limiting the motivation for accessing creativity. We are taught to think in "templates," so it is no surprise that people are content leading fill-in-the-blank lives.

[Chris Tomlinson]

Chris,

I agree, all too often we as a society seem to want to rush them and make sure they're a 'professional' before they have even left the elementary school system.

But you also make a point about exploring their talents and from what I took from the video was the fact that we (adults / society) have a real tendency to squish their desire to explore their talents. I think if our educational system(s) did a better job of nurturing their needs to explore their creativity, we'd be better off in the long run.

[Chris Tomlinson]

Oh, I would never advocate sacrificing the basics for creativity. As a youngster, I, like most others, said "Why do I need to know this kind of math if I want to be an artist?" not knowing then that having a solid understanding of geometry would help me with 3D design or vanishing points or whatever.

So yes, let's not sacrifice the basics solely for creativity, but let's also make certain we encourage their creative abilities.

[Linda J Ranger]

I think the point is that by mixing it up in the classroom with creative/fun things ( playing an instrument, singing, exercise, cooking, wood shop, computers and artistic endeavors) along with academics it is easier for students to learn that education does not always have to be a grind. For instance, math can be applied to many of these endeavors to reinforce how it can be used everyday. Performance charts can be made to chart one's progress in exercising skills, use of geometry in graphic design and carpentry, units of measurements for cooking and counting the beat while playing an instrument or singing are important for the outcome of the performance.

Memorizing basic rules in grammar and math multiplication tables and reading at or above grade level are important to everyone to succeed. But memorizing is not the only goal for education....we all hope our children will learn to think creatively for themselves. Yes, the basics are the most important goal for education but not to the determent of creativity. We need to keep all the children interested in learning.

[Chris Tomlinson]

I didn't have fun in school, but I learned a lot! I didn't need games and fun activities, but we learned what was needed!
You didn't need games and fun activities, but others might. I guaran-damn-tee you that if learning didn't seem like such a daunting and/or mundane task for me personally, school might have been easier and I might have felt like I was grasping it.

Some kids are going to absorb words better than visuals and vice versa and I think that's where creativity could come into play from a different angle. If we could find creative ways to make things more understandable for people from all walks of life and different learning abilities, then I think our country would catch up, if not steam ahead.

[Linda J Ranger]

I didn't like school either. Maybe life even for adults wouldn't always be considered such a grind if we took some fun breaks once in awhile. The word "fun" is an individual thing since many students also think anything outside of book learning is "dumb" activity and not fun at all. I guess I should have used the term "hands-on" or application rather than fun.