I was fascinated by this speaker at the TED conference. As anyone who knows me can attest to, I am intrigued by learning and why we learn the way we do. Also, as Dan will attest to, don't get me going on how public schools try to conform children into one pre-determined mold with no room for your own thoughts, ideas, or expression (color inside the lines or it's wrong, add these numbers the way they say or it's wrong, etc.) I also have a real issue with the lack of fine arts and other modes of creativity in the education system. We are all talented in so many different ways that how can only 5 core subjects be the most important ones? This has been brought home to me having a daughter that is so creative and expressive in art and music and drama, but does not give one flying fig about math and spelling. Not that these things aren't important - they are, but there is no room for teachers to go out on a limb in their approach to teaching and learning. Not enough time and resources, but that is another subject.
I continue to watch this in Dan's post-secondary education. There is no room for critical thinking or coming up with new suggestions and methods of doing things. Just follow the rules and, usually, the outline to the exact letter of the law if you want to get a good grade and graduate (can I just say APA style? What's up with a bunch of psychologists determining the exact inches to be placed between the top of the page and the start of your words? In Dan's psych class he got more points for following their style guidelines than he did for the actual content of the paper. There's something wrong with that!)
What happened to thinking outside the box? How would this world have gotten to where it is now if people like Einstein or Newton or Da Vinci were told to conform and just draw their ideas from the pool of resources we already know to be true?
But I digress. If you have 20 minutes to watch this, please do. He is entertaining and enlightening on the need for change in our education system to support creativity. I really enjoyed it, and it made me think. Oh, and then I watched his talk from 2010 on passions and aptitudes in education. It is wonderful too.
p.s. Thanks Lisa for teaching me how to include videos on my blog. See, it takes all kinds to make the world go round!
Hi Jen, just catching up on your posts and of course I have to give my two cents. Funny how I grew up in the school system always thinking I wasn't smart only to come out of it and realize it wasn't me it was the system! Now we have Laura who is a total angel, but struggles to think the way they want her to and began to fail miserably in 7th grade so I took her out. Couldn't stand to see her spirit being suffocated. I know not everyone can do that but I'm glad there are other options out there for kids like that.
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