The Systematic Death of Creativity

The videos that we saw from today were quite interesting, to be honest.  I feel like this is information that we already knew in some way/shape/form, but these videos seemed to organize the information succinctly.  We can look around us and see that for the most part, a lot of people who have desk jobs, and commute to work every day are not happy with their life simply because they are not doing in their life what they thought they should be.  Take, for example, a friend of mine from back home, Tom.  He's a great kid, and loves the outdoors, but works in a campus center at a private school for people he dislikes.  He's currently applying to the local community college to change where he's at and possibly go into either business management or the state park services.  He is changing his lot in life because he hated where he was at that much.

There are many others, however, that are told from a young age that they cannot do what they are passionate about because it doesn't make any money.  I really liked Sir Ken Robinson's  story about his friend that dances, because it shows that it really took someone who understood her and where her mentality was at to see what she needed, and that was dance school.  We, as human beings, can be quite lost without some sort of passion in our lives.  I have many passions I follow: I study history, I make jewelry, I watch musicals on Broadway whenever I get the chance, I love the outdoors, and I love reading Tolkien's books.  These things interweave through my life because I had been told at a young age that there was nothing that I couldn't do with something I loved.  That is part of the reason that I became a teacher: because the current system in education is not doing what it's supposed to be doing.  Students have almost literally become "another brick in the wall," where teachers teach to the standardized tests and then move them forward, regardless if they need to be held back or not.

Our education system, like Sir Ken Robinson stated, is truly like a fast-food restaurant.  Teachers have become these uncaring faces taking your order, so to speak, and it's killing these students' creativity, passion, and love of learning.  That is why I've become a teacher: to bring these ideas, feelings, and passions back into the classroom.  There is no reason that we should stifle a student's idea of what they'd like to become in the future simply because we don't think they can reach it.  Life has a funny way of working itself out, so try not to fight it.  Instead, let these students' ideas and passions flow from their work.  Give them many creative ideas, topics, and projects to produce.  Have them try new things that they may have never tried before, simply because they may like it.  It all comes down to nurturing the creativity and passion of these students, while at the same time leading them on an educational journey.

One way to get these students involved in this way is to use the digital story telling resources that we used today.  It's a creative way to get students to be involved with the content your teaching, while at the same time letting them explore their creativity and passions as a student.  I will admit, I was and still am, a student that likes to have parameters, simply because I don't know what to do with myself when I don't.  I don't work well on creative projects because my creativity has been stifled through school, and I have not nurtured it on my own.  However, I am working to change this, because as a teacher, you need to be creative with your work, so that your students don't get bored or tired of the same activities in the classroom.  This was a lot to take in, to be honest, and I am quite glad that I had the fortune of seeing Sir Ken Robinson and Dan Pink's videos today.  They have shed some impressive light on this subject.