10 Feb Do schools kill creativity?
Education is a very broad subject; both those who work in this sector and those who study – in fact everyone – speak about it. Everyone can list lots of benefits and drawbacks of certain solutions, everyone has both pleasant and more difficult experiences to share.
Delving into the topic of education, I reached for books by Ken Robinson (1950-2020), a British writer who specialized in creativity development. He was involved in “the Arts in School” project to improve the methodology of teaching the arts. He became famous online for his “Do schools kill creativity?” speech.
The first book by Robinson I read was “Creative Schools. The grassroots revolution that’s transforming education.” It’s an ideal position for those working in education. The author collected many examples and practices from American schools that present various solutions to improve the teaching process, but also the education of young people. He cited examples of teachers and principals who have actually improved and changed school practices.
A particularly noteworthy observation by Robinson is that standards cannot be created because children aren’t standard. Everyone is different, with different sensitivities and life experiences, such as functioning in broken families. Therefore, each child requires attention and needs to find, as the author puts it in other books, his or her “element,” i.e. talents and passions to develop.
The researcher’s second book is titled “You, your child and school. Navigate your way to the best education”. I would definitely recommend this publication to parents, and secondarily to teachers. The book suggests how to support your child’s development and, above all, how to get to know your child. The author encourages you to nurture your relationship both with your child and with those who work with him or her to educate the young person.
In addition, the writer urges you to reflect on your own role and parenting style and its consequences. He encourages us to consider whether this style will develop a child with a “strong character”, who will be full of determination, or just the opposite.
The author also reminds us of the importance of sleep and rest in a child’s development, and urges parents to let their children “fall”, but also “fly,” according to the belief that: “Our children have the potential to achieve so much, but only if we help them become independent from us.” These beliefs strongly relate to Maria Montessori’s pedagogy.
There is much to learn from both books, so for practicing teachers I recommend both, as they can serve as inspiration for finding and implementing solutions suited for the 21st century. In addition, the book “You, your child and school. Navigate the way to the best education” – will encourage you to think about diversity, looking for the good, building relationships and organizing everyday life wisely.
Both books are quick and easy to read, as there are 10 chapters in each publication with quite succinct and practical examples and considerations that make it easy to put theory into practice.
I highly recommend it.
I highly recommend it.