This postListened to a talk by Sir Ken Robinson on creativity in education. You have to watch this. He certainly has his head on straight. Here’s a quote (and any errors are my fault in transcribing):
Our education system is predicated on the idea of academic ability. And there’s a reason. The whole system was invented round the world — there were no public systems of education, really, before the 19th century. They all came into being to meet the needs of industrialism. So, the hierarchy is raised on two ideas: number one, that the most useful subjects for work are at the top. So you were probably steered benignly away from things at school when you were a kid, things you liked, on the grounds you would never get a job doing that. Is that right? Don’t do music, you’re not going to be a musician; don’t do art, you won’t be an artist. Benign advice. Now, profoundly mistaken. The whole world is engulfed in a revolution. And the second is, academic ability, which has really come to dominate our view of intelligence, because the universities designed the system in their image. If you think of it, the whole system of public education around the world is a protracted process of university entrance. And the consequence is that many highly talented, brilliant, creative people think they’re not, because the thing they were good at school wasn’t valued or was actually stigmatized. And I think we can’t afford to go on that way.
The basic premise is that children start out creative — as Picasso said, all children are artists — but we get educated out of it. And that’s going to have serious consequences for society unless something changes.
I need to start compiling a list of talks and books and such about creativity…
