Tuesday, September 15, 2015

"Schools vs. Creativity?"

What are your thoughts regarding Sir Ken Robinson's video presentation regarding "schools killing creativity?" In your response, please reflect, think, ponder, question, or wonder. Please complete this blog response after watching the video.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

From this video I realize that education is our future. Nobody knows this future but you can never have your knowledge taken from you, so if we invest in this we may have some security. Also, children have an immense capacity for creativity and innovation. The speaker tells how most of the time adults squander this creativity, it is lost as we grow up. Children are not afraid of taking risks and making mistakes, but we are taught that making mistakes are the worst thing we could do. He talks about how we get "educated out" of this creativity. Also, even great artists like Picasso or Shakespeare were once children, but they did not let this creativity be stolen from them. The arts are always looked down upon in education. Ken Robinson tells how public education was created to keep up with industrialization. Adults say "not to do art because you will never be and artist, don't do music because you won't be a musician." Our brains are always active but usually we are not able to exploit its full potential. All people focus and learn differently and not everyone can be forced into the same box. Students are judged by grades and not on the actual person you are. In order to ensure a productive future, we need to change the education system soon and not make children conform to school, but schools to conform to the child's specific needs. Creativity should be fed and not destroyed. My opinion is that currently, schools are destroying creativity and this needs to be changed.

Anonymous said...

Sir Ken Robinson's video presentation regarding "schools killing creativity" seemed very correct to me. I have never really thought of this concept, but I can definitely understand his points. By reflecting a main point of creativity, I agree with when he said, "children are frightened to be wrong" because I can relate. I am afraid to be wrong, and sometimes may not let out all of my thoughts, which according to Sir Ken Robinson, "stops our creativity". Also, I found great importance when he quoted Picasso, ""All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up". This showed how this issue is developed in children over TIME. Kids are developed through school most of their lives, while their creativity is slowly weakening, according to Sir Ken Robinson. I found his Ted Talk very insightful, especially because it opened up my eyes to show me how school can stifle creativity in children. I am motivated to stop this, because I know that individuality is a very important role in growing up, and becoming who you really are.

Anonymous said...

The topics and evidence that Sir Ken Robinson covers are very convincing. I do disagree when he said that when we are unprepared, we are less creative. I personally think that when you have limited resources, you become more creative to make use of what you have. I have always somewhat believed that the education system limits creativity. We are told to create a presentation, but we have guidelines to what the presentation is supposed to be. We are taught to think certain ways to figure out scientific equations that we will never use in our adulthood (unless we become scientists). What I am about to say is not directed at any teachers and is not meant to offend anyone. I do believe that our creativity is limited in school and we don’t have the freedom to think a new way. We are taught to look at a problem one way, when there are many other ways to look at the exact same problem. We are measured by our intelligence, not our growth or creativity. When we finally graduate, we are taught to attack problems one way, and not to think outside the box.

Anonymous said...

I agree with the speaker in that I believe that the school system is deeply flawed. I think too much emphasis is put on testing and grades, and not enough about the arts and creativity. On average, a student will take more than 60 standardized tests from kindergarten to high school, over 5 tests per year. We don't accommodate for people that are not good enough at the things schools put emphasis on. It doesn't matter if they're good at arts or music. It only matters when they are good at english and math. And we need to fix that.

Anonymous said...

Sir Ken Robinson says school are killing creativity but I believe schools are not killing creativity. There are art classes, music classes, cooking classes and wood shop. So if you want to be creative you join that class and be creative. Some of the points Sir Ken Robinson were true but I believe kids still can be creative in school because there are many class for art. How can kids lose creativity if they are in classes where there letting you be creative? I am in a creative writing class and he lets us be creative if we don’t like the topic we are doing. So overall not all schools are killing kids creativity. Also you can be creative outside of school so schools are not killing creativity. If the school system is different we can not succeed in what matters. Schools are not killing creativity in my opinion.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Education is meant to take us to the future. Education is preparing people for the unpredicted. Many kids have large creative talents. I believe that creativity should be regarded in the same class as other subjects because creativity will prepare kids for the future that hasn’t been determined yet. I also think the point that people are educated out of their creative capacities by being educated out by making students fear being wrong. This discourages people to try new things in fear that people will tell them that they are completely wrong. Education is thought to improve people’s minds but the fact that it kills creativity is a interesting idea that intrigues me. The more people are in school, the less creativity. The old generation's job is to help the new generation make something of the future.

Anonymous said...

My thoughts towards Sir Ken Robinson’s video presentation regarding “schools killing creativity” are that he really hits the key points. He hits these points because he tells how the schools actually are killing the kids creativity. The way that the schools are killing the kids creativity is because they are not lete teachers and other people actually believed in them, they would have that extra boost that they might need later in life to go out and get that job.Let them live the dream that they want, and give these kids ting them express what they are feeling. Their creativity is what makes them unique. Without this, they would not be how they are. They wouldn’t stick out in class for the things they think and say. They couldn’t shine as the person they are. If the world has 7 billion people, they are 1 in that 7 billion. Another way that the schools kill the kids creativity, is because of their dreams. This affects the kids because when they tell the teachers and others what they want to grow up to be, they are doubted because people think that these dreams will never come true. Professional sports player. Musician. Astronaut. These dreams could come true with the right path in life.Give them the extra confident boost they need.

Anonymous said...

According to Sir Ken Robinson, creativity is more important than ever in these times. If you're not prepared to be wrong, you will lose you're creative ability. In school, the worst possible thing we can do in school is get a bad grade which means doing something wrong. School was developed in the 1800’s to educate people for industrial jobs, thus the reason we do not focus on music, arts, or sports more in our school life. After watching this video, it made me really reflect if I have lost my creativity since coming to school. In school, I am expected to be mature in classes and not wander off or go into my imagination during school time. I think that this means that I am indeed losing or have lost a lot of my creativity because of the expectations that school has put on me to get specific jobs and to do specific things in my life. I do not think this is bad because I want to get a good job, but I do think it could be better.

Anonymous said...

Sir Ken Robinson believes that although school is treated with high regards, it destroys creativity in children. School teaches children that being wrong is bad. However, kids who are afraid to be wrong will never have the ability to invent everything. Academic ability is treated with more value than other aspects of life. The artistic potential in students will never be fulfilled if America continues to prioritize school.

Anonymous said...

Sir Ken Robinson has many valid points about schools killing kids creativity, however I think that schools are not the only factor in a child's life that reduces their creativity. Society has a large impact on children. The views and common ideas of society can be what truly takes away a child's creativity and forces them to form to social norms. Schools are merely a way for society to grip the children. Thinking about this I wonder how schools and society has had an effect in me. I have realized that my favorite teachers from school where always the teachers that wanted me to be more creative, and to understand society's norms but not form to them. How teaching affects children is really important to me because I want to go into a teaching career, so I really enjoyed listening to Sir Ken Robinson because he pointed out all the reasons I wanted to be a teacher and all the reasons I should think about teaching to kids “whole body” and not just focusing on their minds.

Anonymous said...

I thought that Sir Ken Robinson's talk was very interesting because it made me think differently about school. Generally, when I hear about school, they say that schools inspire imagination. But, Sir Ken Robinson made a good point because he said that in most schools, there is only a small amount of the education that involves imagination. This shows that schools are actually diminishing imagination and replacing it with thinking instead. Because of this, I think that schools should have some art classes that inspire imagination such as art and music.

Anonymous said...

Sir Ken Robinson’s video presentation regarding ¨schools killing creativity,¨ seemed to be true. I agree when he said that, ¨children are frightened to be wrong,¨ because some teachers treat students like they are all the same. Meaning that they ridiculize a student’s answer, resulting in them not wanting to participate anymore. Some students are afraid to speak their thoughts because they are afraid of being wrong. He said that this,¨stops our creativity.¨ According to Sir Ken Robinson, a child’s creativity slowly weakens as they grow older. He said that,¨a child does not grow into creativity, they grow out of it.¨ This is unfortunately true because children realize that they want to grow up faster and stop fantasizing. Robinson quoted from Picasso that,¨All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist growing up.¨ I strongly believe that a child should never let their imagination go as they grow older. This TED talk from Sir Ken Robinson was extremely insightful because it explained how schools can stifle creativity in children. This ¨limit in creativity¨ should come to a stop because I believe that being yourself is an important role in growing up and showing your inner-creativity.

Anonymous said...

Schools can hinder a child’s creativity. Without delving too far into this topic at first, most often schools give the least funding to the arts - drama, art, music, etc - and focus very little on the importance of the arts and what is needed to properly run an art department. If you do, however, look at how courses in school are taught, there is more of a stress on the academic classes and there is more of a stress on how successful you are in these courses. Students are given the task to create a presentation, to write a paper, to solve a series of algebraic equations, but are still given guidelines and are taught that there is one way to do things. While sometimes these guidelines are relevant to help move a problem along, the overlooking of a student’s creativity can damage their mentality in the sense that it can make them believe that the only way to do things is to do them the way you are taught. Going beyond schooling, careers involving the arts generally are less successful and harder to maintain or pay less. A student’s creativity should be nurtured, and given chances to grow instead of having it be put away to gather dust.

Anonymous said...

“We don’t grow out of creativity, we are educated out of it.” This statement was made by Sir Ken Robinson about whether or not schools take creativity away from kids. I think that this statement is true because in schools, we are taught to think with our brains, not every other part of us. In these school desks, we are preparing ourselves for our future. Teachers have a hard job, because they have to prepare us kids for a future that they can’t see. This being said, why are we preparing by sitting in desks? I think Robinson has a good point when he says that students are being educated out of their creativity. More money is being spent on subjects where one sits in a desk and exercises their brain. What about music and art. Artistic talents are also going to be in our future. Sir Ken Robinson has a point when he states, “We don’t grow out of creativity, we are educated out of it.”

Anonymous said...

During the video, Sir Ken Robinson's talked about how schools are killing creativity. Which I believe is true. Sir Ken Robinson said something that really stuck to me. He said "How are we suppose to prepared this kids future jobs, when we don't even know whats going to happen in five years." I totally agree with him on this one. In the video we watched called "Did you know," in that video, it also said that we are preparing children for the future that don't even exist. Also in this video, Sir Ken Robinson said "People have to move to think." I agree with what he said because even I have trouble with certain problems and the best thing to do for me is to move around and try to refocus myself. At school all we do is basically sit down all day and take notes. We only have 5 minutes to move around in between each period. Which might not be enough for most people. So unfortunately yes,school does kill creativity but if we can get more teachers to realize that school does kill creativity, maybe schools will get better grades and reviews.

Anonymous said...

The facts and ideas Sir Ken Robinson states are relateable and agreeable. Creativity is a highly important quality shared by many CEOs and entrepreneurs. Important inventions that are now part of our everyday life were engineered by creativity. If education takes that creativity away, what is to come of technology? Schools need to emphasize creativity, not diminish it. The iPhone didn't come from an A+ student, but from a drop out with an idea. Schools teach us to find only one way to find an answer, when there are many ways. Thinking outside of the box leads to life-changing inventions. Taking that away would not be a smart decision.

Anonymous said...

Sir Ken Robinson explains why creativity is important, and how schools aren't nourishing creativity like they should. He states that we are nurture creativity. Giving an example he said that a 6 year old girl was drawing God when no one knows what God looks like. Kids are not afraid to be wrong, and if you are not prepared to be wrong they won’t have the courage to be creative. Robinson states a theory that all children are born artist, the problem is remaining artists. There is no school that teaches children dance like they teach kids math. Professor think of their bodies as transportation for their heads. Public education is made to support industrialization. Creativity is the value of coming up with original thoughts. Intelligence is distinct, he said that he is writing a book about how people discovered their creativity. He gave an example of when a girl named Jenny was a dancer was struggling in school and fidgeting during class. So they took her to a specialist and found out that she was a dancer, and after moving to a dancing school she would become a multimillionaire. Watching this video made me think about were my future would go depending on my creativity.

Anonymous said...

In the video “Do Schools Kill Creativity,” by Sir Ken Robinson, I thought the video had many creative ways to explain his point. Although some of those examples seemed to not have the same topic of his topic on “Do Schools Kill Creativity.” In the video he kept the audience engaged in what he had to say. “People think in many different ways, kinetically and visually.” Another idea of how he explained the different ways people thought was, some people think in ways that make them have to move while they think more easily. “If all the insects disappeared in 50 all plants would be destroyed.” “If humans were to disappear in 50 years everything would be dead." Some of his quotes made since in ways but this one got me all confused. I wonder why he said that? In his examples I do agree that school bring down on creativity. Over all it was a really well put presentation.

Anonymous said...


The part of the video that stood out the most to me was that we don’t grow into creativity, we grow out of it. I appreciated him saying this because I can tell that as students grow older, they don't have as many original ideas. Then again, one of the reasons young students are like this is because they don’t know what the right answers are. I remember when I was younger, in kindergarten I drew a picture of bears sliding down a waterfall. My teacher told me bears don’t actually do that and I would need to redo my paper. This made me more knowledgeable, but my unique idea was squandered.

Anonymous said...

I think that Sir Ken Robinson makes a great point when he said that when you are not prepared to be wrong, then you will never come up with anything original. Another remark that Robinson makes is that in the entire world, the education systems are similar because no matter what the arts are always the least important when compared. But as he said a class based around the arts should be taught just like a math class is taught to us. In my opinion I think we should have some sort of creative class every day or more than we usually do because it is equally important as the core classes.

Anonymous said...

Sir Ken Robinson showed me that creativity is important to today's society because schools are ruining it. They are shutting us down. Instead of letting us have our ideas run wild they try to contain them. If we don't have creativity we are not prepared to be wrong. My favorite part of the video is when he said all children are born artists the struggle is helping them stay creative enough to live up to there artistic potential. As a whole we need to focus on making sure creative activities are prioritzed just as much as core activites.

Anonymous said...

After watching the video about education destroying creativity, Sir Ken Robinson believes that school destroys creativity in children. He believes Kids who are afraid to be wrong will be afraid to invent certain things. Academics are treated with more value than other things of life such as dance and sports. He also believes it teaches kids that being wrong is bad.