Creativity and the 21st Century School

I agree, yet disagree with Sir Ken Robinson.

This is what I agree on: I agree that creativity should be held equivalent to literacy. Creativity is important because it is what fuels everything else. For example, John Doe can be a brilliant mathematician. He can know numbers inside and out, and wish to pursue the field of business in the future. However, if John doesn’t have the ideas to create a successful business, and creative intuition, his business will never flourish. That is why I believe creativity serves a great purpose, especially in comparison with literacy. Literacy may expand our knowledge of writing, but it not nearly as beneficial as creative writing.

This is what I disagree on: Sir Ken Robinson made a point about how he feels dance or the arts should be held equally important to math or science. I disagree because although the arts hold their place, they do not teach what is essential for students to grow. Arts are a form of expression and passion, which is important. However, the basic subjects such as math or science teach the structure behind the creativity.

After viewing this particular video in class today, I have many thought about what the speaker, Sir Ken Robinson, has acknowledged and stated.

My first and initial thought after the viewing of this video was that it was completely wrong. I initially believed this because if there really were such a fault with the education system as stated, then it would have been noticed, and hopefully taken care of many years ago. Additionally, as mentioned by our Sir Ken Robinson with his friend the dancer, moving cannot explain how one can learn. This is what I initially believed
After a few moments of thoughts, I decided that I was wrong in my thinking. Myself being a strong student in the arts, I do believe that learning through other methods besides regular schooling is effective. I believe Sir Ken Robinson’s thoughts to be true because if someone is doing something that they are adamant about, then they will want to do better, because theoretically they enjoying doing this activity more. Using myself as an example, I believe that if a certain concept or idea is provided and taught in an appealing manner, and interlaced within an activity I prefer, I will willing try to learn it, or at-least be more interested in it. Finally, education systems attempt to prepare students for college. The topics always covered are some sort of math, science, world languages, and the English language. In many jobs available today, not all of these areas of study are useful. If one was to become an artist, and art was never really a big area of study in that persons studies, they will not be as good as they could potentially could be.

I agree 100% with what Sir Ken Robinson is saying. Schools need to take a huge step back and see the big picture. Not everyone is going to be mathematicians and historians so schools need to stop breeding children that way. Schools take away all creativity and individuality and put all the focus on getting A’s is the hardest classes. Maybe some kids don’t want to get an A+ in AP Physics. Some kids want to be all-star hockey players and if they try hard enough they will be all-star hockey players. Parents need to let their children flourish and expand instead of putting them in little boxes and saying fill this box up with knowledge. We are an experiential breed. With experience we learn. What can anyone experience being trapped in a school with a list of strict rules and even more stern teachers that enforce the rule? They experience nothing. They all have anxiety and depression and a really bad headache, a whole generation wasted.

Sir Ken Robinson discusses the idea that the Twenty first Century School is killing creativity among our youth through the modern approach in education. Sir Ken Robinson stated that in the next thirty years more people will have graduated than in all of history. The thought of that many people is almost unimaginable, and therefore, as Sir Robinson also said, people have to graduate with higher degrees, such as a PhD, to exceed the median and earn a job that can support and raise a family. I agree with Sir Ken Robinson because I believe that the Twenty first Century School is killing creativity since the main focus in today’s culture is math and science. These two focuses are spectacular for many people; however there are many other individuals who flourish in the arts where they can expand there mind freely just as the mathematician and scientist would. I also agree that today’s youth is frightened by the simple idea of a mistake because even though from a mistake comes a chance to learn and progress and become better. The future is full of opportunities and among today’s youth the word bad is tied in with mistake and I believe that is the main restriction on why the Twenty first Century School is killing creativity rather than trying to craft the next Picasso or the next person who will dedicate them self in searching for the discovery of anything imaginable.

After watching this video, I agree strongly with Sir Ken Robinson’s ideas about creativity being educated in schools. I believe that math and sciences are important are important to understand and get a grasp of, but should not be the main focus in schools. It is important that creativity is equally educated because students could find their true potential in the arts if they are not interested in subjects such as math, science, and history. I believe that history is important to understand, but some parts in math and science seem irrelevant for me and would not be helpful for me in the future. Memorizing certain equations may be helpful for some, but I believe that creative writing is extremely important because it expands our minds and really makes us think.

I strongly agree with Sir Ken Robinson’s ideas. His arguments were well thought out and they brought up a lot of good questions that get people thinking about today’s education and if what the schools are doing is completely right and fair for everyone. Creativity is slowly being becoming an unimportant part of the educational system. I think that math, history, and sciences are still important, mainly because it’s good to have that basic knowledge. But why are music, dance, drama, and other types of arts that give people the chance to express them selves creatively are not as important? Just like Ken Robinson said, slowly there is becoming an “Educational Inflation”. Instead of doing the things you want to do for your future, schools are making you do stuff for “their ideal future”, but they are not going to be there for it, so make it better for everyone.

Sir Ken Robinson discusses a valid and prevalent question. As Robinson mentioned, more people in the next thirty years will be graduating than all of history. It is rapid growth in education like this that becomes a catalyst for change. The thought of so many students triggers the idea of alternative teaching methods, such as dance and drama. Sir Ken commented that if an individual is not prepared to be wrong they will never come up with anything original. Originality isn’t taught. Because something is original doesn’t mean it is incorrect. Their minds are not allowed to flourish with new and inventive ideas for the fear of being wrong. Although I agree strongly that a more tradition and less controversial “answers” are more widely accepted, I also believe there is a misconception between knowledge and comprehension. As elders in a community, we begin to “baby” children at an early age because we assume they cannot comprehend; however they just haven’t been supplied with the knowledge yet. We unintentionally squander our adolescent’s potential creativity by speaking down to them. I personally believe, parallel to Robinson, that intelligence is interactive, and that the educational hierarchy needs to incorporate more unconventional teaching methods to spark the young minds of the Gillian Lynne’s of our generation.

So its pretty interesting that Ms. Canterbury’s announcement at Assembly yesterday was an open invitation to every student in the school. What does that say about WA? About our Arts program? Does it say anything at all?

I strongly agree with what Sir Ken Robinson says in his twenty minute speech. He says “If you’re never prepared to be wrong, you will never come up with anything original. That is a quote that really makes you think about originality and kids in the public school systems today. I fully agree with that quote and agree that the school systems in our country kill the originality in kids. I didn’t disagree with one thing that Sir Ken Robinson said. Our school systems now breed kids into mathematicians or chemists; but why can’t kids with different interests be bred with a focus on singing or dancing if that’s what they are better at. I found Robinson’s speech moving and found it very interesting to think about this topic and I strongly agree with what he says and feel that there should be a change.

In his speech, Sir Ken Robinson mentioned that in the next thirty years, more people will graduate than in all of history. Imagine all of the successful, educated people who have already made an impact on the world. With a tremendous amount of people being educated, I assume that many more people, more than ever before, will impact the world and help it advance. But, is there a downside to so many people receiving a narrow minded education? Will creativity and the “individual” become something of the past? With our generation being pushed to excel in math, science, and languages, will we miss out on the next DaVinci, Shakespeare, or Tupac?

I believe Sir Ken Robinson is on the right track with his argument that Schools are killing creativity. The best part of his argument was the example of the young child in the play pronouncing frankincense incorrectly. I believe entirely with the statement that being afraid to be wrong stops original thought. As a child no one had this fear, but once you started school it did. No one wants to be laughed at or feel embarrassed by being wrong. This blog post has made me realize I that even today I still have this feeling. I have rewritten this post at least twice already, because as I started writing I started to think that I am on the wrong track. In order to learn you have to be wrong at some point.
Although I agree with the majority of what Sir Ken Robinson said, I do have one question for him. How can we change the school systems to help students follow their creative sides? I do not know how schools would be able to do so because it is true that math and English are essential tools. Those topics need to be focused on. I feel that if students have that skill they will find it. One way as a society that we can help keep creativity alive is accepting divergent thinking more in everyday life. If people can start accepting divergent thinking more and more, creativity will be seen as a great tool again. Sir Ken Robinson’s argument whether you agree or disagree with it, makes you think about your creativity and if it has been killed.

When I watched this video of Sir Ken Robinson I felt compelled to agree with him. Everything that he said made sense to me, especially when he spoke about Ms. Flynn. Sir Ken Robinson is at the top of his game when he talks about how in most situations Ms. Flynn would be bookmarked as a special education student, when in reality Ms. Flynn had a superb talent for someone of her age. Everyone expresses themselves in different ways, for some it may be dancing as in Ms. Flynn’s case and for others it may be athletics or singing, however either way everyone creates a way to define their personality through something they truly love. I agree with Sir Ken Robinson when he speaks about how the educational programs around the world need to open up their structural schedules to allow students to use their creativity. We truly will never know what the future holds whether it’s in five minutes, five hours or five years, we will never be able to know for certain what the future will bring. Allowing children and students to be creative in their educational systems will however broaden the horizon. There will be more individuality and happiness rather than conformity and repeating the steps of life over and over again. Sir Ken Robinson is a very intelligent and funny man who holds a strong argument for creativeness in the lives of young children and students of the 21st century. I very much enjoyed his speech and strongly agree with him.

I agree with Sir Robinson, and therefore i will be writing this post in free response style, letting my creativity show, and taking risks.
One particular point from Sir Robinson’s speech struck me as fascinating. Our entire educational system originated from the Industrial Revolution. In this time, mastering language and mathematics was essential, as it was the basis of most industrial professions. As a result, the public education system was forced to focus on excellence in mathematics and language in order to assure a prosperous future for its students. We, and our schools, no longer need to worry about that, because it is no longer a necessity. In other words, the current educational system is outdated. Students have a multitude of new opportunities available to them, and many of those opportunities require more creative thinking than algebraic conversions.
So what can we do about it?
Encourage thinking. Encourage curiosity. Make sure young people know how to speak their language and solve their equations, but let them ask why. Let them take control of their own education. There are opportunities out there today for the most abstract of thinkers, and their thoughts and ideas should not be constrained by their third grade teacher who tells them to stop asking dumb questions.
People crave for knowledge, but only on subjects that truly interest them. And a world full of free thinkers that strive to know everything about their area of interest is a world of endless possibility, and a world I’d like living in.

I agree with Sir Ken Robinson, schools do not really encourage creativity in students. Mainly they focus on the grades the students receive in their academic classes, thinking there is too small of a chance for anyone to make it big in the creative world. This happens in most American schools. Some foreign schools require the students to take creative classes. Also parents play a part in student’s lives. Parents are convinced that as an artist there is no way to make good money and be able to support oneself. High school is when a student grows and learns the most and should be encouraged to take other classes. Artists are able to express themselves, while an account is stuck at a bank. But school is still important. Singers are not immediately found, so they need to keep up a regular job until their career takes off. But there are more academic jobs then creative, schools should focus on academic studies but encourage and promote creative classes. Parents also should help, letting the student do what they like instead of telling them what they have to do. Schools are sure that students will succeed if they learn their mathematics and sciences. But if a student keeps an open mind there are many ways they can succeed.

I agree with Sir Ken Robinson. His speech was phenomenal. I especially agree with him when he was talking about dancing and the arts. Originality is not taught like Sir Ken Robinson said, he is absolutely correct. But on the other hand, what you see and know around you affects you personally and your “orginality”. If you do not have a good education then you would not have the knowlegde to expand your thinking and understand whats going on around you either past, present or future. What makes me a little confused though, is that since we are all educated and have the knowledge to become orginal, creative and so on, what about the people that weren’t educated back then or even now? Would they even know how creativity works and be able to make a living off of just orginiality? What about the people who are horrible in school and can not pass math or science? But they flourish at the arts and he or she can sing beautifully, what happens when the creativity is taken to a new level? The world now depends on an education, and schools are just supporting that particular idea. Schools are wanting you to achieve and get those A’s but not paying attention to the theater/arts is destroying many people’s potential creativity. It is all about the potential people have. Schools aren’t killing the creativity but they r making the creativity become difficult to uphold. I agree yet disagree, this topic is tough to go to extremes with.

I can’t agree with Sir Ken Robinson any more, in terms of the education and creativity conception. The ceativity is essential to every single person, and therefore also significant to the progression of a nation. Socrates recon the declining of Athens is a result of lacking of creativity of the people, who satisfied with the concept built up at that time, and refuse to exploring their own original ideas. From this we can see the value of creativity. In now days education system, it is not able to fully match the features (diverse and dynamic ) of creativity anymore, subjects are not equitable but diverge in certain ranking, even children can be talented in varied profession. While children are expanding their knowledge in school, they simutaneously limited their own creativity by forced to value certain subject, inorder to be general success. (money, power), and simply accept what their taught then repeat it. They do know what is xx, but now how xx come up. I’m not saying education will murder children’s creativity but it misses the process of rumination and innovation, as in the lecture, of being wrong.

I agree with Sir Ken Robinson on some things, but also disagree with other things that he had mentioned. Creativity is definitely something that should be held in very high regard and one needs to pursue his or her own creativity. I don’t think creativity is something a public school can teach you, rather a talent you should be able to find and pursue on your own. There are also many opportunities in most public schools to participate in whatever your creative genius might be, whether it is music, theater, or arts. Everyone is different with their own abilities so it is up to you to find your own creativity and determine which path you want to go on.

I strongly agree with Sir Ken Robinson’s ideas on creativity. Although the basic classes such as math and science should be taught in school, creativity should be equally as important. Creativity helps students figure out what their true potential in life is. Courses in school such as art classes help students to express themselves in other ways besides math, science, history etc. I also agree with the comment Sir Ken Robinson made about what Picasso said. He said how all children are born artists, but grow out of their artistic abilities as they get older. I agree with this because kids are taught things as they get older which form ideas about the world. All children have different passions in life, and allowing them to express their creativity is the only way to find where they belong.

I strongly agree with Sir Ken Robinson’s points on creativity and school. Every student should not be forced to be the typical stereotype. Creativity is being diminished because schools are putting an emphasis on teaching facts, rather than teaching children to use their creativity to learn. I also agree that schools should not suppress a child’s creativity but, instead teach them how to develop it. Not every child is interested in math, science, or language; however, art and music should be very much involved in a child’s life in order to expand a child’s creativity. I also agree with Robinson’s points about a person’s idea of art and music because if one is not an artist or a musician, they will not take classes for this subject. I also agree with the story of the dancer, who used her creativity to further her own career, and did not necessarily conform to society, therefore furthered her own skill and became extremely successful. Sir Ken Robison wants each person to grow on their own and develop their own skills, he believes each person brings something new to the table, and their skill should not be hidden.

Since I began my high school career I cannot think of a class that has actually challenged me in a creative way, besides art classes. However, art classes are often times passed off as something of lesser importance than the two different math courses a student may be taking. Many students at Worcester Academy today take art to fulfill the credits they need and that is that. Music and drama are also held at the same priority. The band is a great program, but individual lessons could greatly impact a student’s skills. Students do not just decide on their own that the arts are not important. Someone must be telling teenagers that “two sciences will look much more impressive on an application than one trimester of printmaking, because you aren’t going to be an artist.” In elementary school art classes I remember being instructed step by step how to draw the one object. Yes it was art, but we weren’t thinking about drawing it, we were only thinking about copying what our teacher was drawing as well as we could manage. Teachers in schools today are so structured down to how they want the heading of your paper written to what color pens you can use. The education system is controlling the ways children learn, and what they are learning. Some kids might not be very good at math, but playing the clarinet comes as easy as counting to ten. Unfortunately for children like this, many schools require so many specific credits that a student may not be able to spend enough time in the subject they do excel in. Each child is different, from the way they form their letters when they first learn to write, to the ability of their mind to memorize terms for a history exam. Sir Ken Robinson is absolutely correct. You cannot force people to learn more of one subject than another. Sure some kids, if given the option, would chose all the easy courses and coast through school to a disappointing college application process, but you cannot diminish a child’s needs because of what the education system sees as necessary material to cover in schooling. Every child learns differently, and is compelled to learn different things. Classes need to be more open to this kind of thinking, and accept that no two children will ever have the exact same interests and abilities in school. Creativity’s importance in schools is decreasing. If a teacher assigns a project it is very unlikely that under the section “Grading” you will find the word creativity. Neatness, content, grammar, presentation, participation, etc. These are all words children focus on in school in order to receive good grades. Creativity has been erased from this list, and the education of our children, the future leaders of the world, is suffering.

Sir Ken Robinson made a lot of very motivating comments during his speech. I strongly agree with his idea that the arts and creativity should be equivalent to literacy. Without creativity our world cannot flourish. If it weren’t for creativity Benjamin Franklin would never have discovered electricity. There are many other examples throughout history that show how important creativity is to human kind.

Sir Ken Robinson said “we don’t grow into creativity, we grow out of it, or rather we get educated out of it.” I believe that this is true. Students are constantly being told that they should not pursue something in the arts because it cannot guarantee them a job, so students are encouraged to study and play sports, because “playing sports can help you obtain a scholarship.” Everything adults tell students to do with their lives as they grow up is preparing them for college. But if all you do is “live in your head”, you miss all of the wonderful, beautiful, and inspiring things that go on around you.

In response to Mr. Viva’s questions, the current situation with WA’s theatre department is actually something that directly affects me. I have been strongly involved in theatre at WA since I was in middle school. And as the years progress I have seen the decrease in interest and attention that the theatre department is receiving. We are struggling to have enough people audition for the school plays, especially boys. We had a total of 5 guys in the fall play, and we actually ended up having a girl play the lead male role. Lack of participation is an ever growing problem in the theatre department. I believe this is the case because many kids feel that they will not be able to get into college unless they are doing a sport, and many guys believe that doing a play makes them “less of a man”. That is not true. Theatre is a means of expression and creativity. The creativity needed to put on a play is unbelievable, and everyone has the ability, it is just a matter of forgetting about the fear of being wrong, or doing something different.

“Afraid to be worng”
This is what the school system has imposed on average student. Creativity is looked at as an extra cirricular. School Officials will say that the arts programs are made to let a student express themselves, yet very little money is ever given to the arts programs at schools. It is always one of the first programs to be dropped at a time of financial crisis. Also some students do not want to participate in plays and concerts. It just is not for them. There are few other programs in our schools that offer a student to express how they feel or think. The perfect example is an English teacher. English is supposed to be a subject that is based on opinion instead of facts. Everyone with an opinion that is well discussed should be excepted. Yet students are afraid to be wrong! They focus on the structure and the spelling and the grammer and forget all about their idea and become “essay robots”. I agree with Anna. Grades have overtaken creativity.

Politically correctness also has destroyed any chance of creative thinking. People are to uptight these days about being wrong or saying a sexist or racist remark. Schools have inforced that too. They may think it has made the world a better place but instead people keep it hidden and instead of all different people coming together, it actually will further people more then ever. Society needs to realize that we are only making things worse by trying to be always nice and right. Sometimes the truth hurts. Personal feelings need to be expressed. If they are not then an “explosion” may occur and we could very well take a giant step in the wrong direction.

I’ve always thought that although everyone says creativity is so important, current school education system is essential to the students. And I still think some parts of the current education system have good qualities. However, it is true that many times schools “tell” students what is right or wrong. In some situations, there is no right or wrong answer to a question necessarily, but we are forced to answer them in a what is thought to be the “right” way. I agree with Sir Ken Robinson. Schools often times do suppress students to be inside a box, on the line, and at a point. Although everyone acknowledge that people are diverse and that they think in dynamic ways, our education itself never encourages these creative thinkers. In a quickly changing world, if kids are educated to think in one way and discouraged for their creativity, there will be no future or further improvement to our world.
Many students, including myself, think in a one-dimensional way after having been in school for several years. When I get an assignment, I think of “how should I approach this in order to get a good grade”. Rather than brain-storming much, I have set a pattern to answer certain questions, an attitude to act in a class, and treat my classes not in order of importance to me but in order of importance to my near future, like college.

But I don’t think this is what should be forced on to the kids now or the new generation following up. As adults, Sir Ken Robinson says, people should be able to give some room for creativity and in order to do so, some change in current education system is crucial. School education should be fixed so that people appreciate the “gift of human imagination” and try to “educate their (kids’) whole being”

Great start folks! These responses show that you are starting to think differently about how this class will work and how it is linked to the videos we watched in class today. Remember that our focus today was on “Shift Happens” the nature of social media as a publishing and communication platform and how digital text is different from linear, written text. Well done.

I strongly agree with his argument that creativity will be reduced or even destroyed by the school’s education. In twenty-first century, who can stand out from the large group of intelligent people? Only those who are creative or those who have talents can earn the best rewards throughout the crows of people. As a result, the point he mentioned that the dance and the mathematic shall be taught equally is effective because sometimes talents and creativities can be developed through some exercises, activities, or athletic.Additionally, as he mentioned that from Picasso, “All children are born artists”, suggested that children have talents, but the education now has killed the talents. Schools often place those academic subjects on the top of the education and the humanity on the button; which means that the education for the academic and the activity is unequal. With the difference, some teachers also grade the students with merely their academic grade not including the talents or the creativity they possessed. These grades may influence abundant talented students negatively, such that they will think they are really hopeless or deficient. But actually, they may have a virtuous future with their talents or the creative thoughts beyond the academic subjects.
From schools, students are taught not to make mistakes, so students become afraid of being wrong. Thus, because they are not prepared to be wrong, they will always think inside the box without creativities. In conclusion, schools provide appropriate academic education, but they also limit numerous talents of students in some ways.

Sir Ken Robinson made some very interesting remarks. I strongly agree with his idea that art and literacy should be more equivalent. In many places within society, art is not a career but more a hobby. It is considered by society that those who choose to pursue art are not going to amount to very much and will not succeed.
Success is not what it should be. Success is determined by the amount of money a person makes or what material items they own. Success is linked to excelling in subjects such as math, science, or history by the world. Pressures to become something great influence the career that a person chooses. For example, if a person is great at poetry, they typically choose a career that is thought to be more stable financially by others.

School and colleges also have something to do with the idea that creativity is less important than logic. Student are told that taking more science and math related classes will look better than art class because colleges may think that they are just taking the class to fill up their schedule. This may be the case for some students ,but students who actually appreciate art and have an interest may actually have a desire to pursue art. The students who want to have an art class of any sort ,whether it is a poetry, painting, or music class, are not as respected as the students taking an extra science or math class.

Art needs to be more encouraged and taken seriously by society because the world needs both creative minds and logical minds in order to be open minded to new ideas and well rounded. Society needs to wake up and see that if they discourage art and creativity, the world will lose creative minded people and will be disadvantaged of a more well rounded society.

I completely agree with Sir Ken Robinson. Why is creativity viewed as an extra? With the world constantly changing, the educational systems needs to be constantly changing to better prepare students for the future. I feel allowing students to use their creativity in the class room will not only promote individuality, but also it will teach students not to be afraid to make mistakes.
The educational system as stated by Sir Ken Robinson, comes from the times of Industrial Revolution. So much has changed since the Industrial Revolution and therefore our educational system needs to change as well.
Right now students are being taught that taking an art class is an extra and not as appealing to colleges. Students are taught that an extra math class or an extra science class are more favorable to colleges and therefor students shy away from the art class because they are led to believe art is just an extra. I think that students need to be encouraged to be creative and to think outside the box.
This speech by Sir Ken Robinson motivated me to be more creative in my everyday life because this is an changing world with an unpaved future.

I mostly agree with what Sir Ken Robinson is saying. Schools definitely do not emphasize the importance of creativity. I do think that math and sciences are very important to understand, but I also think that they should not be held above originality and imagination. Schools do not seem to realize that not everyone is going to fit the common mold. Individuality is as important as learning math or science. I think that some classes do challenge students to think outside of the box, but it is not a main focus like it should be.
In today’s society, people tend to try to define everything. One main example is the story Sir Ken Robinson told about the girl who seemed to not be able to sit still. If no one had recognized the uniqueness of the girl, she probably would have been told she had A.D.D., and also might have never achieved her dancing potential. This is a main issue with today’s society because uniqueness is not stressed in schools. Schools now focus on high-level classes and grades instead of creativity, and that is why Sir Ken Robinson’s idea is right. Education is very important, but without also putting emphasis on creativity for children, they lose it as they get older.

I also agree with the speech given my Sir Robinson. Creativity is not only hurt by the education system, but it is also not a thing that schools seem to be open to. For instance, a lot of times when you were to write a paper on a theme of history, there usually is a set answer that you have to write about in order to be “correct”. A student writing this paper would have to follow the guidelines of the answer in order to get a good grade. But the thing is, just because one historian has not come up with a certain theme or the text book does not talk about it, does not mean it is wrong. This student could come up with a new idea of a theme that represented history. However, they would most likely be marked off for writing about it because it was not “correct” by the school or textbooks standards. This degrades the ability of students being creative because they have to follow with a certain standard on how to write this paper. This is example is a prime example of how the education system has hurt creativity, exactly as Sir Robinson said.

I strongly agree with what Sir Ken Robinson was taking about. In the first few minutes he said “Creativity is as important as literacy”, I think that this is very true. When I was in kindergarten my teacher called my Mom in to her classroom one day when she was picking me up and said, “I think Allie has a learning disability” my Mom asked why she thought that and my teacher pulle o ut some papers I had been working on and said, “she doesn’t color in the lines”. I was 5 years old, no one had taught me otherwise. In fact, my Mom always encouraged me not to color in the lines, but to do whatever I wanted, she was telling me not to be afraid to be creative. Sir Ken Robinson said that Picasso once said “All children are born artists, the trouble is to remain one as we grow up”, at only 5 years old, in my first year of elementary school, my kindergarten teacher was already trying to tell me that there were rules, to coloring.

Sir Ken Robinson also said that, no matter where you are, the three most important subjects are math, science, and the humanities, and the arts are the very last. Although I don’t believe art in the form of dance can be taught, many students never get the chance to learn if they are good at it because they are never subjected to it. Although there are art classes, even those have structure. Sure, it is helping you be creative in teaching you other ways to express your creativity, but is teaching someone how to be creative really allowing someone to be creative at all? In my fifth grade art class my teacher gave me a B, I asked why and she said “well, you didn’t shade this correctly”, I didn’t understand how shading could possibly be something you could do wrong. Art is the process or product of deliberately and creatively arranging elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions (Wikipedia), if art is meant to be creative, why was I wrong in my shading?

Sir Ken Robinson also made a point that professors live in their heads and act like their bodies are only there for transportation purposes. He also said that public education is only in preparation for University, where the “real” learning begins. If there is one thing I have learned since I was young, it is that life in general is for learning. We learn things at school, at home, even through normal experiences while participating in an activity, such as that someone can’t go on rollercoasters because they will be nauseous afterwards. University is not the only place we learn, it is just the most formal. Also, some people never even get the chance to go to a University because they might be smart, it is just in a different subject. For example, I know a girl that will be going to school for art next year, now this is a College, but her core classes will be focused more on art. She is a smart person, so the feeling dumb because you aren’t as good at school does not apply to her, but she learned that art on her own. Sure, she may have taken a few art classes before, but anything she learned in a history or english class is not really of any use to her in her drawings, proving that math, science, and the humanities are not the only important subjects.

All in all, I think that Sir Ken Robinson’s speech was very informative and clever. He used creativity by making jokes that applied to his speech which made it much more interesting and more enjoyable to watch.

While Ken Robinson is correct in stating that the current educational ideals limit creativity, it is done so for a reason. As with his story of the dancing 8 year old, as correct as he may be, these events occur in extreme rarity. In my opinion, if we are going to say that someone who dances has an equal chance for success as someone who studies well – just because of this girl’s success, what’s stopping us from saying someone who doesn’t graduate high school has an equal chance as someone who does? Just because there have been a few successful people who have succeeded without high school, we cannot just assume it will work for everyone.
On similar note, just teaching everyone what may be their “talent” – which by the way not everyone has – will not always promise success. In today’s modern society, technology is the most rapidly growing and most promising industry. Teaching students to excel in math and the sciences simply offers them the best chance for success, which most will agree is the purpose of education – opportunity.

I thought the movie was interesting. I was expecting it to be about how schools can often block kid’s creativity and how many influential people today would not be where they are if they let their creativity be blocked. I was a little thrown when the speaker begin a comedy act but towards the end I began to see the point he was trying to make. While his approach is not one that I would think of taking, I will not judge him for it because he was only being creative.
His story about the girl who needed to dance was really interesting because he is right that if that girl went to school today she would be put on ritalin. It seems that all too many kids are ADD or ADHD and many parents and doctors are quick to prescribe ritalin. The opposing argument to this is that there are many adults who never made it too far in the work force because they are undiagnosed ADD and they should be on drugs.
One approach to this problem is having special education classes or groups in public schools or private school designed for hyper active kids. These programs’/schools’ mission could be to help kids learn and thrive without the use of prescription drugs. The dance school Sir Ken Robinson talked about is a perfect example of this.

I agree with the ideas that Sir Ken Robinson stated in his speech. Schools these days make you stick to a strict schedule and do not allow you to learn what you would like to, only what you are told you can. Sir Ken Robinson gave us an example of his friend who was a dancer. They believed that the girl may have had a learning disability when all she really wanted was to be creative on her own and dance. Nowadays we are given textbooks and are told this is what we need to know, when in reality these books do not allow to have our own ideas on how the past happened. The pressure that is on kids todays makes them feel that if they were to step outside of the box there ideas would be rejected.

For the most part, I agree with Sir Ken Robinson, because I also believe that schools do not encourage their students to be creative as much as they should. Today in high schools there are ample opportunities to become one with your creative mind. The problem is though, that those opportunities are usually overshadowed with the main classes, such as math, science, history, english, and language. These main subjects also do not focus on creativity at all. For example, in history you are given a writing prompt, therefore you have to stay within the directions or you will get a bad grade. Also, in middle school and elementary school creativity was somewhat touched on. I know where I went to school we were forced to take art, music, and drama. All of the creativity though has gone out the door since you get to high school. Overall, there is mainly not enough time to do these extra activities for creativity, because most students are busy with school work, sports, and etc. In the speech though, I thought that Sir Ken Robinson portrayed his idea in a very effective manner, using jokes and other forms of speaking to get his point across.

Sir Ken Robinson has a valid point that there should be more creativity in the courses taught to children. Math and Sciences should be taught, of course, but I think that if things such as Art and Dance were courses then children will be able to think about something other than their math test the next day. In school, basically all of my classes just teach us what is right and what is wrong. He is trying to tell the people that instead of telling kids what is right and wrong, to let them think creatively and guide them to think creatively rather than looking at a text book all year. He was also pretty funny which made the whole piece more interesting to watch. I think that helps to what he was saying because if he were just lecturing and telling the facts then it would be going against what he was saying in his speech.

When watching Sir Ken Robinson’s short clip I found he was using comedy and a slight form of an attack to discuss his personal views about universal creativity. The way in which he expressed his thoughts was in a fairly sarcastic way, which took a little from his message. By presenting it in that way he took something away his passion on the topic. However there were two specific parts that caught my attention. One was through a story and the other through an attack. The story was of the little girl who was thought to have problems because of her lack to focus. Problems wasn’t what she had, it was creativity that was the reason she wasn’t able to focus. In her time the culture that she grew up with wasn’t accepting or had enough knowledge to see that difference between problems and creativity. Thus, as time has developed and things such as ADHD have been discovered, creativity has also been more acceptable. When discussing the topic of ADHD, Sir Ken Robinson used a verbal form of an attack. He criticized the world for being so hyped up on finding easy answers to solutions such as lack of focusing and creativism. In all, the clip was a humorous way to get his point across about creativism and the world’s view of it.

I agree for the most part on what Sir Ken Robinson has argued in his presentation. I think that Creativity should be just as important as literacy in school. He mentions an example that i thought was quite funny. That a 6 year old girl was in a drawling lesson and her teacher said she hardly payed attention. That the teacher walked up to her and asked what she was drawing and her responds was God. The teacher proceded to tell her that no one knows what God looks like and the little girl answered with soon they will in a minute. I thought that this was very funny and that it was something I would say. The little girl was not afraid to be creative and wasn’t nervous of being wrong. During his arguement he generally says that schools are drilling the students with information and taking away their creativity. I agree with this, i believe students are starting to become more nervouse on using their imagination and sticking with just the facts. I thought it was interesting when he said that kids are not afraid to make a mistake and use their creative side, but adults are nervous to be wrong.

The only part I somewhat disagree with is that he said that arts are at the bottom of the importance list in school. I think in the WA community the arts have an equivent view as in sports. The play is jsut as important as the basketball team, the students put in so much work to make the production amazing. I believe that students drop arts, drama and music because it is drilled into their mind that they will not go far into the process.

But i think that is arguement is very accurate and brings up very good points!

I believe that Sir Ken Robinson is a smart and intellectual man, who I happen to completely agree with. Creativity is key to anything that someone does in their life. In school, kids always feel the need to express their creativity. But nowadays it seems that it’s harder for kids to really show off what they’re good at until they get to college. Robinson talks about how math and languages/english are held over the arts and it’s absolutely true. How creative can you be in math where every problem is set to be done a certain way? It seems that schools are limiting where people fee they can express themselves the most; through the arts. Writing, reading, painting, acting- everything is up to interpretation in your own way. We wouldn’t even HAVE math or languages if someone hadn’t been creative enough to think of it.

I completely agree with Sir Ken Robinson’s remarks about how creativity is hindered by the education system. When children are young and their teachers ask them to right about the influential people in their lives, you will often times get the children to describe their parents as super heroes in a way that seems unrealistic. Children use their environment to help learn, as they get older however, this environment becomes less of an environment geared towards youthful learning but one geared towards becoming a successful person later on in life. Society is so obsessed with keeping a child’s mind from wandering by using drugs such as Ritalin to control attention defaecate disorder, but this is exactly what society needs to allow happen. Instead of locking these creative ideas away in a child’s mind, the education system should allow for these children to use there ideas to improve their character. Sir Ken Robinson cannot stress enough the importance of this connection between education and the flourishing of a young child’s ideas. Creative thinking needs to be stressed at a greater level then just the occasional elective art class, but as something much greater.

When I listened to Sir Ken Robinson I felt no reason to not agree with anything he was talking about. His intelligence on how we are neglecting creativity for organized ordinary ways of learning is extraordinary. When he told the story about the little girl who had ADHD and turned into a millionaire was right on point. We should not base our learning abilities just on academics. We should be looking into people’s other abilities like the arts. He was also right on point when he talked about how education today is forcing the youth to get away from using their creativity and instead make them focus on academics only. This is somewhat true, but everyone should have a balance in what they do for work. If someone is good at dancing or something other than academics they should try to do it, and use their creativity to achieve it.

I agree with most of Ken Robinson’s main points in the video. While it is a stretch to say that creativity is as important as literacy in education, there is no question that more emphasis needs to be placed on creativity in schools, as well as workplaces. Creativity brings innovation and new ideas, which are crucial for our economic, political, and social success. Creativity also can be an important factor in problem-solving. I agree with the idea that academics are largely focused on math and science, while humanities and arts are less emphasized. I think that many college students today do not decide on majors and classes based on what they are interested in, instead deciding on the major which will allow them to get a job in which they will make the most money. The fact that so many students are taking classes that they are not interested in reduces creativity. I also agree with the idea that many students are told not to study certain subects they are interested in because there are not many jobs in the major. While job outlook must be considered, the primary factor in deciding on classes or a major should be what the student is interested in. Ken Robinson also said that education is largely focused on industrialization, which i believe is true. Because of industrialization, most of the jobs available today are based on business, industy, health care, and other similar areas. These fields are focused on concrete ideas, and generally do not offer much room for creativity. As a result, our educational system also offers little room for creativity. I liked the quote Ken used, “If you are afraid of being wrong, you will not create something original”. I believe this is very true, and that it has been proved true throughtout history. Philosophers, scientists, and inventors created countless innovations that would not have been possible if these people had not taken a chance with their ideas. Creativity enabled these changes and will be essential to future innovations.

I completely agree with Sir Ken Robinson’s thesis of schools silencing creativity and prioritizing the science and humanity subjects over the arts. Sir Ken Robinson mentioned that more people will be graduating in the next 30 years than in any point in history, thus leading to degrees and doctrines becoming obsolete in today’s modern world. He also mentioned how people who earned these prominent distinctions would “play video games” rather than aid society and use the knowledge they have acquired in college. This further elaborates Sir Ken Robinson’s theory of creativity taking backseats to the “important” subjects, which do not allow an individual to create anything original but instead impedes the process. If an individual is only taught mathematics, science, history, and language, they are imprisoned in their own education which only restricts said individual from their creative stimulus. Sir Ken proposes an equal balance of the science and humanity subjects with the arts in order to create a full experience of learning through personal growth as well as intellectual stimulation. Sir Ken said himself, “I think math is important, but you should learn how to dance too.” By combining the traditional subjects with the arts, schools would be able to create a new experience for students, by urging hard work and discipline but also using creativity and originality to distinguish oneself from the rest of the population.

I agree with Sir Ken Robinson’s ideas based on creativity, for I believe that creativity is the basis of education system. Current education systems (21st century schools), however, are thwarting the creativity of the students; creativity allows the mind to grow and expand, but we are seeing more schools, in which teachers solely stick to the facts and don’t allow their students to use their imaginations thoroughly, by drilling their students with information. Hence, classes that require creativity, such as art classes, must be considered as important as other classes, such as math and history, are. Robinson, at the end of his statement, mentions that creativity is the gift of human imagination. I, as well, believe that this statement is true, for creativity is the true passion in our life that allows us to express ourselves in pictorial ways. Also, I found Robinson’s idea—people lose their capacity by the time that they are adults—very interesting. This particular idea, at the same time, ties into another statement that Robinson makes about Picasso’s idea, “all children are born artists.” Robinson believes that we don’t grow into creativity; we grow out of it. I agree with his opinion because children learn about the world through either direct or indirect experiences, and in this process, they “grow out of creativity” as they begin to express themselves freely and shape their own personal personalities, goals, etc. Therefore, creativity is the main key that allows children to express themselves and determine the potential that they’ve got.

I think creativity is a very important part of our lives. It is what makes everyone unique and who they are. School systems are taking creativity away from students, as Sir Robinson said. Students are being taught the same thing repetitively from a book or lecture. They are not using their own minds to broaden their view of things. Robinson’s story of the girl who drew god from what she felt he looked like is a great example. If a teacher had showed the girl an image of what it was said god was supposed to look like she never would have had a chance to express her creativity. Another great point is about taking dance as a subject. I like how Robinson was skeptical about there being set subjects. Who decided that math, english, science, and history were the subjects to be taught to students. I think that without guidelines on what is to be learned there would be much more creativity and the world would benefit.

After watching the video on Ken Robinson, I strongly agree with his philosophy on education and the limits it puts on our youth. I believe that creativity is just as important as education because it allows our brains to develop, to apply unique concepts in an unstructured way. A textbook, informational movie, or a podcast are all great ways of obtaining factson a subject, but the true education is being able to take those facts and apply them to an outside problem, theme, or other idea that only one’s imagination could create. I would always wonder how an art teacher graded students’ work. Whenever I passed in a project, who was the teacher to say it wasn’t a good piece of art? It may not appeeal to them, but in my eyes it could be magnificent. There are thousands of pieces of art around the world that have no structure, n o color scheme, no design. It’s as if a kindergarten student could do the same piece, yet these pieces are some of the most famous in the world. I recently visited the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and there were countless paintings, photographs, and sculptures that I thought were horrible. I thought I created better pieces in my high school art classes, but thats through my eyes only. Although I did not see any skill in some of these pieces, I respected them because they are well admired in the world of art. I understand Robinson because if these artists’ teachers told them how to create those famous pieces of art, the artist would never have been completely satisfied with his or her work because it is not their pure imagination. Eduacters can give students the tools and information to make decisions, but they can not give them their imagination. They can not change the way they truly comprehend a concept and force them to make certain decisions. In to days world, Robinson is right, education is limiting us rather than advancing us. If a students imagines something different from what is being taught, he is considered wrong, but in reality, he may be the most unique person in his class because of the way he sees the world. Todays’ education is forcing everyone to look at the world through one lense, but if we have more lenses, we have more prospectives, therefore we can learn more from eachother instead of the teacher’s textbook.