.... makes Jack a dull boy, and Jill a dull girl, too. According to a recent Newsweek article, research shows that American creativity is declining. One factor cited is "the lack of creativity development in our schools. In effect, it’s left to the luck of the draw who becomes creative: there’s no concerted effort to nurture the creativity of all children."
Let Them Play, argues Jane Ching Fung in another recent magazine. "Play, she writes, including the ability to make your own choices, helps children develop and use essential social-emotional and academic-learning skills. Through play, I have seen my students develop social, critical thinking, and problem-solving abilities in a safe, risk-free environment."
Squeezing play time out of kindergarten to make time for filling out Venn diagrams and for other highly structured academic pursuits reveals a lack of vision on the part of our superintendent and his enablers at the Board of Education. They view students as test-takers who must be cajoled, pushed, and prodded into submission at the altar of standardized testing.
There is no standardized test on creativity -- so why bother with it? Child development specialists tell us it's good for children -- clearly not a terribly compelling argument for our superintendent and the Board of Education! According to the Newsweek article, however, a recent IBM poll of 1,500 CEOs identified creativity as the No. 1 “leadership competency” of the future. Now, how's that for a reason?
If you need to be convinced of the powerful link between creativity and play (and even if you don't), listen to what Tim Brown has to say. Then, come September 14, vote for members of the Board of Education who will fight to restore common sense to the school system: Lyda Astrove, Agnes Jones-Trower, and Louis Wilen.
Patricia
I dare say it isn't just children whose creativity is stifled in the name of productivity that must be measurable.
ReplyDeleteThose 1500 CEO's who claim creativity is so important are the ones who gut R&D budgets as well as install rigid content filters on their internet to prevent "downtime" at work.
Some of that downtime can lead to tangent lines of thinking that are considered a waste of company time, but may lead to unexpected connections with profitable unseen products and markets.
Efficiency experts have been demolishing America's strength long before they set their sights on our schools.
I completely agree with your analogy between the educational system and the corporate world: short-term gains at the expense of long-term benefits.
ReplyDeleteSaying you want creative students and creative workers is easy. But actions speak louder than words, don't they?