Creativity in our schools

Wednesday, March 4th 2009 by Wes FryercloseAuthor: Wes Fryer Name: Wes Fryer
Email: wes@isteconnects.org
Site: http://www.speedofcreativity.org
About: Wesley is an international learning consultant, author, digital storyteller, educator and catalyst for educational reform focused on blended learning, differentiated instruction, and creative engagement. His bio is available on www.wesfryer.com/bio and complete vitae on www.wesfryer.com/vitae.See Authors Posts (74)

Creativity is vitally important in our lives, in our schools, and in our economy. ISTE’s National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) focus on creativity for both teachers as well as students. NETS Standard 1 (for 2008) for Teachers is to “Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity.” NETS Standard 1 (for 2007) for Students is “Creativity and Innovation.” Creativity may be at the forefront of our national educational technology standards, but what is the current condition of creativity in our schools? With stronger emphasis than ever on “standardization” thanks to the NCLB law in the United States, can we honestly consider creativity as a highly regarded value by the majority of school administrators, teachers, parents, and school board members? My own experiences and observations suggest that creativity continues to get short shrift in many of our schools despite compelling arguments from authors including Richard Florida, Dan Pink, and Sir Ken Robinson about the vital importance of creativity in our society and broader culture. Unfortunately, AUP trumps rhetoric and action about creativity in most of our U.S. public schools today.

In his recently published book, “The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything,” Sir Ken Robinson defines creativity as “applied imagination.” On page 67 he writes:

Imagination is not the same as creativity. Creativity takes the process of imagination to another level… To be creative you actually have to do something. It involves putting your imagination to work to make something new, to come up with new solutions to problems, even to think of new problems or questions.

In his 2006 TED talk, “Do schools kill creativity?,” Sir Ken asserts that in the 21st century “creativity is as important as literacy.”

Several weeks ago, I had an opportunity to guest-teach at a local university here in Oklahoma for a class of future school administrators-to-be. During class, I invited students to participate on their computers in a backchannel discussion via the website Chatzy. In the backchannel, one of the students made a chat comment that “It’s ridiculous to blame NCLB for a lack of creativity in our Oklahoma classrooms today.” Unfortunately, I did not see this comment until after class was over. I would have loved to address this question and assertion in a classwide discussion, and invite the student to further elaborate and explain his position.

In a guest post titled “Iowa – 21st century curricula” for the Des Moines Register, Dr. Scott McLeod highlights the importance of creativity for our 21st century workforce. Scott writes:

So we have company after company, task force after task force, and commission after commission telling us that the skills listed above are important because they’re the ones that enable American workers and companies to differentiate themselves from others across the globe. They’re the skills that justify higher American wages and benefits. They’re the skills that drive American creativity and innovation. Economists have shown quite clearly that the only growth in the American workforce is occurring in “creative class” professions that involve critical thinking, complex communication, collaborative problem-solving, and other more-abstract skills.

What do you think? Creativity is important, but standardization in schools seems to be inherently at odds with the goal of supporting and advancing creativity. Can we lay at least some of the blame for our lack of focus on creativity in our U.S. schools at the feet of NCLB and high-stakes accountability, which Dr. David Berliner argues “inherently corrupts the educational profession?” How can we tangibly advance creativity in our schools? Oklahoma A+ Schools is one educational organization cited by Sir Ken in his book as supporting creativity effectively in our climate of high-stakes accountability. Are there other educational organizations in your state or nation which are serving as effective champions for creativity in schools?

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