Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

Summary

This TED lecture is discussing the idea that schools and lower education in general do not put enough emphasis on the arts curriculum.  Many young students love expressing themselves through art, however, schools do not make art seem like something important.  As a matter of fact, many schools actually depress the idea that art is something important in a child's life by saying they will not be able to use art in the 'real world'.  Robinson discusses how students who do love expressing themselves through art, are not adequately supported by their education.  He mentions that it is important to support children that are interested in the arts and not reject them by saying they will not be able to use it in the real world.  Schools should be making more of a push to educate students through art, because in turn, this will make them more creative in the end. 

Personal Response

After watching this video I now understand why it is so important to have an art and music curriculum in schools.  Many schools cut art and music out as the first thing when there are budget cuts, however, both should stay in order to help maintain the creativity of the students in the school.  There is a strong relationship with students creativity and their ability to think and learn in different ways.  Without and arts curriculum, students cannot adequately express their creative side, which results in them not being able to think in a creative way.  It is important for students to be able to come up with their own methods and ideas and an art curriculum can help them be more confident in their creativity, which helps them think more out of the box.   

Connection

This is very important in the field of education because teachers and school boards need to realize that art should be incorporated into the basic school curriculum for students and especially young students.  Elementary students should be able to explore their creativity and let it flourish.  If students are not given the opportunity to try out being creative, they will probably never feel confident in their creativity.  A student needs to be creative for their entire schooling career and as they age, the creativity becomes even more important.  In high school, students need to feel confident that they are creative when they are writing an essay, or doing a project.  They will not have the creativity to succeed, if at a young age they were deprived of the arts and the opportunity to express and find their own.  

 

Personal Opinion

I really enjoyed watching this video because it goes along very well with a topic I am researching in another education course; whether or not standardized testing has an effect on student's creativity.  This proved to me that students need to have a creative background in order to succeed.  I think that all educators should have a sense of this video because creativity is by far one of the most important parts of a child's education.