Week 5 Creativity

"...We grow out of creativity, or are educated out of it."

I wanted to open my post with this quote as presented by creativity expert Ken Robinson's in his 2006 segment featured on Ted Talk. (http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html).

This quotation is a sad and scary truth and reality for many students and their education experience. Why is that we spend so much time teaching literacy and mathematics, but the arts always seem to fade within the education agenda? It doesn't make sense to teach only to the brain, and in particular the left side. While the right side or creative hemisphere is quite simply abandoned. I can't help but notice the natural and innate creativity in my young nieces when they uninhibitedly dance upon hearing music. Dancing is apart of the human condition, yet as we grow we resist that urge, we become contained and rigid. Drawing a picture as an accompaniment of a written assignment magically stops after grade 1. These analogies are demonstrated in many systems of education, not just in Canada, but the world over.

I was fortunate in my educational career to be taught more holistically if you will. My high school had a beautiful theatre that was central to the school, and I was fortunate to be involved in my high school dramatic arts productions. Growing up in Haliburton Highlands the most Southern tip of Algonquin Park, placed me demographically in an area that appreciates beauty. The famous Canadian artists The Group of Seven, have painted many landscapes of Haliburton's lakes and forestry regions.  During the summer my former high school is transformed into a "school of the arts", an extension of the Fleming College School of Arts facility. Courses range from soapstone to silkscreen, jewelry making to pottery design. Every Fall the Highlands hosts a Studio Tour, celebrating the many art studios featured in Haliburton. My family is interested in participating in a studio "detour" of our own this year, hoping to avoid the hundreds of dollars needed to register in the tour.

In addition to the right-brained education I was fortunate to receive, I grew up in a very artsy family. Just looking at the career paths of my four sisters will attest to their artistic capabilities. For instance my sister's are a fashion stylist, hair stylist, painter/artist, and folk artist. My father also has his own wood working/sculpturing studio, my mother his muse. I too have always "belonged" in the arts, and continued this gift by studying dramatic arts in my undergraduate studies at Brock University. It is during my post secondary education that I dappled in acting training, stagecraft, wardrobe, mime and drama in education courses. So if you haven't guessed it by my brief biography I AM A HUGE ADVOCATE OF THE ARTS IN EDUCATION! As a future teacher I want to incorporate art, drama, music, and dance into all subject areas.

There is an interesting cartoon and sing-song video on YouTube about a student who is scolded by his teacher because he uses all the crayons to draw flowers, rather then using the two colours  all the other students used to draw their flowers. http://youtu.be/qeJJOjb7fj4  It is devastating when the government takes money out of arts education, but it is equally dissatisfying when the arts are offered, and somehow teachers may stifle it, limiting the creative freedom of their pupils.

Our curriculum in many ways is intended to create cookie-cutter students. As teachers we should consider breaking the mold a little, by encouraging individuality and working to destigmatize mistakes. Using technology as a a digital tool is just one way we can provide creative opportunities for students. Differentiated instruction is another initiative to utilize in order to ensure that all intelligences, from Gardner's to Bloom's are being met.

--From,
the creative Tech Savvy Classy