Do Schools Kill Creativity?

In his video entitled “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” , Sir Ken Robinson presents the idea that creativity is as important as literacy, a concept to which I find intriguing and one to which I have never given much thought.

As a teacher, more specifically a Mathematics/Science teacher, I am guilty of stressing the importance of these two particular subjects. During my career, I have found myself numerous times stressing the importance of Mathematics to my students citing the ever familiar “Now John, you need this course to graduate.” I have even went so far as to “borrow” classes that I thought were of least importance, mainly the arts, from other teachers so as to ensure the curriculum was covered and students were well prepared for the upcoming end of year evaluation. Not once, did I entertain the thought that the Arts and Humanities were of equal importance, and that these should be treated with the same status as the Maths, Sciences and Literacy.

If we agree with Sir Ken Robinson, and I believe for the most part we do, why is it then that the Department of Education of Newfoundland and Labrador stress the importance of literacy as opposed to creativity. Why is it, that when recommending time allocations for coursework at the primary/elementary level is the emphasis always placed on literacy and numeracy (40% and 30% respectively) with the remainder of teaching time allocated to social studies, religious education, health, art, music and physical education. The same is true of recommendations of allocations at the junior high/senior high level where students have some choice as to which courses they choose, however graduate requirements still exist.

During the early stages of education, students view schools as a place where learning is enjoyable. However, as students progress through junior and senior high, these opinions and views tend to change. This can be attributed to what Sir Ken Robinson refers to as educating students out of creativity. We encourage students to excel in literature as opposed to creativity, because it is the literature that is required to gain entrance to university, which in turn leads to a career, and hence defines the individual as being successful.

To quote Albert Einstein “The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.”