My son is looking for a high school. And that’s not easy. He prefers to work with an iPad, it has to be a fun place, of course, and he doesn’t want to get up too early. On the other hand, it is important to me that in addition to the acquisition of academic skills, there is sufficient room for the development of individuality. And that a lot of attention is given to creativity. I want him to learn to think ‘out of his mind’. Because I am convinced that that is absolutely necessary in order to be able to handle the challenges in a continuously more complex world. And to enjoy this too.
Sir Ken Robinson’s latest book is about this. This book is a plea for more creativity and innovation in education. Robinson proposes that reformations are not enough, but that a total transformation is needed. He writes that in everyday language use ‘academic’ is often synonymous with ‘education’. And that learning academic skills is important, but that if human intelligence were limited to this, most human culture would never have emerged.
There would be a lot of analysis, but not much action. There would be no practical sciences, no technology, not one functional operation, no art, no music or dance, no theatre, poetry, love, feelings or intuition.
Robinson considers wasting creative talent to be a growing calamity.
Here are a number of his tips for stimulating creativity while teaching:
Many people don’t see themselves as creative. That is why encouraging them to believe in their own creative potential is the first important step.
Stimulating the willingness to take risks, independence from judgement, perseverance and resilience are paramount.
Help people to find their own creative gifts. What speaks to their imagination? Where is their passion? What comes from their hearts?
No one should be afraid to make mistakes.
Encourage the expression of personal ideas and feelings.
That complete transformation that Ken Robinson is talking about is not something I think my son will get to experience during his high school years. It will take more time than that. For now, we’ll just have to wait for the CITO score and pick a high school that he will hopefully get into. And then see how far ‘out of his mind’ he will dare to go. He has my blessings.
Do you love this topic, as well as British humour? Then you’ll want to take a look at Ken Robinsons famous TED talk.
Or read his book: Out of our minds.
