This comment was inspired by this youtube video lecture on "Do Schools Kill Creativity?"
[YOUTUBE]7Eh2QlJfuHM[/YOUTUBE]
Creativity, the way we have come to look at it, generally reflects an emphasis on unique ways of being, thinking, or doing. Creativity, especially in the arts, is often associated with the uniqueness of the person because of their talent, whereas creativity in other areas such as science or math is treated as uniqueness of talent in mental abilities/brain smarts.
Why? Well, with the sciences and the math, it is the brain or mind of the person which is considered brilliant or genius, but in the arts, it is the person's talent and abilities which is treated as unique. We think of creative talents as non-transferable, meaning that it is unique to the person. In other words, it is more acceptable to say I'm just not good at music or drama because the arts are associated with talent, but in math or sciences, it will always be argued that if you just work hard enough you can get the answer (although is not necessarily true), because it is perceived as based on reason, logic, factual knowledge.
The ability to think differently from the norm is not often appreciated or accepted as many would like to think, so those who have much to offer in creativity in areas where the immediate real-world applications are not evident, sometimes lose some acuity in these areas because they are not being given the opportunity to exercise those skills / intelligences. This undoubtedly leads to boredom.
Today, with the emphasis on equality, there is a tendency in the system to not want anyone to stand out because it makes others feel inferior, leading to fears of discrimination and prejudice against those who don't possess a particular kind of smarts or creativity. This reluctance to acknowledge uniqueness stifles creativity significantly.
It seems that one of the main reasons why some "creative" talents or abilities are overlooked is that it takes more time to exercise such creativity and we are living in an environment which worships speed / quickness of thinking. If it takes a great deal of time to complete a task, this is considered inefficient and inferior. Furthermore, if you are labeled a slow learner, you are doubly, even triply, disadvantaged and considered less competent for this fact alone than those who learn quickly.
And education too often focuses NOT on learning and understanding but on memorization. The result is that if it takes you longer to read, memorize, and understand, you are more likely to receive a lower grade than someone who can amass large amounts of information for a paper or final exam, whether or not they understand.
So, there are gross inequalities in the educational system which need to be addressed soon or future learners are doomed to fail because of the lack of recognition of different types of creativity, creative intelligences, and the ways in which they are exercised.
[YOUTUBE]7Eh2QlJfuHM[/YOUTUBE]
Creativity, the way we have come to look at it, generally reflects an emphasis on unique ways of being, thinking, or doing. Creativity, especially in the arts, is often associated with the uniqueness of the person because of their talent, whereas creativity in other areas such as science or math is treated as uniqueness of talent in mental abilities/brain smarts.
Why? Well, with the sciences and the math, it is the brain or mind of the person which is considered brilliant or genius, but in the arts, it is the person's talent and abilities which is treated as unique. We think of creative talents as non-transferable, meaning that it is unique to the person. In other words, it is more acceptable to say I'm just not good at music or drama because the arts are associated with talent, but in math or sciences, it will always be argued that if you just work hard enough you can get the answer (although is not necessarily true), because it is perceived as based on reason, logic, factual knowledge.
The ability to think differently from the norm is not often appreciated or accepted as many would like to think, so those who have much to offer in creativity in areas where the immediate real-world applications are not evident, sometimes lose some acuity in these areas because they are not being given the opportunity to exercise those skills / intelligences. This undoubtedly leads to boredom.
Today, with the emphasis on equality, there is a tendency in the system to not want anyone to stand out because it makes others feel inferior, leading to fears of discrimination and prejudice against those who don't possess a particular kind of smarts or creativity. This reluctance to acknowledge uniqueness stifles creativity significantly.
It seems that one of the main reasons why some "creative" talents or abilities are overlooked is that it takes more time to exercise such creativity and we are living in an environment which worships speed / quickness of thinking. If it takes a great deal of time to complete a task, this is considered inefficient and inferior. Furthermore, if you are labeled a slow learner, you are doubly, even triply, disadvantaged and considered less competent for this fact alone than those who learn quickly.
And education too often focuses NOT on learning and understanding but on memorization. The result is that if it takes you longer to read, memorize, and understand, you are more likely to receive a lower grade than someone who can amass large amounts of information for a paper or final exam, whether or not they understand.
So, there are gross inequalities in the educational system which need to be addressed soon or future learners are doomed to fail because of the lack of recognition of different types of creativity, creative intelligences, and the ways in which they are exercised.
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