Valuing Creativity in our Children
Recently I had the chance to hear British educational expert Sir Ken Robinson speak about how important it is to foster creativity in children. Sir Ken is an internationally recognised leader in the development of innovation and human resources who has worked with national governments and education systems around the world. He is very passionate about recognising the ‘multiplicity of talent’ that exists within our children and providing opportunities to foster this.
His whole premise is that we are all born with creative capacities but we lose them the more time we spend in the world. Schools, he asserts, are increasingly steering people away from their natural talents at the detriment of the skills and abilities that they possess. He is not blaming teachers for this (thankfully for me!) but he believes that they often confuse education with a production line process. I understand this, particularly when teaching is measured by having students achieve average/above average standards and outcomes handed down by educational organisations.
Therefore, if students don’t get the chance to foster their individual skills at school due to the focus being on academic measurement (i.e. standardised literacy and numeracy testing) where can they do this? The answer, of course, is at home! It begins with starting by paying attention to what your children are naturally drawn to. All kids are very different, including siblings in the same family. As he states, schools weren’t intended to identify everybody’s talents. They were only designed to focus on a manufacturing model that recognised academic skills only.
A practical, achievable way of helping your child to begin this is to try to understand what their learning preference may be. Many academics have identified a range of intelligences that people tend to have a preference for. Understanding these learning styles can assist you and your child to individualise the way they approach their schoolwork. I’m not suggesting that you have to, or can, change the homework routine of you son or daughter completely. You can, however, help them develop their talents and assist them in making appropriate decisions about where they spend their time. For example, individuals with a leaning towards kinaesthetic learning may be better served by moving around when attempting to learn a particular topic in Science. Further information about learning styles can be found when clicking here.
Sir Ken really emphasises the importance of personalising education. It is true, in my opinion, that too many people live life doing things that they have no affinity or passion for. Truly happy people are engaged in activities that both interest and stimulate them. Why not have this happen, whenever and wherever possible, with our children’s learning as well?
I highly recommend you have a look at the video below. It goes for 20 minutes, but it is well worth watching!
»
- Login or register to post comments
- Email this page
