Assignment 16 - Erin Caudill

Creativity and imagination are skills that are sought after by employers looking for the perfect candidate for a job. Employers want someone who is capable of thinking of original ideas and throwing themselves out there to pursue bigger possibilities. These are the people that can push a company further and turn something small into something that touches everyone’s lives in one way or another. But, why are these people so hard to find? Surely, there has to more than a handful of people who are capable of being creative and imaginative to reach previously unthinkable places. In theory, that’s correct. In fact, everyone that was once a child is capable of the same creative thought process that many infamous people are known for. And that’s, well, everyone. Now, I’m not saying that the people who have carried this thought process into their adult lives and made a career out of it aren’t few in number, because they are. These people have managed to preserve their childlike wonder and imagination through the harshest of circumstances. That circumstance being, the education system. The current education system teaches the skill of critical thinking, which is a great skill to have. But in doing this, it manages to destroy the creative thinking that children already possess before they even begin going to preschool.

The way the education system works is that it slowly replaces the process of creative thinking with critical thinking. Kids are quickly taught that there is only one right answer to problems and that they have to approach everything logically. This has turned creativity and imagination into childish characteristics because they are most often present in children. In school, the main focus is on math, science, English and history, without any strong emphasis on subjects that promote creativity and originality. By creating a system that puts every single kid on the same path there is no existing originality. This system, additionally, alienates the kids that are still capable of creative thinking after years of going to school has been trying to teach them to stop thinking creatively and start thinking critically. Those kids are labelled as dumb or lazy and pushed to the side to let the “real” geniuses shine. I’m not suggesting that we flip this system and let the kids who think critically be stuck in the shadow of creative thinking, I’m merely suggesting that we consider that not everyone is meant to think in the exact same way. The way our education system is now treats kids like computers that you can program to do exactly what you want, and ignores the fact that this is destroying great minds.

It’s recommended that students pile on more “impressive” classes that require “actual” intelligence. It’s this kind of system that leads to some sort of weird intelligence hierarchy that creates entitled students. These students demand their teachers to raise their grade to an A. They cringe at a 90% on a test. The students who repeatedly mock someone who has a C in a class as if that somehow makes them a lesser student because they’re in a program for smart kids and “all smart kids get all A’s”. In their defense, they are determined to get into great colleges so they can get a great job. However, they seem to ignore the fact that they can only get so far in a career without creative thinking. This system is a never-ending cycle of ripping creativity away from kids and then teaching these kids to do the same to the next generation. We need to develop a system that acknowledges different learning and thinking processes without alienating one in favor of another.

When I talk about creativity, I’m not specifically referring to artistic ability. People don’t put creativity on their resume to tell the employer that they can play the piano or that they can draw a REALLY realistic tree. I’m referring to a much coveted thinking process when going into today’s work force. We have a rapidly developing society. Technology is advancing at an incredible rate and, like Ken Robinson says, it’s going to be impossible to keep progressing if we continue to push creative thinkers to the side. Sure, the education system we have now has managed to produce some prominent creative thinkers, but that’s by pure luck. These people have managed to preserve their creative thinking process against all odds. If there have only been a handful of creative thinkers that made incredible contributions to our society, then maybe we should start thinking of a system that would increase the amount of creative thinkers that are heading into the work force. Our society can’t continue to develop and advance when we are purposely advocating a system that teaches everyone to think the same way. We can’t sit back and not think of a solution because there doesn’t seem to be one because if you ask someone who thinks creatively they could give you countless solutions to our education system problem. Creative thinkers have made advancements to our society and culture that people now couldn’t live without. It’s time to return the favor and change our education system to support the creative thinking process.

Robinson, Ken. “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” TED. TED, Feb. 2006. Web. 19 June 2016.

Batey, Mark. “The Key Skill for the 21^st Century is Creativity.” YouTube. YouTube, 04 Aug.       2011. Web. 25 June 2016.

Robinson, Ken. Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative. Oxford: Capstone, 2011. Print.

Zak, Rebekah. “Raising Creativity.” Raising Creativity. YouTube, 29 July 2014. Web. 25 June      2016