Creativity changes learning
from a system that is largely about consuming knowledge and ideas to one that
is also about generating knowledge and ideas. Lichtman
Have we lost creativity in
our schools? Why or why not?
I don't think we have lost creativity because I am not sure it's ever been a priority in education until most recently. I consider my education in the 70's-80's...and how I feel I learn best today. I like to sit and be lectured especially if there are visuals and a written handout. When I go to conferences and the presenter wants us to get up and interact, do group projects, talk to our partners, etc, I find myself getting a little irritated. I think this goes back to how I was "taught to learn" or the learning expectations of my generation. I think education in general is better about teaching creativity now than it has ever been.
I haven't thought about it like that. But, outside of kindergarten, when are students encouraged to pretend? We teach them to "focus" and work hard. This may be a reason why they have difficulty coming up with things to write about. How often are they encouraged to tell stories?? I agree 100%. We teach students to work, not to dream.
I am like you that when I am at presentations, I want to sit back, be lectured to and take notes as I see fit. I also get irritated about the same things as you! I see so many creative ideas on how to present content knowledge...I would love to see them in the classroom more.
I never thought of it like that. I like to listen to lectures and when it is geared towards my needs at the time then it makes it all more interesting. I do like brain breaks so that doesn't always bother me that much.
I think that a large majority of schools lost their creativity in the early 2000s: we broke away from projects and presentations for more concrete data. Everything was "yes and no." Students were not encouraged to think abstractly. This was the same time that gaming took control of their lives. They began to be glued to the television and computers. Instead of finding a way to engage them creatively, we sought to meet their needs by making things more electronic and digital - something they were familiar with. If we encourage kids to make-believe and think abstractly, they will be more open to participating creatively.
I think many youngsters spent a lot of time in front of games or watched videos on TV. I do believe we can counteract the loss of creativity students suffer through carefully planning activities that bring out their creativity.
I agree with you, our kids these days don't have a lot of imagination for creativity. Especially as they get older they tend to want to get the answers out of us or from others instead of trying to come up with a solution on their own. They lack a lot of patience to let solutions to answers come forth in their minds. They don't want to take the time to look for the answer in a book that they should read when the answer is in the book.
Tyce I agree. I see this even with my gifted students. Some of my students can't take a writing prompt and create an imaginative story because it's not concrete. That was with sped kids too.
I’ve been in education long enough to see the difference in students from pre-gaming to now. I think students expect things to happen immediately and have difficulty with waiting for a project to be completed. I believe we teachers have to stay current in order to engage students. Little children that have the opportunity to play are still creative. We just have to continue to develop that in our students. Brainstorming activities and Bloom’s higher levels of understanding can pull students back into a creative mode.
I agree with you that students want the end result immediately. I believe the students have everything given to them in the gaming world so they do not have to create a picture in their mind of how it might look.
I appreciate your input and being able to speak as an experienced teacher. I like your insight into keeping kids creative and staying current with their interests.
I wonder if the definition of creativity has changed? When my daughter, now 17, was little she was asking me questions about what I did when I was her age in reference to playing, TV, electronics, etc.. I told her that we did not have electronics, other than TV, and cartoons were only on Saturday mornings. She was shocked and asked what I did for fun. I told her we actually played, outside- even in bad weather, and used our imagination! Things are obviously different today. As far as schools are concerned NCLB put so much emphasis on test scores in reading and math that schools have become institutions of teaching learning for short-term benefits (passing a test at the end of each school year). From what I have worked with in CCRS there is more of an emphasis on creativity than the retired standards had. However, incorporating creativity in the classroom has more to do with how teachers are teaching the curriculum than the curriculum itself! Teachers can incorporate creativity in any curriculum- the curriculum should never be an excuse for raising a generation of students who are lacking in creativity!
I agree that the definition of creativity may have changed. With all the technology available to children, the children aren't being 'forced' to use their imagination. I think their is creativity in each of us, we just need to find what it is and have an outlet to express it.
Ironically, many of the programs that "force" creativity such as music, art, theatre and some FCE classes such as food prep and clothing construction are considered not necessary.
I think we have lost some creativity. When kindergarteners have to be engaged in some learning activity, the creativity is taken away. They are no longer allowed to have free play time during the day as they have so much they need to learn and accomplish. We are forgetting the students that learn in creative ways. However, I do believe teachers are trying to be creative and entertaining in how they teach students. I feel this book talks a lot about upper elementary, middle school and high school. How would we integrate some of the ideas from those levels to the lower levels? Can we go back to theme teaching at the lower levels and incorporate fun activities that still get students doing math, reading and writing? Do we need all the testing that is being done? I feel good teachers already know which students need help without the constant testing. I would love to see the little ones go on more field trips that would enhance learning in some sort of theme. They could probably be able to do experiments out in the community and still be able to learn, be creative and be able to fulfill the standards without constant testing/progress monitoring.
I agree with less testing and more observations in the world! Unfortunately even preschool is less creative and less play time with more focus on learning letters, sounds, and numbers to be ready for kindergarten. I feel like the kids cannot even be kids anymore!
I agree we have lost creativity in our schools. There is only a handful of students that have creativity and there are programs for that. In our school district there is Odyssey of the mind, it is a great program that all students can participate in no matter what level their at in their academics. I like what it said in this chapter about gaining knowledge and ideas by just getting out there and getting away from the school in order to solve everyday problems. I think with these types of teaching methods we would see our kids blossom as well as have a knowledge that they will actually use outside of school when they get old enough to be out on their own.
Have we lost creativity in our schools.....I would say it depends on the teacher and the school. If our schools have lost creativity it is because creativity is not valued in our society! Our students valuing technology and instant answers are a reflection of our world. According to this article, many computer geeks send their children to a school that does not allow technology in school and instead focuses on learning in an "old fashioned" way that incorporates math, real world problem solving and creativity: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/technology/at-waldorf-school-in-silicon-valley-technology-can-wait.html?pagewanted=all/&_r=0
That is so interesting that people who use and value computers intentionally send their children to schools that don't use technology as much. I agree completely about incorporating creativity. Teachers who value creativity find ways to incorporate it in the classroom.
What an interesting article! I wouldn't have guessed that situation in a million years! But it seems like they're doing some really good things. I can see why a parent would want to send their student to a school like that.
I think creativity is present in some classrooms depending on the teacher. I feel time is an issue in order to get all of the standards taught in the school year which decreases the amount of time one spends on letting the students create a project. I can see with my three year old population how all the technology has decreased their ability to be creative with toys. Some I visit do not want to do anything but games where they do not have to create or talk. I feel it is unfortunate that even at the preschool level, the amount of creativity is limited in their art projects and the amount of time spent on playing. I remember when play was seen as a cognitive skill to build other skills upon. I do not think the child's brain has changed all that much as to say that learning to play is not important. I think students would enjoy school more if they were allowed to be creative. They are always so proud to tell about their experiences when completing projects.
Can I quote your statement that children's brains have not changed that much? and add just societies expectations for them has. I believe play is so important for development of cognitive problem solving, social skills, language, motor skills. We lose too much of that time when we have kids sitting in rows learning to read and writing at desks for long periods of time at age 4-5 .
I would question if we ever had creativity in our schools. With the assembly line model that we use as a prototype for schools, it doesn’t seem like creativity and thinking outside the box have been emphasized as much in the past as it is currently. I think it is great to have creativity and problem solving as 21st century skills that are pushed in the classroom. These skills go hand-in-hand, especially if we are pushing our students to think outside the box. This topic makes me think of a Youtube video I saw recently of a 3-doodler. It is a pen that uses plastic strips for drawing. Then, when done with a drawing, the artist can peel his artwork off the paper. I thought it was an excellent way to allow students to create and invent!
I think we are more supposed to be leaning towards creativity with common core, but because kids for so long have not been allowed to be creative when answering for tests, etc. they are really struggling. The reason I say about common core is more towards the math side. Thinking about one of the examples for the assessment, having to create a budget and design a park and everything that goes with it could be very creative, yet educational at the same time. I just feel that common core really could have been a good thing to teach creativity and how to come to an answer differently that just pick ABCD, but it got such a bad rap right off the bat that everyone (in my eyes) is so negative about it that kids really are suffering and not learning to be creative. One of my favorite CC ELA standards (or whatever they are called) is use of media. I have had my GT kids publish articles in the newspaper, create a picture diary of a fall day, create an autumn poem superimposed over a fall picture she took, just tons of different things to be creative that I wouldn't have normally done with the old standards. I just think if teachers could have had time to step back, take a breath, and think what could I do different than paper pencil things common core wouldn't have been such a disaster and could have been used to have students become more creative in their thinking.
I like what Lichtman says about creativity that it changes learning to a system that is about generating knowledge and ideas. Isn't that the ultimate goal of education, to be able to produce students who can generate knowledge and ideas? I think that schools are trying very hard to produce those kinds of students; however, with so much information to cover, I'm not sure that it allows much time for the creative juices to flow. I think that general education teachers feel so overwhelmed with their content information and the standards that they have to cover that creativity sometimes gets overlooked. When I first stated teaching, I loved being able to have the students create some kind of project that could demonstrate their learning. I thought that they learned the material so much better when they could create something. It also made learning fun...which is so important. I think that it would be nice if teachers had time in their days to add these types of activities into their daily routine. With the invention of Pinterest, there are soooo many creative ideas out there to present the content information.
I think NCLB and the scripted curriculum that followed, limited the teachers freedom to do creative things in the classroom. I'd agree with Jennifer though, that when we were educated, creating was outside of the comfort zone of the learning we'd been conditioned to.
On the one hand, I would say yes, we’ve definitely lost it. Arts programs and any extras are always being cut, and with so much purely academic information that needs covered, I can imagine it’d difficult to find time to inject any creativity into what’s available. However, on the other hand, our world is advancing at a rate that’s faster than I can even think about. And the people who are coming up with all this stuff… I would describe them as being innovative, creative, imaginative. And that creativity had to come from somewhere, right??? And be fostered somewhere, right??? I’d say the amount of creativity being churned out in schools largely depends on where you’re at and the staff and resources that are available.
When I think of creativity I think of how we teach and how there are so many things out there to teach concepts in a way I had never thought of. I feel that for the kids many classrooms are not about creativity and especially your own creative work. I sometimes get saddened when I go into a preschool room and they are coloring the letter of the week but the teacher has the page up on the board and says color it just like my page and gets in trouble for not doing it exact. The teacher will say it is a following direction skill however when it is like that every time. I feel that kids can't think outside of the box and use creative skills to make a creation because well the time is well spent on other things. It is sad but ins some cases creativity is going down hill.
At the younger ages I feel like creativity is still there among students and teachers. We still have play centers in Kindergarten and we encourage pretend play through them. Kids are still very innocent at this age and it is fun to sit back and listen to their stories and play. As teachers at this grade level we are always looking for creative ways to teach the skills that are to be taught. Through arts and crafts, technology, or the stories that we share and how we share them vs. just reading the story. If we were not creative with our teaching we would lose the kids attention and yearning to learn. As kids get older I do feel that some of the creativity is put a side due to lack of time because we are becoming more micromanaged in our day. Also I think kid’s ability to be creative has gone by the way side as they get older due to technology.
I don't think we have lost creativity because I am not sure it's ever been a priority in education until most recently. I consider my education in the 70's-80's...and how I feel I learn best today. I like to sit and be lectured especially if there are visuals and a written handout. When I go to conferences and the presenter wants us to get up and interact, do group projects, talk to our partners, etc, I find myself getting a little irritated. I think this goes back to how I was "taught to learn" or the learning expectations of my generation. I think education in general is better about teaching creativity now than it has ever been.
ReplyDeleteI haven't thought about it like that. But, outside of kindergarten, when are students encouraged to pretend? We teach them to "focus" and work hard. This may be a reason why they have difficulty coming up with things to write about. How often are they encouraged to tell stories?? I agree 100%. We teach students to work, not to dream.
DeleteI am like you that when I am at presentations, I want to sit back, be lectured to and take notes as I see fit. I also get irritated about the same things as you! I see so many creative ideas on how to present content knowledge...I would love to see them in the classroom more.
DeleteI never thought of it like that. I like to listen to lectures and when it is geared towards my needs at the time then it makes it all more interesting. I do like brain breaks so that doesn't always bother me that much.
DeleteI think that a large majority of schools lost their creativity in the early 2000s: we broke away from projects and presentations for more concrete data. Everything was "yes and no." Students were not encouraged to think abstractly. This was the same time that gaming took control of their lives. They began to be glued to the television and computers. Instead of finding a way to engage them creatively, we sought to meet their needs by making things more electronic and digital - something they were familiar with. If we encourage kids to make-believe and think abstractly, they will be more open to participating creatively.
ReplyDeleteI think many youngsters spent a lot of time in front of games or watched videos on TV. I do believe we can counteract the loss of creativity students suffer through carefully planning activities that bring out their creativity.
DeleteI agree with you, our kids these days don't have a lot of imagination for creativity. Especially as they get older they tend to want to get the answers out of us or from others instead of trying to come up with a solution on their own. They lack a lot of patience to let solutions to answers come forth in their minds. They don't want to take the time to look for the answer in a book that they should read when the answer is in the book.
DeleteTyce I agree. I see this even with my gifted students. Some of my students can't take a writing prompt and create an imaginative story because it's not concrete. That was with sped kids too.
DeleteI’ve been in education long enough to see the difference in students from pre-gaming to now. I think students expect things to happen immediately and have difficulty with waiting for a project to be completed. I believe we teachers have to stay current in order to engage students. Little children that have the opportunity to play are still creative. We just have to continue to develop that in our students. Brainstorming activities and Bloom’s higher levels of understanding can pull students back into a creative mode.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that students want the end result immediately. I believe the students have everything given to them in the gaming world so they do not have to create a picture in their mind of how it might look.
DeleteI appreciate your input and being able to speak as an experienced teacher. I like your insight into keeping kids creative and staying current with their interests.
DeleteI wonder if the definition of creativity has changed? When my daughter, now 17, was little she was asking me questions about what I did when I was her age in reference to playing, TV, electronics, etc.. I told her that we did not have electronics, other than TV, and cartoons were only on Saturday mornings. She was shocked and asked what I did for fun. I told her we actually played, outside- even in bad weather, and used our imagination! Things are obviously different today. As far as schools are concerned NCLB put so much emphasis on test scores in reading and math that schools have become institutions of teaching learning for short-term benefits (passing a test at the end of each school year). From what I have worked with in CCRS there is more of an emphasis on creativity than the retired standards had. However, incorporating creativity in the classroom has more to do with how teachers are teaching the curriculum than the curriculum itself! Teachers can incorporate creativity in any curriculum- the curriculum should never be an excuse for raising a generation of students who are lacking in creativity!
ReplyDeleteI agree that the definition of creativity may have changed. With all the technology available to children, the children aren't being 'forced' to use their imagination. I think their is creativity in each of us, we just need to find what it is and have an outlet to express it.
DeleteIronically, many of the programs that "force" creativity such as music, art, theatre and some FCE classes such as food prep and clothing construction are considered not necessary.
DeleteI think we have lost some creativity. When kindergarteners have to be engaged in some learning activity, the creativity is taken away. They are no longer allowed to have free play time during the day as they have so much they need to learn and accomplish. We are forgetting the students that learn in creative ways. However, I do believe teachers are trying to be creative and entertaining in how they teach students. I feel this book talks a lot about upper elementary, middle school and high school. How would we integrate some of the ideas from those levels to the lower levels? Can we go back to theme teaching at the lower levels and incorporate fun activities that still get students doing math, reading and writing? Do we need all the testing that is being done? I feel good teachers already know which students need help without the constant testing. I would love to see the little ones go on more field trips that would enhance learning in some sort of theme. They could probably be able to do experiments out in the community and still be able to learn, be creative and be able to fulfill the standards without constant testing/progress monitoring.
ReplyDeleteI agree with less testing and more observations in the world! Unfortunately even preschool is less creative and less play time with more focus on learning letters, sounds, and numbers to be ready for kindergarten. I feel like the kids cannot even be kids anymore!
DeleteI agree we have lost creativity in our schools. There is only a handful of students that have creativity and there are programs for that. In our school district there is Odyssey of the mind, it is a great program that all students can participate in no matter what level their at in their academics. I like what it said in this chapter about gaining knowledge and ideas by just getting out there and getting away from the school in order to solve everyday problems. I think with these types of teaching methods we would see our kids blossom as well as have a knowledge that they will actually use outside of school when they get old enough to be out on their own.
ReplyDeleteHave we lost creativity in our schools.....I would say it depends on the teacher and the school. If our schools have lost creativity it is because creativity is not valued in our society! Our students valuing technology and instant answers are a reflection of our world. According to this article, many computer geeks send their children to a school that does not allow technology in school and instead focuses on learning in an "old fashioned" way that incorporates math, real world problem solving and creativity: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/technology/at-waldorf-school-in-silicon-valley-technology-can-wait.html?pagewanted=all/&_r=0
ReplyDeleteThat is so interesting that people who use and value computers intentionally send their children to schools that don't use technology as much.
DeleteI agree completely about incorporating creativity. Teachers who value creativity find ways to incorporate it in the classroom.
It is, Jessica. I really didn't believe it until I googled it for myself.
DeleteWhat an interesting article! I wouldn't have guessed that situation in a million years! But it seems like they're doing some really good things. I can see why a parent would want to send their student to a school like that.
DeleteI think creativity is present in some classrooms depending on the teacher. I feel time is an issue in order to get all of the standards taught in the school year which decreases the amount of time one spends on letting the students create a project. I can see with my three year old population how all the technology has decreased their ability to be creative with toys. Some I visit do not want to do anything but games where they do not have to create or talk. I feel it is unfortunate that even at the preschool level, the amount of creativity is limited in their art projects and the amount of time spent on playing. I remember when play was seen as a cognitive skill to build other skills upon. I do not think the child's brain has changed all that much as to say that learning to play is not important. I think students would enjoy school more if they were allowed to be creative. They are always so proud to tell about their experiences when completing projects.
ReplyDeleteCan I quote your statement that children's brains have not changed that much? and add just societies expectations for them has. I believe play is so important for development of cognitive problem solving, social skills, language, motor skills. We lose too much of that time when we have kids sitting in rows learning to read and writing at desks for long periods of time at age 4-5 .
DeleteI would question if we ever had creativity in our schools. With the assembly line model that we use as a prototype for schools, it doesn’t seem like creativity and thinking outside the box have been emphasized as much in the past as it is currently. I think it is great to have creativity and problem solving as 21st century skills that are pushed in the classroom. These skills go hand-in-hand, especially if we are pushing our students to think outside the box.
ReplyDeleteThis topic makes me think of a Youtube video I saw recently of a 3-doodler. It is a pen that uses plastic strips for drawing. Then, when done with a drawing, the artist can peel his artwork off the paper. I thought it was an excellent way to allow students to create and invent!
I think we are more supposed to be leaning towards creativity with common core, but because kids for so long have not been allowed to be creative when answering for tests, etc. they are really struggling. The reason I say about common core is more towards the math side. Thinking about one of the examples for the assessment, having to create a budget and design a park and everything that goes with it could be very creative, yet educational at the same time. I just feel that common core really could have been a good thing to teach creativity and how to come to an answer differently that just pick ABCD, but it got such a bad rap right off the bat that everyone (in my eyes) is so negative about it that kids really are suffering and not learning to be creative. One of my favorite CC ELA standards (or whatever they are called) is use of media. I have had my GT kids publish articles in the newspaper, create a picture diary of a fall day, create an autumn poem superimposed over a fall picture she took, just tons of different things to be creative that I wouldn't have normally done with the old standards.
ReplyDeleteI just think if teachers could have had time to step back, take a breath, and think what could I do different than paper pencil things common core wouldn't have been such a disaster and could have been used to have students become more creative in their thinking.
I like what Lichtman says about creativity that it changes learning to a system that is about generating knowledge and ideas. Isn't that the ultimate goal of education, to be able to produce students who can generate knowledge and ideas? I think that schools are trying very hard to produce those kinds of students; however, with so much information to cover, I'm not sure that it allows much time for the creative juices to flow. I think that general education teachers feel so overwhelmed with their content information and the standards that they have to cover that creativity sometimes gets overlooked. When I first stated teaching, I loved being able to have the students create some kind of project that could demonstrate their learning. I thought that they learned the material so much better when they could create something. It also made learning fun...which is so important. I think that it would be nice if teachers had time in their days to add these types of activities into their daily routine. With the invention of Pinterest, there are soooo many creative ideas out there to present the content information.
ReplyDeleteI think NCLB and the scripted curriculum that followed, limited the teachers freedom to do creative things in the classroom. I'd agree with Jennifer though, that when we were educated, creating was outside of the comfort zone of the learning we'd been conditioned to.
ReplyDeleteOn the one hand, I would say yes, we’ve definitely lost it. Arts programs and any extras are always being cut, and with so much purely academic information that needs covered, I can imagine it’d difficult to find time to inject any creativity into what’s available. However, on the other hand, our world is advancing at a rate that’s faster than I can even think about. And the people who are coming up with all this stuff… I would describe them as being innovative, creative, imaginative. And that creativity had to come from somewhere, right??? And be fostered somewhere, right??? I’d say the amount of creativity being churned out in schools largely depends on where you’re at and the staff and resources that are available.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of creativity I think of how we teach and how there are so many things out there to teach concepts in a way I had never thought of. I feel that for the kids many classrooms are not about creativity and especially your own creative work. I sometimes get saddened when I go into a preschool room and they are coloring the letter of the week but the teacher has the page up on the board and says color it just like my page and gets in trouble for not doing it exact. The teacher will say it is a following direction skill however when it is like that every time. I feel that kids can't think outside of the box and use creative skills to make a creation because well the time is well spent on other things. It is sad but ins some cases creativity is going down hill.
ReplyDeleteAt the younger ages I feel like creativity is still there among students and teachers. We still have play centers in Kindergarten and we encourage pretend play through them. Kids are still very innocent at this age and it is fun to sit back and listen to their stories and play. As teachers at this grade level we are always looking for creative ways to teach the skills that are to be taught. Through arts and crafts, technology, or the stories that we share and how we share them vs. just reading the story. If we were not creative with our teaching we would lose the kids attention and yearning to learn. As kids get older I do feel that some of the creativity is put a side due to lack of time because we are becoming more micromanaged in our day. Also I think kid’s ability to be creative has gone by the way side as they get older due to technology.
ReplyDelete