Anyone who's followed education might be wondering how I missed this, but I don't have children, nor do most of my friends, nor either of my two siblings. I'm not an aunt, not even an honorary one.
I had almost nothing to do with education until I started working in a high school this year:
it wasn't until last night that I watched the most-viewed (77 million views) TED talk, Ken Robinson's "Do Schools Kill Creativity?"*
(tldr: yes)
He says what I wish I heard at work, but don't:
the skill we need most at this time--when the future is so uncertain-- is creativity.
Not (just) for personal development and healthy societies, but for survival.
I'd talked about this with a couple young coworkers:
Shouldn't we be teaching the students (and ourselves!) to figure out how to survive an apocalypse?
How to start a fire.
How to set up a government.
How to think.
How to treat trench foot.
Speaking of which--Marz did hate every minute of getting up at 3 a.m. to pack canoes, and then paddling and portaging with wet feet all day.
They were warned of the danger of developing trench foot, but were given no time to dry out their boots.
She said the whole experience reminded her of some kind of war-games reenactment.
What was needed in the 18th century as the West industrialized and grew empires was workers and foot soldiers, and a smaller number (20 percent, Ken Robinson says) of managers to run the businesses and empires, etc.
Education systems developed to meet that need.
And the rise of standardized testing has kept us locked into a factory model of teaching for efficiency.
And that feeds Control.
I SEE THAT.
I've mentioned being surprised that a student--let's say "Chris"-- who writes good stories online is getting a D in English.
Why?
I asked the teacher, who said Chris does not proofread their work---it is full of punctuation and capitalization errors.
_____Now, Chris has said out loud in class that it is frustrating to have autism and ADHD.
“ Due to the fact that we highlight mistakes, make them wrong and stigmatize them, we are educating people out of their creative captivities.
By the time kids become adults… they become frightened of being wrong.”
--Ken Robinson
_______________
If I were the teacher, instead of pushjing them to focus on details, which is obviously extra-hard for them, I'd work to strengthen their creative writing, and I'd give them a pass on punctuation for the time being, as the work is readable. (It is.)
On Friday, I was sent with four students, including Chris, to another room to help them re-do some assignments.
I usually leave Chris alone because I can see they're working, but that day I pushed--"Please let me help you proofread one assignment."
They sighed, but agreed--I think just to be nice to me.
Truly, except for the absence of periods and some wonky capitalization, the assignment was good--showed intelligence and creativity--and was perfectly readable.
We cleaned it up in 15 minutes, and I suggested Chris proof a few more old assignments over the weekend:
"You could get your grade up, even if just to a C."
(I asked the teacher how many assignments were needed to raise a grade.
They said, "I don't know. I'd have to figure that out, and I don't have time."
So I couldn't even offer that information as an incentive, like, "you only need TWO".)
Anyway, the student said, "But I don't care about my grade."
Heh. Can't argue with that.
I said that they are a good writer, I could tell from their stories.
"I know I'm a good writer," Chris said. (Good!) "When I work on my stories, I can go at my own speed. I can close my computer and come back when I'm ready."
"That's wonderful!" I said. "Choosing your own pace for creative projects works well."
I'm sure they've heard all the arguments for Working Hard on Schoolwork, so I didn't repeat them.
Also, I don't agree with them.
If I were the teacher, I'd work on this student's own stories with them--if they'd let me. That would spill over into everything else they write.
The student isn't oppositional, or not for no reason. When we finished proofreading, they thanked me. It hurt my heart a little.
Fertilize the field so the plants thrive, flower, and fruit.
Not because flowers are beautiful, but because we need to eat.
_____________________________
*The TED talk is 19 minutes--I liked the more in-depth 55-minute podcast interview,
"Sir Ken Robinson (still) wants an education revolution".
If Chris knows that he is good, let's hope that he hangs on to the skill
ReplyDeleteI pray!!!
Deletemy personal thoughts is that social media has sucked the creativity out of a lot of people. when i look back at crafting books from the 1970s many did not have complete instructions as they assumed most users were able to figure it out on their own. today many crafters want complete instructions down to the nth degree and they want a project not a process.
ReplyDeletefor instance i have done enough handiwork that i can figure out most things on my own but i find very few people are able to do that today.
and it's even worse in craft forums. i am on a quilting forum and participants all the time are asking how do you do x? and usually a 3 second search on the web will come up with videos and written instruction. instead they want to be fed the info instead of learning on their own. when i asked about it, i was told that is their way of sharing. what??? that's not sharing.
and shame on a teacher who doesn't already have that answer. when i taught if asked a question i didn't know right then, i would tell a student, that's a good question, let me think/research and i'll get back to you and i did.
so great that you are able to work with students who with a little individual encouragement would improve. sometimes all they need is that one time hand-holding/guiding to set them on their way and encourage their growth.
kirsten
What I miss is having someone show me how to make things in person!
Delete—so much easier to learn hand-making (like darning or carving) with real hands there to guide me.
The interview is so good. I went to that straight away. Thank you! Besides all of the common good sense he makes about education, how one learns, and "habitual education"- the school system. I loved the observation about insects vs humans. Also the ratio of how Indians live , sustainability vs westerners. All we can do at this point is be creative, keep a small footprint, Don't walk on the grass and be happy that we have a life to live at all. Creativity is key. As for schooling, you know what I think about that! I am in full agreement with you.
ReplyDeleteactually back in the mid 70's several of us got together under the auspices of an university for man class on education. unfortunately i don't remember what we decided but we spent a semester talking about it with all sorts of people.
ReplyDeleteuniversity for man was founded here in the 1970s by sue maes and written up in the new yorker at the time. it's still going but the classes have changed. back then we learned to make sand candles (that's useful) and how to tie dye ( i tie dyed a set of sheets for friends for their wedding).
kirsten