Sunday, 1 December 2013
Stand On The Shoulders Of The Greats
Chapter one in "The Arts As Meaning Makers" text talks about standing on the shoulders of the greats and putting theory to practice. It talks about the great theorists that have influenced the framework of education throughout history like Piaget, Maslow, Erikson and Vygotsky. Once broken down, the theories can be used in any facet of education such as art work. Art work requires creativity but what is creativity? Psychological theories can help to analyze the human mind and how it works to produce meaning and I think about Sir Ken Robinson's video on the changing paradigms really speaks well to how education currently does not breed creativity. I may be very naive, and probably am, to how simple it may be to extract creativity out of students however this is something that I am very interested in. I am interested in learning how to interact with a student in such a way that will produce things such as divergent thinking and practicing how to think outside the box. The current education system concentrates the classroom with so much students that it is difficult to really move around intellectually in the classroom to produce freedom to explore more artistic avenues of the mind. I'm talking about the curriculum that one has to explore in a short school year. It would be different if a teacher had students for multiple years to help to develop students in a certain way that would require time and focused long term goals, except students often change teachers one year after another. Like I said, i could be very naive when it comes to being able to affect significant creative changes in a student in a short period of time. I will find out when the time comes to explore more.
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Not naïve...just hopeful! There are certainly limitations to creativity in schools as they are currently organized but I am encouraged by the move toward inviting students to make more choices. To me, that is the one essential element to creativity - the freedom to choose. And maybe it is the one essential element to being human, but that's another topic! I think if we learn, as teachers, to treasure each individual and to invite them to express their authentic selves, without fear of mistakes but still with a commitment to excellence, we will be quite amazed at the creativity we find. Ken Robinson is entertaining and thought-provoking but he paints a more desperate scenario than has to be, to make his point more strongly, I think. I went to a hippie free school once in Grade 9 and that three months taught me how important it is to work for change within existing systems. So I am glad that you and other young teachers are hopeful and I see my role as helping provide the tools to help you turn those hopes into the reality of creative classrooms.
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