Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Do Schools Kill Creativity? Response

    I do think that school is killing creativity because they do not let students express their creativity and they hinder their imagination.The example that the guys uses about Jillian is a good way to show that any sign of being "different" or not following society's standards is looked at as wrong and should be changed. I personally agree with the fact that students are forced out of their creativity and  their right-brain tendencies because of what the future holds in store for them. The students who want to be musicians and dancers cannot make careers out of these because they can't make a living off of these jobs.So therefore, they have to change to something they are less interested in just so they can be accepted in society and end up losing their creativity in the process.
    When he says that education creates certain types of people, I agree with this as well because, like he said, they educate students for university admission and so that they can become professors. Professors are supposed to be the top. Before education revolved, you were able to get a job with just a Bachelor's degree but, now you will need a more higher education level to be considered for such positions. As a person, school made me so paranoid about my future. I am in college now and I have changed my aspirations so many times just to fit into society. When I was growing up, I wanted to be a carpenter because that was what my father did but then I changed it to being an artist once I realized that there is no "real jobs" for artists. So what I did was combine the two and decided I wanted to be an architect. I researched this career and they make a lot of money and there will always be jobs for architects. As far as school affecting my writing and me being a student, I have grown in my thinking skills and how i handle situations that have arisen or will arise in the future.
    His solution of just letting kids be creative is great but since we do live in a society where education is dominant and is somewhat required to succeed, we should at least incorporate ways for students to learn in a creative way or be creative while learning. For example, ask the students what they are interested in or try different learning styles in a classroom and see which ones the students find the most effective.
I define intelligence by knowing what something is and being able to add your own input and findings into context. I also believe intelligence is asking questions after you already found the answers. It's kinda like taking what's inside the box and bringing it outside the box and breaking it down even further than it already is. In the video, he defines intelligence as being diverse, dynamic, and distinct.
    This TEDtalks video relates to standardized testing because all throughout school, they only teach you things that you need to know for the test. They educate you so that you become citizens who conformed to the needs and wants of society. After students take these standardized tests, there is not really any use for the information so they don't use it and end up forgetting it. Then, the next year the teachers have to go over the same information they just spent all last year teaching. So teaching for standardized tests is pointless;they should just teach for life beyond school and maybe students will retain the information better if they see use for it.

2 comments:

  1. I agree with you, Dominica about the idea that society looks at talents and strengths different than the norm as wierd and they view those people sometimes as "special". For example, in the video where the girl is a dancer and she can't keep still and her teachers think that she needs to be put in a "special" class.
    I believe that these type of people could make a living with their talents, however, society views this way of making money as bad or "lazy" even though it is not.
    I beleive that schools produce these certain types of people because it is easy not to tailor education for each student. Also, I don't think that Universities want any other type of student, even if they were able to accept those types of students.
    I find it very clever and unique to take the type of career you want and combine it with a career that society will "accept". Now you can do something you like, with a good job outlook, and something that society will accept.
    The information that I learned in middle school, and even high school I have not really used since then. I have also forgotten over half of that information because it was not useful or interesting to me.

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  2. Dominica, I really enjoyed hearing the story behind why you decided to become an architect. It is so wonderful that you are able to combine two things you are passionate about into a promising career. Growing up, I wanted to do theatre for the rest of my life. That idea changed, but looking back on it, I see all the people that tried to put my down for it. I also feel like students should be set free to do what they love to do, not something that the school system feels like they should force. I also have noticed that standardized testing is highly ineffective. Students do the minimum amount of work required to pass the test, and then forget all of the information they had to memorize. This is something I personally have struggled with, and I would really like to see a change in standardized testing. Like you said, I believe that teachers should teach for life beyond school. I know personally that would have been beneficial to me.

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