The
trusted and tried principle for excellent blogging is to issue a new
post at regular intervals. This instills a level of expectancy and
consistency for any followers. I had decided that Sunday would be my
regular interval but I just couldn't resist spilling some more thoughts
before then. (One solitary post on the blog looks for a bleak and
dismally pathetic site...)
For
this particular post, I need you to do something with me. First, close
your eyes. Now open them because you can't keep reading with them shut.
Now imagine yourself many years ago when you were 5-6 years old. You're
just starting your educational adventure and discovering new things
every day. The world is opening up its wonders to you.
A
blank sheet of paper is placed before you and soon a large yellow box
with many wonderful objects appears. It's a 64 count box of crayons!
There are so many vivid and subtle colors packed in between thse thin
pieces of cardboard that you barely know where to begin. Suddenly
creativity takes a hold of you and your hands grab colors at will,
almost of their own accord, and now a masterpiece is taking shape;
unfolding right in front of you.
Of
course masterpiece is a subjective term, but the fact of the matter is
that your brain was exploding with new ideas. Neurons were firing and
creating new synapses to handle the creative potential being unleashed.
You felt alive. You felt in control. You felt the limits of this world
melt away much like they had melted the wax to form those crayons.
That
feeling and opportunity to create is perhaps the most important aspect
of learning. Here's the sad part: At some point, either high school,
middle school, or even somewhere before then, someone from somewhere
else decided it would be more advantageous for your curricular
development to make you trade in your box of crayons for blue or black
in only. Now you have no blank pieces of paper. Only papers with words
and blank spaces. Only a single isolated term (or letter...) belongs in
that blank. Nothing else will do. Anything else is failure.
Now comes feelings of enclosure. Gone is the creative element. It has been replaced by objectivity and despair.
Why?
Why
do we do this to ourselves? Is education so immensely important that
creativity must take a side seat to objective fact? What do we gain by
diminishing the value of imagination and creativity in the educational
arena? I venture boldly to say that we gain nothing. I venture to say
that we lose the essence of knowledge itself.
Einstein
said that "Imagination is more important than knowledge." Everything
that we know today has been brought to the light of human intelligence
by some great discovery. People who weren't bound by convention or by
the "facts" as they were. They dreamed. They imagined something greater
than what was possible at the moment. Very few of the world's great
innovations happened by accident (save chocolate chip cookies and french
dip sandwiches... :D ) but were the product of great imagination.
I
know that this won't revolutionize the educational system in place. I
know that these words are simply black and white constructs of a
frustrated individual who sees imagination dying in the streets like a
stabbed hobo. There may be little that I can actually do... But I
imagine a world that allows for the colors of life to inspire once
again. I imagine schools and institutions more concerned with unlocking
the creative potential in each student than with their status quo and
schedules. I imagine a world where everyone has the opportunity to
create from their endless box of crayons.
I
imagine that these words would inspire others to dream with me. Maybe
together we can create a better life for those yet to come.
It certainly is an unfortunate side effect that quantitative data trumped qualitative data. As classrooms got larger, I assume that efficient assessment of learning became very important so that teachers would know who to advance and who to retain. The problem is, that sacrifices valuable information that cannot be quantitatively assessed like creativity. That's why it's odd that we can sometimes see how individuals with A's may not grasp information as well as students with C's. Assessment will answer the questions it looks for and will ignore extraneous variables (as in some cases, creativity). We do our best with our assessment tools, but when the tools direct the learning process, the elements not assessed are forgotten.
ReplyDeleteKevin! First, I am honored that you took the time to read my blog. Second, I am doubly honored that you even left a thoughtful comment of your own! Third, said comment is well stated. Here's another observation that might make you noodle over it a bit: What is the common model that most churches borrow from when implementing children programs? The extrapolation I determine is that finding what is quantitative has seeped into a lot of churches nowadays as well. Such things as a closeness to God can't be counted or put on a spreadsheet. Is our focus off in general as a people nowadays? What will it take to get back to the genuine important things?
ReplyDeleteYou're absolutely right! The 64 count box of crayons was like a whole new world to me! :) Kidding aside, Definitely creativity is needed everywhere...in the workplace, at home, in the church...Why not think of ways to make things more interesting and possibly better? We should give others the opportunity to add their ideas and input and then LISTEN to them! And it's up to us as individuals to stand up, accept the challenge, and let our ideas be counted! The world could overcome so many hurdles, with God's help, if the mindset was not there that "the rest of society can think about THOSE issues."
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