This week, I started a new book for my Learning & Technology class: Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative by Sir Ken Robinson. I became a fan of Robinson after watching his 2006 TED Talk entitled "How Schools Kill Creativity", in which he explains that we are essentially educated out of our natural capacity for creativity and innovation because of the outdated structures which exist in our school systems. So, when I saw that he had written an entire book on this topic, it immediately jumped toward the top of my "to read" list.
I'm only a few chapters in, but so far it has not disappointed. Robinson notes at the very beginning that "most children think they’re highly creative; most adults think they’re not" (p. 1). He argues that this is indeed a fatal flaw. In a world that has been dramatically transformed by the technological revolution of the 20th century -- to the extent that entire cultures and societies have changed forever because of it -- we are clinging to an educational system that simply can't produce the sort of innovative thinkers our future will need. "Radical innovations often interact with each other and generate entirely new patterns of behavior in the people who use them" (p. 40). Robinson goes into depth describing the ever increasing rate of change and complexity in our world, especially in the last few decades, making the point at length that every aspect of life is impacted by such changes, from technology to employment to lifestyle to human relationships. He argues that, if we are to prepare ourselves and the next generations for success and survival in the future, we need people who can think outside the box. We will need people who will be able to solve problems that no one is even aware of yet, using methods that have yet to be invented.
I like that Robinson makes distinctions among three related concepts: imagination (bringing things to mind things that we don't presently sense), creativity ("the process of developing original ideas that have value), and innovation (taking new ideas and making them real) (p. 2-3). These are all prongs of a central theme that will need to be incorporated into any educational transformation if it is going to be effective. In the next chapters that I will be reading, Robinson will move from discussing the world at large to addressing the educational system in particular. It is not simply education reform that we need, but education transformation.
I'm only a few chapters in, but so far it has not disappointed. Robinson notes at the very beginning that "most children think they’re highly creative; most adults think they’re not" (p. 1). He argues that this is indeed a fatal flaw. In a world that has been dramatically transformed by the technological revolution of the 20th century -- to the extent that entire cultures and societies have changed forever because of it -- we are clinging to an educational system that simply can't produce the sort of innovative thinkers our future will need. "Radical innovations often interact with each other and generate entirely new patterns of behavior in the people who use them" (p. 40). Robinson goes into depth describing the ever increasing rate of change and complexity in our world, especially in the last few decades, making the point at length that every aspect of life is impacted by such changes, from technology to employment to lifestyle to human relationships. He argues that, if we are to prepare ourselves and the next generations for success and survival in the future, we need people who can think outside the box. We will need people who will be able to solve problems that no one is even aware of yet, using methods that have yet to be invented.
I like that Robinson makes distinctions among three related concepts: imagination (bringing things to mind things that we don't presently sense), creativity ("the process of developing original ideas that have value), and innovation (taking new ideas and making them real) (p. 2-3). These are all prongs of a central theme that will need to be incorporated into any educational transformation if it is going to be effective. In the next chapters that I will be reading, Robinson will move from discussing the world at large to addressing the educational system in particular. It is not simply education reform that we need, but education transformation.