Do schools kill creativity? This is the opening question of an interesting interview with Sir Ken Robinson, an “expert” on creativity and innovation. The answer is deceptively simple: “Yes, of course they do.” Though this may sound somewhat sarcastic, the reality of schooling is the systematic obliteration of the individual including their creativity, and their element. The reason for this is quite simple – all schooling originates in the concept of the prerequisite, that is, that one group of people who are deemed to be more knowledgeable enforce a system of knowledge and skills on those who are considered less knowledgeable. What is most surprising about education is its persistent inability to question its own assumptions denigrating all “innovation and change” to mere passing facade.
The ideas offered by Sir Ken Robinson are helpful and necessary, but we should remind ourselves that they are in no way new or innovative. Proposing that schooling should assist in supporting individual talents and creative expression is a retrieval of old ideas. What is most surprising in all of this is that: a) the problem still persists in education; b) that we are still discussing it. The comparison of education to industrialization is obvious and now somewhat nauseating. Until we can lay the false assumptions and presuppositions that provide the foundation for education and schooling out in the open, no significant changes will occur – yet discussions will persist. Some of the more obvious false assumptions are:
- That prerequisite forms of knowledge, skills, and attitudes should form the basis for creating curriculum;
- That instructional design is a means to deliver a curriculum;
- That sequencing education according to age is a meaningful way to organize schooling – there is no evidence to support this;
- That preparing student for something as mundane as the workforce is the goal of education;
- That grade/marks have meaning;
- That learning “disabilities” actually exist;
- That grades/marks have a relationship to intelligence;
- That students are interested in things imposed on them;
- That government should play a critical role in establishing educational standards;
- That the outcome of education can be controlled via the enforcement of standards.
In the end, the reality of schooling is the loss of your element, the loss of your ability to explore and develop your own unique talents. Before too long, you have forgotten what your element might be. Being in your “element” is similar to being in “flow.” However, just as we cannot be in our element when immersed in oppressive forms of religious dogma, we cannot be in our element within the oppression of educational dogma.
The problems described by Sir Ken Robinson are quite real. Solutions are easy to describe, write about, and present at conference. But the reality is education has a well-developed ability to embrace innovation and change in order to destroy it.
