At the time of Sir Ken Robinson's 2006 TED talk, "Do Schools Kill Creativity?", web2.0 tools were in their earliest stages, and in truth, a niche concept that had yet to pour over into schools. Robinson contends that we are born to be visual and kinesthetic learners. He states that education is at a cross-roads, an intersection where the direction chosen will have a profound impact on future generations. Robinson believes that creativity is best nurtured through the arts; programs such as dance, theater, and art.
Creativity promotes critical thinking, problem solving, and analysis. Therefore, web 2.0 tools provide a level ground for all students to enhance their creative thinking powers; especially to those who can not, quite literally, dance or sing.
I believe that if Robinson offered in 2011-2012 the same topic as he covered in 2006, he would include web 2.0 tools.
And he would be excoriated.
It's easy to win a crowd over by referencing all the subjects they experienced as learners, but to contend that web 2.0 deserves a spot on the shelf next to venerated programs such as art and dance would be an act of recklessness and irresponsibility.
I truly agree with Ken Robinson as he hilariously points out the true facts about education today. Creativity is truly lost in our schools everywhere and the examples given made complete sense as our education system does teach our students to be university professors. Ken mentions that “We are educating kids out of their creative capacity.” Yearly as we hear/see that arts are being cut out of our schools one by one, the opportunity for our kids to express their creativity will be non-existent one day. This is true as many schools focus on the No Child Left behind Act, 2001 and test scores. The focus today is mainly literacy, math, and partially the humanities. My friend who is an art teacher in DC was forced to dedicate 15 minutes of her lesson to review basic math with each class she taught. She was upset because this left no time for any art lesson as the art class time was already set to only 40 minutes. As sad as this sound, Ken Robinson in 2006 was pointing out the decline of education as we see it today in 2012. Kid’s creative capacity is limited as school districts enforce the drilling of literacy, math, and the humanities as a large portion of the school day. As arts are dimensioning in our schools today or pushed to after school activities it leaves the English, Math, Science, and History teacher to find ways to incorporate creativity activities in their lesson plans.
ReplyDeleteJackie, I agree that the emphasis on testing has diminished the programs in the Arts. Additionally, the federal laws which include No Child left Behind, IDEA (Individuals Disability Act) and FAPE (Free and Appropriate Education in the least restrictive environment) have placed a legal and financial burden on the states and individual districts to remain in compliance with the law. One of the greatest challenges currently facing the elimination of the creative subjects in public education is the reduction of funds.
DeleteCreativity, however, is not being eliminated owing to the dedication and skill of the teachers who provide creative outlets in each subject. Your friend in Washington, D.C. has undoubtedly had to find a way to incorporate math into her art lesson. Perhaps she could use ratios to describe perspective, or have students create a project with circles in order to understand the concept of pi (π). While I would agree that it diminishes the actual time for free expression, the opportunities to encourage creative thought are still limitless.
During Sir Robinson’s speech, he stated that intelligence is diverse, dynamic and distinct. He referred to intelligence as being interactive. Both these concepts support Gardner’s theory of 8 intelligences and the cooperative learning model. The opportunity for creative expression whether it is linguistic, spatial, kinesthetic, musical, mathematical, or interpersonal can be expanded through the use of web 2.0 tools.
I believe that Sir Robinson would fully support the incorporation of these tools to enhance and encourage creativity. I do not, however, share the opinion that he would be excoriated.
Yes Cheryl I agree I think that statement of him being excoriated was a little too much. I like your suggestion for incorporating math into art, but unfortuantely she was given a book to use. I was quite upset that this happened but it is true that when schools aren't metting their AYP they will cut out art time.
DeleteI agree that it would be irresponsible to relegate the content of web 2.O to the “shelf.” An outstanding school provides a broad program of studies. The opportunities for intellectual and social growth can be creatively advanced through the use of web 2.0 tools. In addition to providing creative opportunities, the tools provide a format for innovative self-directed learning.
ReplyDeleteSir Robinson defined creativity as original ideas that have value. He also emphasized that the richness of human capacity was diverse. In recognizing the dynamic, distinct and diverse expressions of intelligence, he would certainly see the value in expanding the course of studies to include web 2.0.
However, I do not believe that he would be excoriated for his point of view. The learning theory of multiple intelligences (Howard Gardner) is widely accepted as valid and has had a significant impact on how educators view thinking and practice. Web 2.0 would support at least 6 of the 8 styles of learning: spatial, musical, intrapersonal, interpersonal, linguistic and logical. While the kinesthetic and naturalistic learner may not have a direct correlation, the tools would provide a creative way to express and explore their interests.
Currently, computer technology is recognized as an accepted practice in meeting the needs of diverse learners. The reason that I enrolled in this course was motivated by the Tredyffrin-Easttown district-wide goal to incorporate computer technology into instruction. I believe this supports the view that these programs will be supported and cultivated. Hopefully, the constraints of budget and state allocations will not cause our dance, theater and art programs to be diminished or eliminated!
The incorporation of Garder's multiple intelligence into the curriculum is a great way of meeting our diverse learners along with the help of web 2.0 tools. Web 2.0 does deserve its spot on the shelf as it takes education to the next level for both the educators and the students.
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