This lesson we had to view a video that was presented by Ken Robinson. Ken Robinson focused on "creativity". After watching the video, we were given questions that pertained to the video.
EDUC 2130 – Lesson 10 – Reforming Education
“There’s a big difference between preparing students for tests and preparing them for life. Some say that with the way things are going right now, America might be on a dead-end road where a lot of students will grow up to be obsolete in the way they think and what they do.” Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Explain.
I agree with this statement. Students are only being taught what is required to pass their tests, but aren't being taught how to prepare for life later on. I think that once a student hits eleventh grade, it should be required for them to take a class that would help them in their future. Because schools don't have classes that are preparing students for life after graduation, they will not know anything about what goes on in the real world, so yes, I completely agree with this statement.
In this day and time, where all education in America is becoming “standardized” and more emphasis is put on grades than learning, would pulling the student out from a public school be better decision than keeping the student in a public school? In other words, with the right programs and teaching methods that encourage learning, would homeschooling be better than public schooling? Explain your position.
I think in a way homeschooling would be better than public schooling, but then again, no. If a student is homeschooling, they could learn everything they need to at home. This includes homework, cooking, cleaning, outside work, etc. In public schools, a student would only be learning about the basic subjects, whereas at home, they learn about everything. However, in public schools students are learning how to work on their own, without their parents beside them every step of the way. They get to interact with others their age and learn to be their own person instead of being on a computer screen for most of the day.
Describe your thoughts concerning Ken Robinson’s video. For instance, do you agree with him? If so, how can you, as a teacher, change things for the better? If you did not agree with Ken, why?
I completely agree with him. I think teachers, future teachers, should try to encourage their students to chase after their dreams. Don’t stop your students from doing what they love just because they aren’t interested in academics. I think Ken is right about creativity. I don’t think creativity is learned, I believe you grow out of it, and education is helping with that.
In the PDF file associated with this lesson, Ken mentioned “passion” and “commitment”. Do you just do what you do with no particular passion or commitment to it? Why would this be important? Explain.
If someone were to do something and had no passion or commitment for what they do, they will dread it every day of their life. Each of us need to find something that we’re passionate about, and mine is early childhood education. Used to I didn’t think I wanted to be in the education field and be stuck in a school system for the rest of my life, but after changing my major from nursing to education, I felt like that’s what I was supposed to be doing instead. I’ve always had a passion for young children, so that’s why I wanted to go into teaching. And after having education classes, I have even more passion and recognition that this is what I’m supposed to be doing.
Ken provides some examples concerning creativity skill development. How would you develop creativity and problem-solving skills in YOUR classroom?
I would try to have lessons where creativity was a part of it. Students could make up dramas, songs, art, etc. that goes along with the lesson. This way the students would be learning and expressing their creativity all in one. A way to use creativity and problem-solving in the classroom would be having the children come up with ideas on how they could show the rest of the class what the lesson was about in a visual way. Doing this will show their creativity side, while using a little problem-solving skills.
In your opinion, what were the two most important or interesting things you learned by viewing the video from Ken Robinson? Describe.
I honestly never really thought about how important creativity is. I just always thought of creativity as a talent on the side of education, but after listening to Ken Robinson’s video, I now see that it’s different. Creativity shouldn’t be taken away from the students, it should be encouraged. Creativity is just as important as education.
Summary
I enjoyed this lesson, also. Ken Robinson really knows what he’s talking about when he mentions education. This lesson was very interesting to me. I never really thought about how important creativity was in education, but after listening to Ken Robinson’s video I now know that it’s just as important as education.
Research Question
How can teachers encourage creativity in students?
Reference(s): http://www.teachhub.com/teaching-creativity
Research Analysis
As teachers it is our duty to encourage and create creativity in the classroom. We need to inspire and ignite creative thoughts in our students’ minds, not shove them into a box. Creativity can be encouraged through any subject, math, science, history, English, etc.
For each subject teachers could give students tasks to bring out their creative side. Like writing poems, looking at photos, painting pictures, listening to music and having your students paint, draw, or write down what they are visualizing while listening to that music. For history, teachers could have students write a letter from the point of view from a historical character, or write a dialogue they think might go on in that time from multiple characters.
Research Summary
I thought my research was interesting. It’s good to know how you can encourage creativity throughout your lessons each day, and for each subject. Because creativity is just as important as education, it should be encouraged every day, and I will be sure to use some of these ideas in the future.
“Creativity is as important in education as literacy and we should treat it with the same status.” - Ken Robinson