5. Educate OUT of Creativity

Response to Sir Ken Robinson's video on education. What do you value in education?


In the RSA Animation video on changing education paradigms, one thing that strikes me is how almost ALL children in kindergarten start off with genius levels for divergent thinking. (Up to 98%) However, as we get older and receive more education, most people’s divergent thinking skills drop. This caused me to raise questions about our current education system. Does this mean that we are educated in the wrong direction? Are we getting dumber? What measures intelligence? One thing I had to consider is that if we raised children so that their divergent thinking do not drop, then would this effect their abilities in math and reading, which seems to be the determining factor in today’s definition of intelligence? In the current system, we teach facts and skills, but what about ways to think critically and divergently? If we taught children to think divergently, it is likely that conformity would decrease. Instead of the 10 to 15 ways to use a paper clip, now each person would be able to think up 200 ways, and those 200 are likely to differ greatly! After watching the video, I am filled with questions. However, one thing I do know is that if we want to change our education system to increase divergent thinking, it would be a revolution to the current idea of intelligence and education.