Creativity: Crossroads in k12 Education

“When grade school kids were asked how to make the world a better place I would get tons of absurdly brilliant ideas. But when teenagers were asked I’d get very little. Why?” — Kirk Schiebold.

What is the most viewed TED talk of all time? —“Do Schools Kill Creativity?” The speaker argued for a radical rethinking of how children are educated. The rapid change in technology has raised questions about how schools cultivate creativity. Are classes in which teachers simply distribute information and encourage rote memorization useful in a world where students have iPhones and Google at their fingertips?

“I think if we really want kids to develop as creative thinkers, we need to make the rest of school—in fact, the rest of life—more like kindergarten,” Mitchell Resnick said. He leads the Lifelong Kindergarten group at the MIT Media Lab to develop new technologies for creative learning. “It’s important for everyone in all places, rich and poor, from all cultures, across all genders to engage in creative learning experiences. Creative thinking brings joy and meaning and purpose to children’s lives. Children deserve nothing less,” Resnick said.

Could a thoughtful approach to unblocking and nurturing creativity be integrated into conventional curriculums? A k12 guest teacher shares key ideas about creative learning in a series of personal essays and academic briefs that follow his family, teachers and students in several different time frames. Drawing on his lifelong experiences he offers new ways of thinking about creative learning in the classroom, and a vision for what creative teaching in American public education might look like in the future.