Forum Index > Full Moon Saloon > As Children’s Freedom Has Declined, So Has Their Creativity
 Reply to topic
Previous :: Next Topic
Author Message
cairn builder
Member
Member


Joined: 19 Aug 2013
Posts: 854 | TRs | Pics
cairn builder
Member
PostThu Aug 28, 2014 7:49 am 
Creativity is nurtured by freedom and stifled by the continuous monitoring, evaluation, adult-direction, and pressure to conform that restrict children’s lives today. In the real world few questions have one right answer, few problems have one right solution; that’s why creativity is crucial to success in the real world. But more and more we are subjecting children to an educational system that assumes one right answer to every question and one correct solution to every problem, a system that punishes children (and their teachers too) for daring to try different routes. We are also, as I documented in a previous essay, increasingly depriving children of free time outside of school to play, explore, be bored, overcome boredom, fail, overcome failure—that is, to do all that they must do in order to develop their full creative potential. As Children's Freedom Has Declined, So Has Their Creativity | Psychology Today This is an interesting article. It talks about how we measure creativity, why we should believe the tests, and why we should care. Friends of mine who have had children have been talking about this stuff for years.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
RichP
Member
Member


Joined: 13 Jul 2006
Posts: 5628 | TRs | Pics
Location: here
RichP
Member
PostThu Aug 28, 2014 9:50 am 
Perhaps the unfortunate outcome of an educational system whose principal goal has become a high score on standardized tests.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Daryl
Big Shot Economist



Joined: 05 Dec 2008
Posts: 1817 | TRs | Pics
Daryl
Big Shot Economist
PostThu Aug 28, 2014 12:11 pm 
Any math minded people in their 40's that has seen what math has become fully understands. Math has been changed from thinking and solving to counting and drawing dots and lines and matrices...

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
NacMacFeegle
Member
Member


Joined: 16 Jan 2014
Posts: 2653 | TRs | Pics
Location: United States
NacMacFeegle
Member
PostThu Aug 28, 2014 12:32 pm 
I definitely agree that our current education system with its focus on standardized testing is stifling creativity. It attempts to press everyone into the same mold. I also think that part of the problem is in attempting to shuffle everyone into expensive colleges. We should have a system like that in some European countries, where kids can chose to go into a trade school instead of finishing the last few years of high school. Those who are able/willing to continue with high school can, and then graduate to college (which is fully paid for by the government). We should also pay our teachers more; after all, few people are going to want to spend years in college to get a low-paying dead-end job!

Read my hiking related stories and more at http://illuminationsfromtheattic.blogspot.com/
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Malachai Constant
Member
Member


Joined: 13 Jan 2002
Posts: 16088 | TRs | Pics
Location: Back Again Like A Bad Penny
Malachai Constant
Member
PostThu Aug 28, 2014 12:47 pm 
The article does,not seem very well supported to me. In the 70's - 80's the emphasis was on creativity in education. Before that most school was route learning with no creatity allowed. The emphasis on standardized tests got going in the mid oughts with the decline of scores especially in poorer neighborhoods. These things swing back and forth. In any event it is very difficult to teach true creativity. The US job place has changed a lot in the past 30 years and the decline in manufacturing. How creative do you have to be to sling burgers for minimum wage? Only the very few are software engineers or artists. Seems a lot like first word problems to me. rolleyes.gif

"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
cairn builder
Member
Member


Joined: 19 Aug 2013
Posts: 854 | TRs | Pics
cairn builder
Member
PostThu Aug 28, 2014 1:45 pm 
A lot of parents won't let their children play outside unattended anymore, or walk around their neighborhood, and it's almost a criminal act to let a child bike themselves to school. I think this attempt to sterilize risk from childrens' lives has as much to do with it as education does. Creativity is important in most facets of life.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
trestle
Member
Member


Joined: 17 Aug 2008
Posts: 2093 | TRs | Pics
Location: the Oly Pen
trestle
Member
PostFri Aug 29, 2014 5:08 am 
Do you have children cairn builder?

"Life favors the prepared." - Edna Mode
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Malachai Constant
Member
Member


Joined: 13 Jan 2002
Posts: 16088 | TRs | Pics
Location: Back Again Like A Bad Penny
Malachai Constant
Member
PostFri Aug 29, 2014 7:31 am 
Children today have plenty of Freedom, in my day little girls could not even use a Thompson let alone an Uzi wink.gif

"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
seattlenativemike
Member
Member


Joined: 06 Oct 2012
Posts: 524 | TRs | Pics
Location: seattle
seattlenativemike
Member
PostFri Aug 29, 2014 3:49 pm 
The kind of freedom myself and my friends had as kids would result in someone calling CPS now. On a side note, I think that todays schools not only focus on high standardized test scores but also have relegated teachers to providing replacement parenting.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
   All times are GMT - 8 Hours
 Reply to topic
Forum Index > Full Moon Saloon > As Children’s Freedom Has Declined, So Has Their Creativity
  Happy Birthday speyguy, Bandanabraids!
Jump to:   
Search this topic:

You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum