TED: Do Schools Kill Creativity?

By Lauren | March 19, 2014 | 0 Comment

This is one of my favourite TED talks of all time. My reasoning? Growing up I had a tough time in school. Math, English, science, none of those subjects were my thing. It wasn’t till grade 11 when I was allowed the opportunity to choose electives, and pick courses that actually interested me that I began to excel. So maybe calculus, English and chemistry weren’t my thing, but marketing, website design, photography and drama were.

Now before you get your panties in a knot, I do understand the importance of learning these core subjects, but why is there such a strong emphasis and importance on these, while the arts get the shaft? Being in competitive dance my whole life taught me about discipline. My photography, web design, media arts classes, prepared me for the career I have now. Drama class taught me how to be a great public speaker. Aren’t these skills we need too?

I look back now and think of all the struggles I had in math, English & science. I look back to guidance counselors and teachers telling me how important these subjects were to get me into school, to get me through life & to be successful. Well look at me now!?

Anyways, I can rant about this all day long but I hope this TED talk makes you think and one day I hope to see schools make even more of a turn to implementing creativity within their courses, and teaching.

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