Do Schools Kill Creativity?

Sir Ken Robinson brings up some rather interesting ideas pertaining to our education system. One of his ideas had me question if schools kill creativity? I tend to agree with this thought. The way a school is set up, does not support creativity, but more or less squanders it.

Students are taught to think that there is only one right answer, and most likely the right answer reflects the beliefs of the teacher. (I still witness this now in my education career). Even the way a classroom is set up does not give students the chance to use their creativity. Students are most likely seated in rows, where they are not suppose to talk amongst each other, and are forced to listen to the lecture given by the teacher. The teacher provides the students with the answer to the work that will soon be assigned for them to complete, in a typical written form. Particularly in math class, students are often not asked to fill out problem solvers where they have to think out of the box, or a problem where there are more than one way to get to the answer, or a problem where there is more than one answer. More often than not, what I can remember as a math student in primary and elementary grade, I was assigned bundles of numerical problems; not word problems. Creativity is not fostered in the education system.
Students are taught that mistakes are the worst thing you can possibly do, they are not taught to think critically, nor are they given the chance to express themselves creatively. As a student for 20 years, I have wisely been taught to regurgitate the teacher’s views about a certain subject area and by doing this I will receive a better mark than if I put my own thoughts down in an essay or test. It is because of how I was taught in the education system, I feel that schools kill creativity.

If you are any different from the normal then there is automatically something wrong with you, and then you are placed in a group with other people that may have something different about them. I dislike the fact that everyone is pigeon-holed into a group or a category. Everyone has a label and it isn’t their name. Why is it that someone who is energetic and does not like sitting down be labeled as ADHD. Why can’t they just have lots of energy and be seen as a good thing. The education system constantly puts people into groups, and I was shocked to hear that the public education was designed to meet the needs for industrialism and it hasn't changed. Our education system continues to put the most value on a person's academic achievement and that is what most people value has well. Children now come to school in some cities at 3 years of age and in school for 20+ years. Students after 20 years of schooling are teachers , social workers etc. Should it take 20 years to become a teacher ? Why shouldn't a person who is good physically or artistically be equally valued? Who is determining what gets the highest priority? People in the academic field???

I agree with Robinson in that our education system values correct answers and if you are not prepared to be wrong you will not be creative. It doesn't encourage risk taking and stifles individuality. In spite of our system we still have creative people which gets me thinking that the human mind can think outside and construct more than what is delivered by the teacher. It also causes me to think how creative people could be if it was fostered and nurtured.

Math Autobiography

I have difficulty remembering Mathematics in the primary grades. I remember playing with blocks and making patterns in the earlier years of my schooling. A typical lesson would have the teacher demonstrating the step by step process of solving a particular math problem on the chalk board, and then we were assigned many practice questions. I was usually the first one finished and the teacher would then assign more problems for me to complete. I recall one year when my classmates and I were given the option to take a pretest. If there were certain sections we had already mastered we did not have to do that unit and were given the opportunity to continue on with more advanced math. This opportunity was most likely given because I was in a combined classroom of grade 5’s and 6’s. I know I enjoyed this.

I cannot recall the best memory or the worst memory surrounding mathematics in primary and elementary. I have always enjoyed doing it. However, I did dislike the repetitive problems I would have to solve, and thought it was very time consuming and pointless. It was basically busy work. I hated having to wait for the class to catch up. I always enjoyed problem solving questions that required me to think. It appeared to me as a game. I contribute my love/ enjoyment of math to my mom. While growing up through primary and elementary my mom had access to problem solver questions to different grades and she would bring them home for my brothers and me to attempt. She would try to get us around the table for roughly an hour a day. As an adult, I think I was very lucky that I was good at math for my primary and elementary grades. But I feel I was only good at it because of my previous experiences in math.

The teacher’s role in math was to demonstrate a problem on the board. I feel that I was always ahead of my class in the primary and elementary years (thanks to my mom), but I wish that I would have been provided with more challenging work in the classroom.
Assessment consisted of paper and pencil and there was a test at the end of each unit. Provincial examinations in grade 3, grade 6 and grade 9.

In high school I also enjoyed math, but it was the first period in the morning, and I would usually have a sports practice at 7 before school started. It was clear that you can not learn if you are tired. Overall, I like the challenging problems in math, and I enjoy being forced to think, rather than forced to memorize and regurgitate.

The only Math courses I took in university were math 1050 and 1051. I would have continued on with more math courses, but I felt that it would have been too challenging. I feel that I have missed a lot and there is a gap in my knowledge because of my lack of effort or opportunities in my high school years. I wish I could go back and get the steps that I have missed. I really enjoy the logical and challenging part of math. I find math fun, and it is the one course I used to look forward to in school, (that and gym class!!).

Do I engage with mathematics in my life in major ways? I think my reasoning can be attributed to mathematics in particular, problem solving math. Computations, which most of my formal schooling consist of, I now use a calculator. I don’t think I engage in mathematics in a major way because I missed some steps in High School. I did what the teachers asked and I passed the grade but it wasn’t in a meaningful context. Math was removed from context. It was isolated formulas and I didn’t make the connections therefore limiting my understanding and the use of Mathematics.

Welcome to my Education 3940 Blog!

Education 3940, Mathematics in Primary and Elementary Grades, is a requirement for my education degree and deals with my beliefs towards mathematics and how I might teach mathematics. This blog will serve as a place of reflection pertaining to issues brought up in class or other experiences dealing with mathematics/ teaching.