It sounds like the complaint of a jaded adult: Kids these days are narrow-minded and just not as creative as they used to be...Experts say creativity is innate, so it can't really be lost. But it needs to be nurtured.
I remember when I was entering my first teaching position, seven years ago, a colleague mentioned that "kids today lack creativity." I totally disagreed and thought she was selling the students short. I did, in fact, find the students to be quite creative--I also made it a priority to build a classroom that fosters creativity and critical thinking and paid the state test little to no mind until the week before.
This article reports that scores on several tests of creativity have been decreasing, while SAT scores have been increasing. The writers conclude that the focus on testing throughout kids' schooling, which teaches kids that there is only one right answer, is suppressing creativity and divergent thinking in Americans.
As we are measured for our effectiveness, I wonder if the creativity we aspire to infuse our teaching with is also at risk.
Posted by: Nancy Toes | August 15, 2011 at 01:10 PM