Creativity: Can it be nurtured in public school?

In this TED Talk, Ken Robinson explains how public education kills creativity in students.  And, given the increased focus on standards and testing as the means for determining educational success, it seems unlikely that creativity will be nurtured in public schools any time soon.

Yet, with the incredibly complex problems we face today, it is imperative that we encourage innovation and creativity in our schools.

One way schools might encourage creativity and innovation is by providing students opportunities to engage in collaboration.  In Slate, Joshua Wolf Shenk, writes about the role collaboration plays in creativity.  According to Shenk, the idea of the lone genius is overblown, that in reality, creative RELATIONSHIPS are the source of new ideas.  The first part of this series looks at collaboration and creative pairs.  Part Two examines a famous creative pair, John Lennon and Paul McCartney.  Throughout the series, he will examine how creative partnerships work.

How can this series help us think about creativity and innovation?  How can public schools encourage creativity at a time when standards and accountability continue to focus on individual students?

More on technical change

Last week I posted a number of resources that examine the common core standards, assessments and the teacher accountability.  In the New York Times Room for Debate, several nationally known education experts examine teacher assessment and the role value added testing plays in the process.

On the surface, value added seems like a pretty good solution to the question of how to hold teachers accountable.  Yet, effective evaluation systems, most likely need multiple measures best illuminate both student progress and teacher contribution to that progress.

Complicating the matter, is the question of how to delivery high-quality instruction and the role of teacher in this process.  In this TED talk, Sugata Mitra presents his research where he gave kids self-supervised access to the web and saw results that could revolutionize how we think about teaching.  My favorite quote from the presentation:  "If children have interest, then education happens."  So, why don't we simply let students do interesting things?  

Technical Change and Public Education and the Role of Local School Boards

Once again the United States is focused on the technical components of change, as the country continues to grapple with closing the achievement gap and creating an education system that meets the needs of 21st century learners.  This week, two articles in the New York Times talk about testing and teacher accountability.  U.S. Asks Educators to Reinvent Student Tests, and How They Are Given describes efforts to create a testing system that more accurately assesses student learning and provides feedback in a more timely manner.

When Does Holding Teachers Accountable Go Too Far? looks at a project that analyzed teacher performance, connecting student test scores to teachers using a value added model.  The article presents a balanced view of the practice, laying out strengths and weaknesses of using value added to evaluate teachers.

Finally,  the Common Core State Standards Initiative is linked to the development of the new testing systems and I include it here for reference.

Yet again, we are focusing on the technical aspects of change.  The focus of these initiatives clearly reflect the technical aspects of the Key Work framework--Standards, Assessment, and Accountability.  Once again, little is said of the need to focus on the adaptive, or cultural, aspects of change--Vision, Continuous Improvement, Collaboration and Community Engagement, and Climate.

For decades states and the federal government have focused on the technical aspects of reforming the public education system, eroding the power of local school boards in the process. Where does this leave local school boards as governing entities?  It leaves them with the entire range of adaptive change at their disposal.  And who better to lead the adaptive change process?  Local school board members have the potential to engage with local stakeholders in ways that state and federal policy makers will never be able to do.  The "localness" of their position provides opportunity to engage in conversations about the vision for their communities and their schools.  The can model continuous improvement, celebrating success while continuing to ask "What can we better tomorrow?"  They can lead efforts to create a climate that builds social capital, building trust and creating strong relationships that ultimately leads to better outcomes for students.

The role of the school board is changing.  For all practical purposes, they no longer have much influence over the technical aspects of change.  At the same time, they have tremendous power to lead the adaptive change efforts that are needed to ensure the work of revising standards and creating new accountability systems is not wasted.

Community Engagement and Key Work

Key Work--Collaboration and Community Engagement

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Mass Personalization

Lately, I have been asking school board members why kindergarteners and high school seniors need to attend school for the same number of days and minutes?  Further pushing the concept of mass personalization, why must the public education system be the only place you can get credit for learning?  This KnowledgeWorks blog posting challenges the notion of place-based education.

Today, many school boards are under pressure about budgets and are often chided to make better use of their financial resources.  How might mass personalization help with the budget crunch?

So, what is TED?

From time-to-time I mention TED Talks and suggest that school boards schedule a work session to view a talk and then discuss how the ideas in the talk are impacting public education.

People then ask, what is a "TED Talk?" Here a link that explains: How TED Connects the Idea-Hungry Elite.

I know that after I watch a TED Talk, I feel jazzed about things that are happening in the world, and usually want to share with everyone I know.

Good stuff!

The Conversation Prism

The Conversation Prism by Brian Solis and Jesse Thomas

At the WASB Presidents/Leadership Conference a few weeks ago, a board member commented that she didn't get social media. I explained that all it is really is a simple way to connect with other people using some kind of technology. It provides a way for us to transcend time and space. It opens up the way people can communicate with each other.

It is not a passing fad. It is not something for the young people (although many times they seem to get it faster). For folks who are intimidated by social media, I like to point out that the telephone is a social media tool. You talk with someone who is not in the proximity of your voice. Today, there are many more options.

Today's social media reside on the internet and a physical tool like a computer or smart phone connects you to these media. AND, you are not limited to audio expression. You can post pictures and documents. Videos. Music. Furthermore, you do not have to be "on the phone" at the same time. You post content that others can access when it is convenient for them.

Many of these tools can help you plan and execute community engagement events in your district.

For now, I will let you be with the prism. I will talk about it more in the weeks ahead.

I would like to end by thanking my friend, Brad Saron, superintendent from the Cashton, Wisconsin school district for alerting me to the prism.