gillian-lynneWhen Gillian Lynne — multimillionaire choreographer of “Cats” and “Phantom of the Opera” — was in school, her teachers thought she had a learning disorder and suggested her mother try medication to calm her down. Luckily, a very wise doctor made a startling diagnosis – “Gillian isn’t sick. She’s a dancer. Take her to a dance school.”

Her mother listened. Inspired by an environment that fit her talent and stoked her passion, Gillian went on to the Royal Ballet and into musical theater history. A few decades later, she’s a multimillionaire; her productions have given pleasure to millions; and she’s a legend in her field.

But what if her mother hadn’t found the right doctor?

Creativity expert Sir Kenneth Robinson says our education system does the opposite of what Gillian Lynne was so fortunate to find. Instead of organizing around individual flourishing, we have standardized testing. Instead of cultivating creativity and acknowledging multiple types of intelligence, we’re educated to become good workers. This structure alienates many students.

More than 34 million people have watched Robinson’s TedTalk, “Do Schools Kill Creativity” since its release in June 2006. As your daughters head back to school nearly a decade later, we encourage you to check it out below and join the conversation.

Aside from high dropout rates, how exactly do schools stamp out creativity? Here are a handful of reasons according to Robinson:

  1. They’re industrialized. Robinson says schools look like factories – not there to identify what individuals can do, but looking to identify things to which they can conform. “We separate people by age, it’s a very linear process, very focused on certain types of outcome. And standardized testing is the grand example of the industrial method of education.”

According to Robinson, this is toxic for students and schools need to organize instead around helping individuals find the disciplines that most motivate them. This requires a shift from standardization to personalization.

  1. They create a hierarchy of subjects. Robinson says that we privilege some subjects — like math— over others — like dance — and doing so stifles creativity. “At the top are mathematics and languages, then the humanities, and the bottom are the arts,” he says. “Everywhere on Earth.” And there’s even a hierarchy within the arts, with fine art and music above drama and dance.
  1. Classes are rigidly timed. Schools hem to a strict schedule. “If you live in a world where every lesson is 40 minutes, you immediately interrupt the flow of creativity,” Robinson says. Kids need to learn that feeling “stuck” is part of solving problems, and it takes time to get unstuck when you’re reasoning through calculus or putting together a play. That layout jibes with the latest in education research: cognitive science shows that the harder it is to learn something, the better you remember it.

For more on Robinson, check out his new book, “The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything”, &/or his other TedTalks, “Changing Education Paradigms”, “Bring on the Learning Revolution!”, and “How to Escape Education’s Death Valley”.

What Do You Think?

“There isn’t an education system on the planet that teaches dance every day to children the way we teach them mathematics,” Robinson says. “Why? Why not? I think this is rather important. I think math is very important, but so is dance. Children dance all the time if they’re allowed to, we all do. We all have bodies, don’t we? Did I miss a meeting? Truthfully, what happens is, as children grow up, we start to educate them progressively from the waist up.”

As a result, there are few Gillian Lynnes in the world, but there’s a surplus of MBAs…

Now, we’d love your take on this. Specifically…

As we grow up, do we lose our imagination and creativity? Why? Does the education system strip us of our originality and individuality? Does this society condemn mistakes? Does our education put us under the pressure to reach a certain ideal?

Please share your thoughts and ideas directly in the comments below. Thank you very much for reading, watching, and sharing your creative genius!

xoxo

Lindsey