Compliance.
A quiet line or you’ll move your card.
I’ll give you a sticker if you are quiet and finish this worksheet.
A test to bubble in.
A stringent rubric to follow to ensure a final product that looks like this one.
A standard on the wall so you know what you’ll be learning today.
No matter how we look at it, creativity is just not welcome in most schools, or in the world. It’s not. The world says, “Here’s what I expect,” and creativity strolls in the door like that kid tipping back in their chair, writing their spelling words out of order.
It’s messy. It’s hard to harness. It’s like a flame that flickers. You can never grab a hold of it, nor shape it. But you can cultivate it, provide it oxygen, and breathe life into it by allowing it the space to grow.
Flames need space.
We’re not afraid when we’re born or even when we’re four. We become afraid as school and society trains it out of us. Our desire to create is always there, but we bury it for performance based rewards, points, and compliance. Just as we learned to walk, talk, and ride a bike, we learn how the world works. And we feed the fear.
So how do we change that? We some how have to get our ideas out of the way, provide time for kids to explore, and fan the flames from the side. While the train is rolling, we have to try to change the wheels and jump the track. And it’s not going to be easy, because it’s going to require us to look at the whole idea of what school is, and challenge it. Worse? It’s going to require us to challenge ourselves, and invite fear in.
The only thing scarier? Not challenging ourselves at all. Just status-quoting it all the way through. That’s Freddy Krueger kind of scary when you think about it.
Just as we want every single kid to be a reader, we need every kid to know they are creative and have the confidence to set it free. Music. Painting. Legos. Cardboard. Coding. Poetry. Creative Writing. And so many other possibilities.
Quotes below from Elizabeth Gilbert‘s Facebook Page, author of Big Magic, a book about creativity beyond fear, and a reminder of what learning can become again, not just for a classroom, but for us all.
