When we think of education, we often picture a teacher standing in front of the class directing the students. We often place importance on traditional subjects that promote reading, writing and arithmetic. Is this the most effective way of preparing our students for the ‘real world’?
Teachers should be embracing their students’ talents, talents which aren’t necessarily immediately apparent. I am a strong advocate of Sir Ken Robinson, an education and creativity expert, who promotes education that allows students to pursue their own particular talents and passions. The current system in many countries, including Australia, does not allow students to explore their ambitions and talents. As Sir Robinson points out, a teacher in Liverpool had both Paul McCartney and George Harrison in his class, yet didn’t recognise the talent that would one day form half of The Beatles.
Students, with minds like sponges, have great ideas and are full of potential! If, however, we continue to suppress them, as we do through standardised testing, we will never know their talents, passions and potential. Every person learns differently and each has the right to explore their options without feeling they must conform to what society says is the ‘right education’.
As a creative arts teacher in such an innovative college, I ask myself, “What do music and visual arts have in common with football?” There are so many answers to this question:Working collaboratively on a performance task, exploring creativity and critical thinking in composition and drawing, morphing a realistic coastal animal with a viking creature to create a fantasy viking sculpture – a project the students are completing this term. Our students are given the opportunity to explore, enquire, question and experiment through creative arts, ultimately gaining life skills they will use beyond college. Most importantly, creative arts allows students to think ‘outside the box’ and question the unknown, discovering new possibilities.
As Sir Robinson says, if we marginalise students and don’t allow them to discover themselves, we prohibit them from being brilliant!
I encourage all parents and students to investigate further the work of Sir Ken Robinson and discover how each key learning area has the potential to make every student successful.
‘Education systems too narrow’: Sir Ken Robinson
‘The Element, How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything’ by Ken Robinson is a must read for anyone with kids or anyone not doing what they love. Read it!