Monday, July 19, 2010

Creativity

Have you read Newsweek's article on the Creativity Crisis?

If not, you should.


These are a few quotes from the article that struck me:

1. "The correlation to lifetime creative accomplishment was more than three times stronger for childhood creativity than childhood IQ." (when discussing a creativity assessment developed by Paul Torrance.)

2. "Yet there is one crucial difference between IQ and CQ scores. With intelligence, there is a phenomenon called the Flynn effect—each generation, scores go up about 10 points. Enriched environments are making kids smarter. With creativity, a reverse trend has just been identified and is being reported for the first time here: American creativity scores are falling." (this falling trend began in 1990).

3. " A recent IBM poll of 1,500 CEOs identified creativity as the No. 1 “leadership competency” of the future."

4. "Around the world, though, other countries are making creativity development a national priority. In 2008 British secondary-school curricula—from science to foreign language—was revamped to emphasize idea generation, and pilot programs have begun using Torrance’s test to assess their progress. The European Union designated 2009 as the European Year of Creativity and Innovation, holding conferences on the neuroscience of creativity, financing teacher training, and instituting problem-based learning programs—curricula driven by real-world inquiry—for both children and adults. In China there has been widespread education reform to extinguish the drill-and-kill teaching style. Instead, Chinese schools are also adopting a problem-based learning approach."

5. " When faculty of a major Chinese university asked Plucker to identify trends in American education, he described our focus on standardized curriculum, rote memorization, and nationalized testing. “After my answer was translated, they just started laughing out loud,” Plucker says. “They said, ‘You’re racing toward our old model. But we’re racing toward your model, as fast as we can.’ ” "

6. "University of New Mexico neuroscientist Rex Jung has concluded that those who diligently practice creative activities learn to recruit their brains’ creative networks quicker and better. A lifetime of consistent habits gradually changes the neurological pattern."

I have so much to say on all of this that it's far greater than one blog post...

2 comments:

Clix said...

re #5 - grass is allllways greener! ;D

A Phillie Teacher said...

I just blogged about that article! in spite of so much data about the importance of encouraging creativity, US schools insist on lockstep teaching to mandated curriculum and "test taking skills."

Standardized tests designed for "one size fits all" multiple choice actually discourage creative thought.

Makes me worry about our future.