Creativity in education

This article was interesting to me because it brought back quite a few thoughts reguarding my own personal education. From the very beginning of the paper, I liked "the sheer volume of facts to be digested by the students of today" made me laugh. There are so many things we learned (and relearned throughout the years), it's interesting to think that this volume of information is why there wasn't time for creativity.

"The result has been a generation of technicians rather than visionaries." I only have one thing that I would like to say about this, and that is that I agree.

There are a few things I'd like to add reguarding the ideas about what creatvity in education "should" be. The things that stick out to me include
(1) thinking or behaving imaginatively in a purposeful way to generate somthing original and of value. (My thoughts: does one need to create somthing "original or of value" to be creative?)
(2) Having a creative classroom means that the teacher takes risks on a daily basis and encourages the students to do the same. (My thoughts: creative classrooms shouldn't be just about taking riskes, there is much more to it than that. Not to mention, taking risks on a daily basis could be harmful to teacher or student. Also, students wouldn't learn importance of being cautious if they took risks ALL the time.)
(3) A school system that recognizes that learning is natural, and a love of learning is normal (My thoughts: I beleive this is incredibly important. I think if kids learn early on to like school/learning they will do so much better in life. I base this conclusion on my eight cousins, the two who learned to like learning previous to attending school have done much better and actually enjoy school.)
(4) values questions above answers, creativity above fact, individuality above uniformity, and excellence above standardized performance. (My thoughts: It's hard to imagine a class that values creativity above fact and questions above answers. It reminds me of one class that I took in high school. It was a history class but the teacher didn't beleive in memorizing dates and such, but instead in remembering concepts and ideas. Tests wern't typical history tests, but intead covered ideas and such. Also, another way this sits with me was about excellence above standardized performance. I'm not exactly proud of this but I've never strived for excellence in school, but seem to know exactly what to do to acheive a solid 3.7 gpa, but never work any harder than necessacary. If the school had recognized excellence rather than expecting only normal performance, I may have gotten more out of school other than only floating along.)

The difference between teaching creativity and teaching for creativity. In my personal experience, my teachers taught creativity but rarely did they teach for creativity.

The quote about the kindergartener failing art because he refused to color inside the lines shocked and angered me because who can forcing a kid to color inside the lines help anyone? I remember when my cousin Rebekah's other grandparents wouldn't let her color anymore because she couldn't stay in the lines and didn't use the "right" colors. I found this to be so angering. Rebekah and I often colored together and I taught her more about art then most kids twice her age knew. For someone to tell her she couldn't color because she didn't do it "right" made me angry.

To sum up the rest of the writing, I beleive that if I had kids I would want them to be raised in this kind of creative education environment.

Harpers

My first thoughts are: holy cow that was long. Towards the end, it was definitly loosing my attention. However, I do have to say it was much easier reading than previous things. However, I do have quite a bit to day about it. Starting with part I: As lite entertainment for bored college students. I though this was mildly funny, thinking of liberal education as lite entertainment. I think it greatly sums up his ideas though.

His first point that caught my attention was "I don't teach to amuse, to divert, or even, for that matter, to be merely interesting...I want some of them to say that they've been changed by the course." This sparked a thought that I've never given a second glance. I have long why teachers teach, even back in elemetary school. I remember being quite young and wondering why some teachers even wanted to teach because it seemed that they had no will to be there. However, I have never really thought about what teachers wish to get out of class.

The author beleives that americans are "devoted to consumption and entertainment" and they lack a passion to learn. I can relate this to myself, I feel that I am in college/school in general to gain a degree, but not because I actually want to learn.

There were many points about how most "students seem desperate to blend in, to look right" and that "this is a culture tensely committed to a laid-back norm." I would agree with this, it seems today that even those who wish to be indiviuals or unique emminate a perticular style. They are trying to be different from the norm by fitting in with an exisiting group, for example goths. They wish to be different by fitting into this preexisting group, thus trying to blend in.

Another point that resonated with me was "it's my generation of parents who sheltered these students, kept them away from the hard knocks of everyday life, making them cautious and over fragile, who demaded that their teachers, from grade school on, flatter them endlessly so that the kids are shocked if their college profs don't reflexively suck up to them." I can empathize with both sides of this. On one side, obviously I was raised by these "overprotective" parents. However, my parents never expected my teachers to coddle me, they expected me to earn my teacher's approval. This means that I see those students around me in class who are guinuely shocked when teacher's don't spoil them. Personally, I think these people need to grow up.

I think it was interesting that he said that universities are constantly upgrading and updating their schools to attract the "best" which he defines as the smartest and richest. Considering the examples were new dorms and gyms, and UNC has done both of these in the past year alone, it was interesting to contemplate if they were doing this just to attract the richer students.

Also, somthing else that I haven't thought much of was how the humanities majors are becoming increasingly less popular, therefore they are softening their grades and relaxing requirements in order to attract more students. This made me wonder if the less popular degrees really are "easier" to obtain. And does this really attract people to these majors?
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While the author makes a great number of other valuable and interesting points, we're going to skip on to II. As a weapon in the hands of the restless poor. Personally, I found this to be less relevent to me, and therefore less interesting... but it contained valid points none the less.

The author created a type of school in responce to a prisonor's belief that the "moral life of downtown" was the problem and that "no one could step out of the panicking circumstance of poverty directly into the public world." I think this is best explained by his speech given at the beginning of the class. This was "You've been cheated," I said. "Rich people learn the humanities; you didn't. The humanitites are a foundation for getting along in the world, for thinking, for learning..." He went on to say how humanities will make you rich, but in terms of life, not money. Also, they paid the student's subway fare, took care of their kids, fed them, but in exchange, they would make them think harder than ever before.

A final thought on this reading was the very end, when it showed that the school worked fantastically. Most of the grads were in college, the rest working full time.



One of her points was about how catelogs and college websites use to have pictures of professors in classrooms and now they are all of students living without adults around and a resort life style. These are some pics from UNC's website.

Pantoum: I hope you know

I hope you know that I love you
Forever yours I’ll be
We've struggled in the past, but
A happy ending awaits us still

Forever yours I’ll be
We haven’t had the easiest time but
A happy ending awaits us still
Because you restored my faith

We haven’t had the easiest time but
When we met, it was love at first sight
Because you restored my faith
That love can be enough

When we met, It was love at first sight
You showed me a new world and made be believe
That love can be enough
Strong enough to overcome all

You showed me a new world and made me believe
I was important,
Strong enough to overcome all
We were meant to be

I was important,
I was yours and you were mine
We were meant to be
Nothing could come between us

I was yours and you were mine
Together, we could accomplish anything
Nothing could come between us
We created a new home, a new life

Together, we could accomplish anything
We were inseparable
We created a new home, a new life
But we rushed

We were inseparable
Stuck together
But we rushed
Built our house before the foundation was solid

Stuck together
Reality hit, we’d
Built our house before the foundation was solid
And it came crashing down

Reality hit, we’d
Rushed into this
And it came crashing down
Neither of us were ready

Rushed into this
Unprepared were we
Neither of us were ready
To commit, to care for another

Unprepared were we
You wanted to be free, not
To commit, to care for another
I was lost, hurt and confused

You wanted to be free, not
To love me
I was lost, hurt and confused
When you told me to leave

To love me
It was too much
When you told me to leave
You shoved me back into the world alone

It was too much
I couldn’t handle the pain, the loss
You shoved me back into the world alone
And I became lost in the dark

I couldn’t handle the pain, the loss
Days bleed into weeks
And I became lost in the dark
I thought about you and cried myself to sleep

Days bleed into weeks
I’d lost my will to carry on
I thought about you and cried myself to sleep
Nothing mattered anymore, No one understood

I’d lost my will to carry on
I was told that time would heal all, but I didn’t believe it
Nothing mattered anymore, No one understood
I floated on in a deep fog

I was told that time would heal all, but I didn’t believe it
Time went on
I floated on in a deep fog
And eventually things started to look up

Time went on
I started to get out of bed again
And eventually things started to look up
I met new friends, found a new job

I started to get out of bed again
The fog was fading and sunshine coming back
I met new friends, found a new job
But there was still something missing

The fog was fading and the sunshine coming back
Life was worth living again
But there was still something missing
You still found your way into my dreams

Life was worth living again
I never forgot you
You still found your way into my dreams
My heart was still yours

I never forgot you
Even after meeting other guys
My heart was still yours
Even though I knew you’d never come back

Even after meeting other guys
I dreamed of the day you’d call
Even though I knew you’d never come back
I still love you

I dreamed of the day you’d call
How I longed to hear you say
I still love you
Time went by without a word

How I longed to hear you say
You wanted me back
Time went by without a word
Then I couldn’t believe what I was hearing

You wanted my back
You loved me still
Then I couldn’t believe what I was hearing
On the phone when you called me that day

You loved me still
My heart was about to burst
On the phone when you called me that day
I couldn’t stop laughing, couldn’t stop crying

My heart was about to burst
Every emotion pulsed through my body
I couldn’t stop laughing, couldn’t stop crying
You’d come back to me

Every emotion rushed through my body
I was ecstatic, yet livid with anger
You’d come back to me
I didn’t know what to do, what to think

I was ecstatic, yet livid with anger
You’d hurt me more than ever before
I didn’t know what do to, what to think
Trust was lost, and it’s not earned back easily

You’d hurt me more than ever before
What would stop you from leaving again?
Trust was lost, and it’s not earned back easily
My head told me to run, but my heart wanted you badly

What would stop you from leaving again?
You promised to stay and make things right
My head told me to run, but my heart wanted you badly
Even through all of the anger, my love was still strong

You promised to stay and make things right
I agreed to give you a second chance
Even through all of the anger, my love was still strong
We were always meant to be together

I agreed to give you a second chance
Neither of us take this lightly
We were always meant to be together
But starting over isn’t going to be easy

Neither of us take this lightly
We shared our feelings about the past
But starting over isn’t going to be easy
Neither of us are going to giving up

We shared our feelings about the past
It will take a long time to forgive
Neither of us are going to giving up
Our happy ending is still out there

It will take a long time to forgive
We’ve struggled in the past, but
Our happy ending is still out there
I hope you know how much I love you

Poetry

While both of these readings are mainly "how to" articles about writing poetry, they each have their own ideas, tips, and necesities on writing poetry.

In Mary Oliver's A Poetry Handbook, she starts out by comparing writing poetry to a romantic experience, similar to the story of Romeo & Juliet. I found this really interesting, it is a connection I have never made, though it is one that that makes a lot of since. The idea that writing without the ambition to write well is only "flirting" with writing was interesting to me. I am definitly not someone who writes very poetically or artisticly, and I've never really had the ambition to change this. According to this author, I will never do more than flirt with writing. It's an odd thought, though it is one that I agree with. My writing not be the best, but it is somthing that I enjoy doing. However, I write for my own satisfaction, not for somthing to show anyone else, so I feel that my current "relationship" with it is okay.

To get back on topic from that little tangent, the writer also points out that there has never been so many opportunities to get published as a poet, which is interestingly true. I think we take for granted all the opportunities we have today that people in the past would have loved. Today, a poet (or a singer or photographer for that matter) has opportunities that people in the past could only have dreamed of. You don't need to be rich or from a "good" family to become reputable.

This writer also beleives that to write well, one must read many, many examples of all types of poems. Imitating well written poems can help inspiring writers to become better as well.

When it comes to the "sound" section of this writing, I found some things to be interesting (such as w can sometimes be a vowel???) but most it went well over my head. I understand what she is trying to say about the sounds and feelings of different letters, though I would never know where to begin to use this. These concepts make since, and peak my interest slighly, though I don't know that I would ever think about it enough to make these concepts useful in my writing.


Housman's TheName and Nature or Poetry, had some different, yet equally interesting ideas. To me, this reading felt less like a "how to" paper and more like a history of interesting facts of poetry. The first thing this author pointed out was that the four old english poets were all mad. He then suggests that perhaps intellect can actually hinder good poetry. This reminded me of our class discussion on Einstein's creative process. He too thought that creativity came in a mind state that acutally comes before thought.

In this reading, another interesting idea was that poetry can be even better if it lacks meaning. I'm not sure if this was the exact point the author was trying to get across, but that's what I think he ment when he said, "That mysterious grandeur would be less grand if it were less mysterious."

There is one poem excert that I perticulary like. That is:
"Sorrow, that is not sorrow, but delight;
And miserable love, that is not pain
To hear of, for the glory that redounds
Therefrom to human kind we are."

Rapoport's "Women who lost her names" and Kingsolver's Covered Bridges

First, Rapoport's short story The Woman Who Lost Her Names was (to the best of my knowledge) about a woman Sarah Josephine. In school she was called Sally and later her husband told her she had to change her name in order for them to be married. I'm not quite sure if she did, or if she just simply went by her middle name, Yosef.
When she was young, she was warned by her mother to "remember who you are and you'll have yourself. No matter what else you loose-." She fell in love, moved to Jerusalem and had children. The story ends with her and her husband arguing over the name of the daughter. The wife picks out a beautiful name while the husband feels it is their duty to name it somthing else. I felt this story ended abruptly and it seems that there should be more to it.

Barbara Kingsolver's Covered Bridges is about a couple in their late 30's, trying to decide whether or not to have a baby. They decide to try out being parents by "borrowing" a friend's baby girl. Things are not going to well for the would be parents when the woman suffers from anaphylactic shock and the husband saves her life. They decide parenting may not be for them, but the husband knows how important it is to his wife.

Albert Einstein's Letter To Jacques Hadamard...and the Creative Process

My first reaction was that this confused me. I wish I knew better what the questions being asked were. Also, me and old english aren't a good combination because it confuses and frustrates me quite a bit. So after several tries at reading it...this is what I have to say.

His answers (A) through (D) seem to be answering similar questions. I could be way off base here but I would think he is using "elements" to refer to words or language. These elements have no meaning but must be made meaningful in order for there to be productive thought and communication.

Asside from that, I think that in part (E), he is saying that it isn't possible for a human to be fully conscious. I have actually been hearing alot about this idea lately as it is the idea of some religous persons to be fully conscious throught meditation...But thats going off on a tangent.

Some more obvious things that I can gather from this is that Einstein is writing to Hadamard to answer some questions and that he is not fully satisfied with his own answers.

I hope to learn more about what Einstein is talking about in class or the blogs of others.


Now... On to The Creative Process. I don't know why but the author of this peice seemed incredibly annoying to me. It serves him right to find a fondness for paintng after detesting it for so long. That's exactly whey you should never say never. Also, he seems to over analyze everything, and not in a good way, but in the annoying "we get it already!" way.

I also disagree with him about painting and making pictures. Unlike him, I beleive the two are one in the same. However, I like when he says a picture is equal to the amount of life you put into it. I also think art classes do not hinder artists, and just because somthing is painted from a still life or model, that doesn't make it any less art.

After taking art classes myself, this peice evoked quite a bit of negative emotion, due to my natural flight or fight reaction, and obviously I feel I choose to "fight."

Art Gallery

I'm not exactly sure what to say about the "Currents" gallery. I thought that most of the work in it was really nice. My favorite peice was the one that imediately caught my idea when I walked in. It was the large one in the corner of the two men wearing the gas masks. I'm sorry, I cannot remember the name or artists. I loved how it seemed very realistic but at the same time had a very nice abstractness in the gas mask tubes (if thats what their called...?).

It is hard to beleive that some of the paintings were infact paintings and not photographs, which is somthing that I personaly love. I have tried to paint somthing that realistic (not sucessfully) and it never fails to amaze me.

I also watched the video playing in the back room. This wasn't somthing that I necessacarily was interested in, but it was well done, though seeing much of the same dance outside of my high school, and in movies, it wasn't incredibly interesting.

Definitions

Creativity: The dictionary definiton defines creativity as the "ability to create" and/or the "quality of being creative". I beleive that creativity isn't just having the ability to create, but using it as well. Using your mind and body to make somthing. This can obviously be in many many forms: drawing, painting, scultping, acting, dancing, ect. These are all creative. So, I beleive I could define creativity as using oneself to make something else. I beleive that much art can evoke feelings or thoughts in others, and some of it has meanings or hidden meanings. However, this is not required. I beleive some things that I paint don't always mean anything, but they are still creative to me.

Imagination: Imagination is using one's mind to think or imagine something. Imagnination can take you places that realtiy cannot go. Books and movies can take a person to alternate realtities in the same way that a person's imagination can do.

Culture: Culture is a way of life. It includes everything that people do and say, how they live, the things they include in their daily lives. The traditions celebrated and food eaten, the movies and art people choose to surround themselves with. Culture is different around the world. Even driving to another city or state can be a completely different culture.