Conspiracy of Creativity : Why Sir Ken Robinson could be Wrong ?

Education has been a hot topic for Mankind.  More so

[caption id="attachment_299" align="alignright" width="229" caption="Creativity in Education : why ?"][/caption]

since last few decades. Experts, Government, NGOs, Celebrities, Corporates, Films and even the common man has been talking about Education and the need to transform it.

Clearly, we all see a point - "Education as it is, is not good enough. It must
change." How ? That's still a question of debate and differences.

Many alternative pictures have been suggested by different people.
In this blog, I'd like to focus on one of the strongest movement in educational
reforms today - the inclusion of creativity.

Sir Ken Robinson, creativity expert, talked about it in details in his famous TED
video and book -"Element". Many others have also advocated the idea and  we see a huge focus on inclusion of creativity in schools. A lot of organizations/individuals in Europe, USA are trying hard to make education
more creative. Certainly a happy change. But I'd like to warn against something I
sense.
Sir Ken Robinson, spoke on "How our current education system was primarily designed to feed labor to the Industries, during Industrial revolution ?" He elucidates that our current education system is very much in sync with assembly line and the industrial requirements. Then he proposed more room for creativity in schools.
My question is : Why not more value based or environmental conscious education ? Why not focus on
culture or community based education ?

Why does "Creativity" as a change been readily accepted widely ?

Same Vicious Circle :
I think we are headed towards the same vicious circle. We are propogating and accepting creativity in our education system because that's what our industries need now ! 
Government, corporates have clearly understood the new game of business in 21st century is - creativity ! You've an idea - you can be a billionaire and run a business.

Google was an idea, Facebook was an idea, entire Silicon valley sprung up on creative ideas.

Today our industry survives on "creative ideas". Be it advertising, film making, car manufacturing, software or hardware. Industry is lookin for "creative labor" and we are preparing our education system to provide it.

This is the same vicious circle.

I am not against creativity :

I am not trying to say that inclusion of creativity into our current education system is wrong or not needed. All I am trying to point out to is that perhaps we are heading towards the same mistaken road.

Creativity is essential part of education and it must be fostered. But education must not serve Industry, instead Industries should be based upon education. 

We need a more fundamental shift in education. A radical change in the very objective of education. In my view, Education must aim to empower kids to become a responsible and happy citizens of this planet. Schools must inspire and fuel dreams. Schools should challenge current industry practices and corporate forces if they don't seem right. (Earth is bruised all over, we are still silent) Students should be "Rebels in Making".

Systems Thinking and Biomimicry : Rays of Hope for Education

It's been more than a year that RIPeducation blog has been launched and as mentioned in the objective of this blog - it is about finding loopholes and problems in our current education system while also looking for fundamental,  feasible and effective answers to the problems

For more than a year now, I've been exploring solutions to Education. I've visited several alternative schools and I must admit that I've found rays of hope in many of them.

Many alternative schools are doing great job, but they are working on a very small group and focussing on small sets of problems. For e.g. A school I visited in South India is really doing great job by having environment friendly lifestyle and education. Another institution in Rajasthan is working closely with local community to get the local wisdom and restore the cultural values.

Such attempts at smaller levels to transform education have been made since many decades all across the world. Many people in their own capacity have experimented and offered better ways of learning. Many of them are inspiring and worth studying. However, when it comes to solutions that are scalable and widely applicable, we run out of ideas.

[caption id="attachment_291" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="New hope for education : Systems Thinking and Biomimicry"][/caption]

While its true that there cannot be ONE solution to all our problems in education, I see "Systems thinking" and "Biomimicry" as two very strong rays of hope which can guide us and help us formulate several solutions to our problems in education and problem of education.

Why do I say so ?

Systems thinking and Biomimicry are not methods or direct solution. These are a way of thinking, learning and living.

Systems thinking if simplified simply means :-
1.) Looking at the bigger picture
2.) Striving for fundamental solution instead of symptomatic fixes (short term, quick fixes)
3.) Creating individuals and organizations that continously learn and evolve.

Biomimicry (or as I prefer to call it "Naturics" )  on the other had simply means :-
1.) Having a natural, nature friendly life syle.
2.) Learning and getting inspired from nature.
3.) Co-existing as "one" of several species on this planet.
4.) Aligning our processes and organizations to nature and natural ways.

Although above is a simplification of both, but I think these two discipline can provide the foundation of creating the paradigm shift in education.

If our schools are considered as living organisms with each student and teacher as an important member of the system and all the processes that we follow in schools are re-thought to be more natural (hence human friendly). Don't you think we'll have the batter if not the recipe of a better education ?

How dare you question ? Wern't you schooled ?

[caption id="attachment_271" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Questions must be integral part of schools and learning"][/caption]

I believe that world could be a better place and a lot of our problems could simply be avoided if :-

1.) We had the ability to ask important and fundamental questions.

and,

2.) We saw a possibility of being able to discover the answers to these questions that we find important.

Sounds too simplistic to be a world changing plan ? Perhaps !  But quite often the answers to most complex questions lie in simplicity.

Imagine if each one of us was asking following questions at some point in our life –

1.) Why are we here ? What is our role in the universe ?

2.) What is the significance of life ?

3.) What are various other ways to live life, apart from one that we are told to ?

4.) Do we have any responsibility and if yes then what is our responsibility as Human beings towards other human being, towards other living beings ?

5.) How much wealth or success is really enough ?

6.) What we doing with our lives ?

7.) Why are we the way we are ?

This list can go on. The questions by themselves are unimportant. It is the questioning the fundamentals that matters.

Many of us might dismiss most of above questions as “spiritual, religious” or “Metaphysical” while others might consider them “existential and essential”. This is immaterial. What really matters is that we all “ask” some fundamental questions, some important questions. Not with undertone of “philosophy” or “profoundness” but with sincere longing of discovery for one’s own self, with conviction to understand our world and life better.

Unfortunately, we have stopped questioning systems, beliefs, procedures. We have stopped “questioning” itself. We are too full of answers, pseudo answers while we are empty of real questions.

To question requires thinking, examining. Questioning requires keeping aside our beliefs and looking at things fresh. Questioning activates intelligence. Intelligence supports questioning.

Why have we stopped questioning , asking fundamental questions ? Of many reasons, our current education system stands strongest. Our schools discourage questioning right from childhood. A child by her very nature quite inquisitive but we do all we can to suppress all her questions, especially the important ones. Our text books holds the questions to be asked and the answers to be memorized. A slight deviation and you can be in trouble.

We need to bury the old system that suppresses thinking and questioning and hence makes us unintelligent and create a newer movement where questions are encouraged. Schools should be grounds of asking burning, uncomfortable questions. Teachers should question together, support discoveries. A true schools should be a meeting place of rebels, who dare to ask, question, investigate and commit to find the answers.