3642. Do Schools Kill Creativity (Again)?

 I have found apparently very plausible postulates from two education aces which seem – only seem – incompatible. 

They both are Spanish education aces, Gerardo Castillo and Gregorio Luri. And they do know a lot on educating our students, both in theory and in practice. 

Castillo puts, in a book about fifteen world geniuses, that schools, or better said, teachers should foster and promote their students’ creativity. Namely Isaac Newton, Thomas A. Edison, Antonio Gaudí, John Ford, Joan Miró, Alfred Hitchcock, Steve Jobs, well, they were considered as bad students (!). 

Gerardo Castillo says that it was like schools systems were possibly boring for those geniuses when they were schoolboys. 

Thus that education expert says that creativity should be fostered at school, or some creativity should be thus fostered at schools, together with regular set education. Anyway, let’s note that creativity stroke. 

In the meanwhile another education expert – I believe they both are – namely Gregorio Luri puts that explicit and set instruction should be given to our kids at school, and creativity will be developed and built up upon that already set knowledge. 

So it’s like one of them said that yes for creativity and the other said set knowledge should be given to our kids, plus let’s not much believe in those people who say a big yes for creativity. Is it much of some controversy between those two education experts? Creativity against no creativity? 

Well, most of you readers might guess the same I have concluded. I’m trying and giving a synthesis of both experts about which I have read quite much. Let’s see. 

Perhaps something we can do in our schools is giving established instruction to our kids plus whilst that knowledge is given to them, let’s allow that creativity. Each teacher, on his or her real teaching development over time, has to look for that setting established knowledge and taken from our common cultural treasures, and at the same time they will foster our kids would feel free to create. 

So as to finish, I’d like to report about two kids, two examples, of boys who used to write stories on their own. Well, you know, I think they created those adventures BY taking from what they already knew and had lived, and from that amount of sources they created those nice stories. Have a nice day.