Does Education kill creativity?

What is creativity?

Creativity can be described in many ways. The Oxford Dictionary definition of creativity is ‘the use of imagination or original ideas to create something’ (Crowther, 1993). Whilst Robert E. Franken defines it as the tendency to not only generate new ideas, but to also recognise ideas and create alternatives or possibilities that may be helpful in certain situations including problem solving, communicating with others and entertaining ourselves and others (2007).

Image sourced from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ebenezar-wikina/worldslargestlesson-my-st_b_8281898.html

Does education kill creativity?

English author and international advisor on education in the arts, Sir Ken Robinson, often speaks about the relationship between creativity and education. In his TEDTalks (2007), Robinson describes his theory as to how people are educated out of creativity rather than growing into it. He believes that all children have extraordinary capacities for innovation and every individual has a talent, however the current education system squanders these potential skills.

In his talk, he describes the current education system as old fashioned, pre-dating back to the 19th Century and the height of industrialism when it was formed to suit the needs at the time. He makes a case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity for young people.

After watching Robinson’s talk, one can’t help but agree with the vast majority of points he makes in regards to education squandering creativity. As Robinson mentioned, current teaching methods still focus on maths, science & English as the primary pillars of our formal education, with all schools classing these as compulsory subjects to a certain age. Although one agrees with these being a necessity at a young age, as it is the belief that literacy and numeracy are essential, More and more people now both believe and agree that creativity is just as important as should be treated with the same status.

Linking this to the development of websites

But how does link to the development of an online portfolio both for personal and client usage? Well first and foremost, the creativity aspect of a design is fundamental. Without creativity there cannot be any generating of new ideas, therefore meaning the online website will not stand out, and henceforth receive no form of online traffic.

References

Crowther, J. (1993). Oxford advanced learner's encyclopedic dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Franken, R. (2007). Human motivation. Australia: Thomson/Wadsworth.

The Huffington Post. (2016). [online] Available at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ebenezar-wikina/worldslargestlesson-my-st_b_8281898.html [Accessed 2 Feb. 2016].

Robinson, K. (2007). Do Schools Kill Creativity? | Sir Ken Robinson | TED Talks. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY [Accessed 15 Feb. 2016].

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