Caston Draper

Before watching

1. Do you think schools kill creativity? Or do they foster creativity? Explain.

I think that the school system doesn’t really have room for creativity, there's always an
outline for how to do something, or a rubric, I’ve found this even in art classes that it's
hard to be completely creative. I’m in HL art which is pretty much the highest level you
can get to, and even in that class the teacher prescribes projects, and a rubric on what's
being graded. I think that the way that teachers teach us not to be creative, a lot of
people say that they aren’t creative but it’s just because they have been taught how to
think, not ways to think. I’ve noticed this also in our english class, like at the beginning of
the year when we had a sub, we were instructed simply to write an essay and people
were confused because they didn’t know if it was supposed to be informative or
argumentative, I’ve noticed that people often want to be told exactly what to do, and
thinking on your own leads to anxiety.

2. Main argument? What examples are being used.

He mentions near the beginning that all kids have talent and we “squander them, pretty
ruthlessly” I think that that is his main argument throughout the video. He also argues
that creativity is as important as literacy.

He uses an example of a boy making something up during a play, he mentions that if a

child doesn’t know something they will try anyways, and that is often taught to be a bad
thing, if you don’t know just don’t try. “If you’re not prepared to be wrong you’ll never
come up with anything original.”

We stigmatize mistakes and think that they are the worst things that you can do
“All children are born artists, the problem is to remain an artist as we grow up.”

The education system was designed around industrialism, so the most useful subjects
for work were taught the most. We have grown from an industrial society but the
education system is pretty much the same as it was back then.

The education system is based on university entrance.

The main argument to the second video is that you can teach creativity, however there is
a way that it must be done.

He thinks that creativity is important in the workforce. He mentions there are no jobs for
human photocopiers that can simply regurgitate information.
He argues that the reason that England is so well off is because of the industrial
revolution which was caused by creative thinkers.
Creative thinking is based on knowledge.

He differs from the first guy in that creativity must be taught, because it is based on
knowledge, while the other guy argues that it is a natural thing that will come on
naturally.

After Watching

1. I think that creativity is anything that will benefit the person, or society, that is new
and never been thought before, or even something that has been thought of
before but has been added to.

2. I think that the way that our current school system operates does do more harm
to creativity than good. I think that we are taught how and what to think and that
is not conducive to creativity, However, I also think that some kind of learning
must be involved to produce creative ideas, because it makes sense that
knowledge is at the root of most creative discoveries. I don’t think that you should
be taught how to be creative, but you should be taught abstract concepts that will
aid your creative endeavors.

3. I don’t think “creativity” should be taught in schools. It’s so difficult to define and
there is no way for it to be taught. Teaching one way to be creative is inherently
uncreative and I think that any way of teaching it would eventually lead to one
way of thinking, and fear of thinking in a different way. Like I mentioned before,
we should be taught abstract concepts that make us think, like the topics in this
class, and not be told how to think about it but be encouraged to respond and
come up with new ideas on a subject. I also think that it is just a fact that some
people are more creative than others, some people are simply better at coming
up with these abstract thoughts, not everyone is capable of being extremely
creative. I think a school environment that doesn’t direct you through every task
and lets you think on your own is more conductive than one who would just
“teach” what it means to be creative.