Do Schools Kill Creativity?

While watching and listening to Sir Ken Robinson's TED talk about how schools may be killing creativity, I kept thinking back to this image that I found somewhere during my many hours browsing different boards on Pinterest:

Although these words may not have actually come from Albert Einstein himself (since the internet seems to be flooded with alleged Einstein quotes), the overall message is very similar to that of Sir Ken Robinson's TED talk. 

In the TED talk, Sir Ken Robinson says that he believes that in education, creativity should be treated the same as literacy and given an equal amount of importance. However, as many of us know from our own experiences in school (which was not that long ago in the grand scheme of things), this is not the case. We know that there is generally more emphasis put on math and language arts than the other subject areas and that subjects such as art, music and physical education are often seen as the least important. 

Not only are these subject areas given a greater deal of attention, students are often told what to do and how to do it when it comes to assigned work. For example, I can remember being told to write a poem about a given topic in language arts. Writing poetry was something that I ALWAYS hated doing because I found it difficult to say what I wanted to say and also make it rhyme with the previous line or sentence. Although I am aware that not all poetry has to rhyme, most of the poems we were told to write included rhyming as one of the criteria. Maybe if I had been given the option to choose what subject I would like to write a poem about, or choose how I would like to write about a given subject, my final product would be better. This is just one example of how I believe my own creativity may have been "killed" in school. 

Another experience that came to mind when watching this video was something that happened to my boyfriend while he was taking a math course here on campus. He was struggling with some of the content in the course and decided to get a tutor. His tutor began teaching him different methods for working out the problems and told him "tricks" (for lack of a better word) for making finding the solutions easier. After a few tutoring sessions, he felt as though he had already made a great deal of progress with the content. However, when he got his next test back, the prof had put a HUGE line through the first page (that also ripped through the second and third pages) with a red pen and left a note saying "this is not what I taught you in class". Although he had found the correct answers to the problems, the prof would not accept any other method than his own as being correct. 

Just as Sir Ken Robinson said in the video, all children are talented in some way. In particular, the part of the video where he talks about Shakespeare as a child explains this idea perfectly. In my opinion, there are too many standards that teachers expect children to conform to. A child who sits in their desk, quietly completing the work that was assigned by the teacher is often seen as the ideal student. However, we know that not all children learn in the same way - there are many different learning styles. Just as the picture above suggests, we cannot judge every child and expect them to all be successful in the same task. It is for this reason that I believe it is very important to cater to the different learning styles and promote creativity within the classroom. 

In a subject that is often seen as having right and wrong answers, I think it is important for us as future teachers to allow students to be creative within the subject of mathematics. Although this task seems very difficult right now (to me, anyways), I trust that how to do this will become clearer throughout the semester as we continue to learn about math in today's classes. As Sir Ken Robinson states in the video, the world is ever changing and we have no idea what the world will be like in ten, even five years. We have no right to deem mathematics and language arts as more important than the other subject areas, including the arts that are often seen as less important. Math, which is often considered "boring" by students, and it is up to us as future educators to teach it in creative ways that will be engaging to the students. 

That's all for now! :) 

- Cheryl 

Math Autobiography

I don't remember a whole lot about my experiences with mathematics during my years in primary/elementary school. Number charts and times tables were posted on the walls in almost all of my classrooms and manipulatives such as base ten blocks and money kits were made available to us as well. In the second grade, as a class, we would count to one hundred each morning either by ones, twos, fives or tens - something I can remember enjoying. We would also have a mental math quiz each week, where we would have to write down the answer to an equation that the teacher would say out loud. Sometimes these quizzes would be timed and we would have to finish as many questions as possible within a given time limit. Although I am not sure why, these specific experiences from grade two seem to be all I remember until grades five and six, when math concepts were taught in class and additional examples were assigned from the textbook for practice. 

One of the best memories I have that involves math is when I was chosen for enrichment programs in the elementary grades. Once a week, the students who were participating in the enrichment program were taken from class and taught different concepts that were different from what the rest of the class was learning. One program that I remember doing was about Roman numerals. We learned how to convert our own number system into Roman numerals and did equations using them as well. The opportunity to participate in enrichment programs kept me interested in math throughout the elementary grades. Although I obviously didn't realize it at the time, this was a way for my teachers to address the various learning needs and ability levels of the students in the class. 

Growing up, I always considered myself to be good at math. I was always interested in learning and enjoyed doing the course work and homework. I guess I knew I was good at math because I didn't have to put in any of the extra work that some of my friends had to. Math was always one of my best marks on report cards and as I mentioned earlier, I participated in math enrichment programs during elementary school. My interest in math continued into junior high and high school, right up until I became a university student.

I never really thought much about how my teachers felt about mathematics. Looking back on primary and elementary school, I can only remember my teachers having a positive attitude towards teaching math. If they didn't like teaching it, they didn't show it (and if they did show it, I certainly didn't notice).

For the most part, tests and in-class assignments seemed to be the most common form of assessment throughout my school experience. From primary right up until grade twelve, math tests were frequent and heavily weighted. Open book in-class assignments were common before tests in junior high and high school. Aside from these two types of assessment, I don't really remember there being any other kind. 

As I mentioned earlier, I loved math right up until I became a student here at Memorial. I developed a great relationship with one of my math teachers in high school and it was him who encouraged me to attend MUN when I wasn't sure where I wanted to attend or what I wanted to do in post secondary. Although I received good marks and even took advanced math in high school, I did not feel prepared for the math that I was faced with once I started my first semester of university. 

Here at MUN, I have taken Math 1090, 1050 and 1051. Unfortunately, I failed 1090 in my first semester and felt so discouraged that I didn't bother to retake it. I remember going into my 60% final with a 78 average in the course - somehow I managed to come out of the course with a 45. I have yet to regain enough confidence to retake the course to improve my mark. Having to complete more than ten math assignments throughout the semester for less than ten percent of your final grade was another thing that turned me from taking any additional math courses here at MUN. 

Despite the negative experiences that I have experienced at university, I still love math. Although I have no desire to take another math course on campus (unless I redo 1090), I still use math and have a strong understanding of many of the concepts. I still see it as one of the most important subjects in the school's curriculum and really enjoy having the opportunity to tutor two students (grade 2 and grade 9) in mathematics. I am looking forward to the rest of the semester and am excited to learn more about the teaching of mathematics.