“They” say that every child is born with the ability to sing beautifully, but through years of criticism and snide comments, that natural ability is slowly erased. By the time we reach adulthood, most of us can’t carry a tune, or confine our singing strictly to the shower. The same can be said about dancing, drawing…basically performing.
The other day, as T and I were running some errands (i.e. mom’s nightly Timmie’s run), I asked him if his school held dances. You probably remember this wonderful rite of passage….girls on one side of the gym, boys on the other. And if anyone was brave enough to cross that boundary, you slowed danced at arm lengths.
Anyways, he replied with “no, but I can’t dance so I wouldn’t go even if they did.” I found this kind of disturbing, because if you know me you know that I love to dance! I won’t be on “So you think you can dance” anytime soon, but I think I do a good job of moving my arms and legs in a somewhat coordinated fashion. Kinda like this.....(no need to watch the whole thing, you'll get my point pretty quickly)
And I don't care.
What was I talking about? Oh right....later that evening, we were cruising down memory lane, watching some old home videos, and who do I see but my sweet little “T” at the tender age of 4 bustin a move. He was dancing and moving around in such a free and natural way. And he clearly didn’t care who was watching him. Somewhere between the age of 4 and 12, “T” got the message that he couldn’t dance. How does this happen?
If you have a free minute, watch Sir Ken Robinson’s speech on creativity in schools or rather lack of. Riveting stuff!
Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity | Video on TED.com
His message is pretty much bang on. During the 12 years that kids are in school, we slowly wean out the creativity and replace it with robotic thinking and a fear of being wrong. Just look at how the curriculum is broken down: mandatory 90 minutes of literacy a day, 60 minutes of mathematics and just 30 minutes per week of art (whether it is drama, dance, visual arts or music - only 1 period per week to cover the arts). We tell the kids to be walk quietly through the halls, raise your hand, follow the rules, stand in a straight line, don’t pick your nose…. ok maybe that last one is a good thing. With the exception of recess, students are told over and over again, stay in the box and you’ll succeed.
The underlying message is crystal clear - creativity will get you nowhere in life. We’ve all heard about the “starving artist”, but how many times have you heard of the “starving banker, starving lawyer or starving CEO.” Even worse, is that if you show just a glimpse of “out of the box thinking”, you’re automatically categorized with the vegan, far left, tree hugger types (not that there is anything wrong with “those” people)
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not advocating that we scrap reading and math and replace it with group chanting of Kumbaya. But what’s wrong with adding some groove into the daily grind. Why are we striving to mass produce cookie-cutter kids?
Sir Robinson said it so eloquently: “if you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original.” We live in a society that views mistakes as a life-ending event, a terrible flaw in need of immediate correction. But if we take a step back and look at some of the greatest inventions ever, we’ll see some pretty successful mistakes -Penicillin, Velcro, and my favorite - the potato chip, just to name a few.
So I’m on a freakin mission to bring back some groove and creativity into the classroom. I belt out O’Canada every morning (don’t worry, the kids have grown accustom to their bleeding ears!) I try my best at painting, drawing, and sculpting. I even have plans to teach a dance/rhythm lesson next week (sorry if you just had coffee/beverage of choice come out your nose) Even more impressive is that I’ll do it without the help of “liquid courage!”
I’ve quickly figure out that I don’t want to produce a whole class of mini-Jenn’s (thank God too, cause that would be just plain scary!) I want the kids to see that you can fun being creative, and bopping to the beat. I want them to take chances and risks (academically - I don’t want them to have a starring role in Jackass) . If they can think on their own and question the status quo even better!
By being creative and innovative in my teaching, I hope that I pass on a love of learning and exploration. Maybe then, in 2040, one of my students will accidently create a viable fuel out of water or solve world peace. Even better, they might become teachers themselves and continue my message of groovin!
With this in mind, I've decided to assign my first homework assignment to all my dear blog followers. You're mission is to crank some great music and dance like theres no tomorrow. It can be anything - AC/DC, Justin Bieber, Elvis, 50cent, whatever, just go out there and get your groove on!
Have a wonderful weekend!
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