by Chris | May 18, 2018 10:15 am
Creativity is a powerful tool. It has been the root of all modernization, leading to some of the world’s most influential creations, from the wheel to the iphone. Those creative bursts of imagination are diminishing as the United States educational system has focused on standardized testing, which has led to higher test scores, but which some experts contend results in a decline in creativity.
EHS students have mixed opinions about the increased attention on standardized testing and preparation, with the majority of students responding to a poll on the topic saying a balanced approach is the best way to structure classes.
“I definitely think we need to have preparation for standardized tests so that students have the possibility of higher education,” sophomore Lexi Gilbert said. “But I think students are forced to strive for perfection which I think puts a lot of pressure on students who don’t do well on standardized tests. ”
Education scholars Sir Ken Robinson and Diane Ravitch have concluded that the current focus in schools has caused a detrimental effect on student’s creativity. Robinson, an international adviser on education, spoke about the issue in a TED talk.
“The national schooling system follows a hierarchy of subjects. At the top are the maths and languages, then the humanities, and at the very bottom are the arts,” Robinson said.
EHS Principal Dan Radicia said Elkhorn wants students to explore all areas of the curriculum.
“We respect the arts,” Radicia said. “We encourage our students to be well rounded so that their creativity doesn’t suffer. (Students) are not the sum total of a four hour test. That mark does not represent their entire being.”
The importance of creative thinking isn’t limited to the classroom. Employers are also looking for workers who can apply imagination to their jobs. In 2017, the United States ranked 34th in the Global Creative Index, a measure of the number of people in the creative workforce such as scientists, engineers, and business workers. College professor, Dr. Kyung Hee Kim from College of William and Mary conducted a study from 1984 to 2008 on students of all grade levels to see how creativity levels transformed over the years, according to a 2012 Psychology Today report. Using the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking, Kim found that by 2008 85 percent of students had significantly lower creative thinking scores than in 1984. His conclusion was that creativity in students in the United States is on a steady decline. Scholars like Robinson and Ravitch speculate the cause of the steady decline of creativity in the workforce is related to the current structure of education.
“As far as standardized testing, I think we have decreased the amount of time we’re spending on testing,” Radicia said. “ The preparation for the tests may have increased, but that’s because it’s a pretty high stakes test.”
Radicia said the increased focus on standardized testing has led students to get into a collegiate and career pathway.
“It [standardized testing] measures whether or not students are college and career prepared,” Radicia said. “We’re trying to have students ready for college and career.”
Students responding to an Antler Express poll on creativity said they see value in test preparation and creativity.
“I believe it is impacting the students in some really great ways,” an anonymous responder said. “It gives them the courage to work hard and succeed. It also gives them the feeling of pride when they have finished the test or gotten the results back.”
Ravitch and Robinson are on record stating that standardized testing has benefited students getting into college; however, they also stated it has created stigmatizations within schools that if students don’t perform well on standardized tests or core classes, they’re not intelligent. Robinson discussed the issue in his TED Talk.
“We stigmatize mistakes,” he said “And we’re now running national education systems where mistakes are the worst thing you can make, and the result is that we are educating people out of their creative capacities. If our children are not prepared to be wrong, [they] will never come up with anything original.” Robinson said.
The fear of making mistakes, means students can become reluctant to take classes that could expose them to new talents or new subjects where they could learn and grow from their mistakes.
“A lot of students are scared to take an art class because they think it [the artwork] will look bad, but students don’t need to be so nervous,” art teacher Maddie Hutt said.
EHS teachers are aware of the issues our national education system faces and have ways to adapt class structure to evoke imaginative skills.
“I give kudos to the Nebraska Department of Education because the new science standards are very much skill and performance based,” chemistry teacher Ashley Rasmussen said. “When you’re allowing students to perform, you’re opening that door to creativity.”
Standardized testing performance and creativity are relevant educational elements that need to be instilled in student’s minds.
“When I hand a student a diploma, I want it to mean they are a well-rounded, thoughtful, caring, conscientious student,” Radicia said. “Someone that has a lot of gifts and has received a balanced education.”
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