Do Schools Kill Creativity? and 1 Digital Media Tool I Use to Encourage Creativity

Sir Ken Robinson’s TED Talk titled, Do Schools Kill Creativity? was thought provoking and very entertaining, but I disagree with the notion that schools kill creativity. The idea of SCHOOLS, meaning all schools, KILLING, meaning extinguish to never have life again, CREATIVITY meaning, all types of creativity, is an extreme concept most likely titled thus to gain viewers.

Robinson never actually says that schools kill creativity, but rather says that, “all kids have tremendous talents. And we squander them, pretty ruthlessly.”  I agree that we do NOT provide a venue for certain talents to be displayed.  Robinson also explains that, “we don't grow into creativity, we grow out of it. Or rather, we get educated out if it.”  This occurs largely because of the value placed on certain subjects over others.  In describing the “hierarchy of subjects,” Robinson says, that “At the top are mathematics and languages, then the humanities, and the bottom are the arts.”  He also explains that there is more value placed on art and music than drama and dance.  I agree with this too. 

When is the talented moto-cross rider supposed to share his talents or develop her skills?  What about the potential video game developer, or stand-up comic?  Have we given them a platform from which to catapult their creativity, or are we telling them to turn off their phone, or sit down and be quiet?  I find it interesting that even in this talk about educating kids out of their creative potential, that the only creativity acknowledged by name and example are the traditional academics and arts.

For many reasons, including a lack of resources, when teachers decide to incorporate creativity into a lesson, it almost always involves drawing.  My students cringe.  They’re smart, so they know that they cannot draw, or even shade, the way their peers can.  In fact, drawing occurs daily or weekly in classes.  So, my students are mortified daily or  weekly.  Illustrate your story or this new concept; draw a symbol to represent your vocabulary, etc.  I also regularly see role-plays and readers’ theater incorporated into language arts and social studies classes.  Rarely are students given the option of creating a rap around a concept, or putting ideas to music, and I have yet to see a teacher assign students to choreograph an interpretive dance representing the solar system, or to compose a montage of dances to represent the various European countries or cultures that settled the 13 colonies.

What about the young person who cannot draw, act, carry a tune, or move to a beat?  Perhaps their talent is solving mathematical equations, or designing controlled experiments, or playwriting, or discovering economic or political trends. Then school would not have killed their creativity, but in fact may have exposed their distinct talent.  Sir Ken Robinson defines creativity “as the process of having original ideas that have value.”  My students do have original ideas everyday, and part of my job is to help them see the value of those original ideas.

One digital media tool that I use to encourage creativity in the classroom for my students who have trouble with all of those drawing activities is ToonDoo.  Students can use the tools to write original text, draw original artwork, or they can use any of the provided artwork or upload photos or clipart from other approved sources.  My students can use the tool for quick vocabulary activities, and also from home for longer assigned visual media projects.  For example, after learning about an ancient civilization, students are asked to create a ten-square Facts and Illustrations project focusing on the 10 Cultural Universals.  Students also report out on their independent reading books once each month.  This months report was a storyboard presentation. ToonDoo was easily used for this project from home and then presented at school by students who chose to use it. ToonDoo can also be used for social skills training.  Kids create cartoons around social situations and share them during small group.

While music is not often assigned as an option, (mostly because it is very challenging to find a quiet space to record and any space for the kids to practice) students have used garage band and flip video cameras to record their music or create a music video.  We also had a few students take on a seafloor spreading Claymation project, which was very time consuming but the process was worthwhile for the students who partcipated.  For the most part, teachers are willing to let kids try anything that is safe, free,  and truly connects to the curriculum that we have been challenged to teach.  So if a student asks to modify an assigned project by creating a product using a different format, the teachers that I work with are agreeable.


Another way to encourage creativity is to bring talent together.  I am not particularly crafty, but I have great ideas!  So, I am always telling my students what I believe they are good at, and ask them to identify someone that has a talent they need to execute a task. A storyteller paired with an illustrator, a musician paired with a poet/lyricist, someone with an eye for fashion with someone who can actually sew, can each maximize the value of their original ideas by collaborating.