Creativity is Not Dead
Creativity is something that is sorely lacking in today's educational system. There is too much time spent learning and not enough time being spent actually physically creating something artistic, whether it be a song or a poem or a drawing. Students today need educators who are willing to provide the time and encouragement to push students to create art through the things that inspire them. This way, we can insure that creativity will remain a large part of life.
Believe it or not, even in the area of music, whether it is being played, sung, or appreciated, teachers quantify results and grade students on something that should not be graded. Having to grade a student on their abilities is not the most important element in these music classes. The arts are about being creative, about making emotional connections and discoveries while having fun. Music and singing is not about how well it is performed (to a point) or how quickly a student is able to understand a certain skill. Music and singing should be about self-expression and allowing others to see the emotions and meanings behind the lyrics and music notes. The creativity and the ability to put those emotions and meanings onto paper is astounding, and those students should be awarded and recognized for their efforts to make something beautiful for other people to enjoy. Creativity should be the main focus of artistic-focused classes, giving students the freedom to explore whatever subject that they feel the most passionate about. Allowing students to follow their passions and their dreams, they will produce better pieces of art or music that they can be even more proud of. Students should feel good about the pieces that they are producing- their efforts should not be put forth in order to make a grade or pass a class, although it is understood that some grade must be applied to all work in a classroom. Their creative talents and time should not be put forth for something that doesn't have a deeper meaning to them. Students should be allowed to follow their hearts and pursue whatever avenue of creative, artistic endeavors that they wish. This is the best form of education- allowing freedom of expression to occur and allowing students to write or draw or paint or sing whatever piece of art that makes them the most satisfied.
English as a language can be seen as a form of music. Language can be spoken or written in a way that makes music from words. The meter at which we speak, and the rhythm at which authors write make language musical and can turn a paragraph into prose, and prose into music. With time, language has morphed and changed from its original state thousands of years ago. William Shakespeare, who used an earlier form of English, was eloquent in his writing and was able to put emotion, humor, and what Vanessa Redgrave has called the "music of the soul" into his verse and prose. Shakespeare should be taught in all English classes as well as the other humanities. He can be used across the disciplines as historical work in not only the subject context of the Renaissance, but also as an example of the changing of the English language. Shakespeare should not be seen by students as an enormous, difficult task to conquer. Teachers immediately give students the translated versions into modern English, stating that the older English is too hard to understand- this gives Shakespeare a bad reputation to all students, invoking an inward groan when Shakespeare is brought up in class. Students should be ready to take on the challenges of the English language that he presents in his writing. It should not be forced into minds that Shakespeare is too difficult or too old to be relevant- students should view Shakespeare as one of the greatest writers and contributors to literature of all time. Students must be exposed to Shakespeare because of how he changed the literary scene in his style of writing and the popularity of that writing. He is an example of the power of an idea, of the might of written word and of spoken paragraphs. Shakespeare is the best example that educators have of someone going against the grain and writing about what he wanted and about what inspired him. He made fun of the upper classes in plays such as Twelfth Night, and some of his other works crossed socially acceptable barriers. Shakespeare conveys this message to students: your voices, your opinions, your ideas, they all matter.
So what am I trying to say? Creativity is not dead, but it is in desperate need of being encouraged. The language of your heart, of your soul, of your very being- that is not dead. It may not be the intention of our educators to kill this off in students, to stifle and choke the creative mind with the introduction of a quantitative scale to something that is merely qualitative. But this is the reality of our world today- creativity, in the scheme of things, has no place. We live in a world where science and math take precedence over painting and writing poetry- math and science are the wings on which humans will fly into the future. However, with that future comes the possibility that creative language will die off. Students, along with their parents and educators, and even world leaders, need to recognize that creativity is dying, and it will take language and poetry and theater and music along with it. People should never lose sight of their dreams and their imagination. We cannot ignore the works of Shakespeare or forgo learning about music in order to take another calculus class. Creativity and language take thinking to a new level, to a place where we can question the beliefs of the world and of ourselves, a place where imagination runs free and wild and allows freedom to take place. This freedom of thinking has brought so many changes to the world thus far, and fostering imagination can change the world even more. Creativity is not dead, and with a little help from educators, it will burn brighter than ever before.
Believe it or not, even in the area of music, whether it is being played, sung, or appreciated, teachers quantify results and grade students on something that should not be graded. Having to grade a student on their abilities is not the most important element in these music classes. The arts are about being creative, about making emotional connections and discoveries while having fun. Music and singing is not about how well it is performed (to a point) or how quickly a student is able to understand a certain skill. Music and singing should be about self-expression and allowing others to see the emotions and meanings behind the lyrics and music notes. The creativity and the ability to put those emotions and meanings onto paper is astounding, and those students should be awarded and recognized for their efforts to make something beautiful for other people to enjoy. Creativity should be the main focus of artistic-focused classes, giving students the freedom to explore whatever subject that they feel the most passionate about. Allowing students to follow their passions and their dreams, they will produce better pieces of art or music that they can be even more proud of. Students should feel good about the pieces that they are producing- their efforts should not be put forth in order to make a grade or pass a class, although it is understood that some grade must be applied to all work in a classroom. Their creative talents and time should not be put forth for something that doesn't have a deeper meaning to them. Students should be allowed to follow their hearts and pursue whatever avenue of creative, artistic endeavors that they wish. This is the best form of education- allowing freedom of expression to occur and allowing students to write or draw or paint or sing whatever piece of art that makes them the most satisfied.
English as a language can be seen as a form of music. Language can be spoken or written in a way that makes music from words. The meter at which we speak, and the rhythm at which authors write make language musical and can turn a paragraph into prose, and prose into music. With time, language has morphed and changed from its original state thousands of years ago. William Shakespeare, who used an earlier form of English, was eloquent in his writing and was able to put emotion, humor, and what Vanessa Redgrave has called the "music of the soul" into his verse and prose. Shakespeare should be taught in all English classes as well as the other humanities. He can be used across the disciplines as historical work in not only the subject context of the Renaissance, but also as an example of the changing of the English language. Shakespeare should not be seen by students as an enormous, difficult task to conquer. Teachers immediately give students the translated versions into modern English, stating that the older English is too hard to understand- this gives Shakespeare a bad reputation to all students, invoking an inward groan when Shakespeare is brought up in class. Students should be ready to take on the challenges of the English language that he presents in his writing. It should not be forced into minds that Shakespeare is too difficult or too old to be relevant- students should view Shakespeare as one of the greatest writers and contributors to literature of all time. Students must be exposed to Shakespeare because of how he changed the literary scene in his style of writing and the popularity of that writing. He is an example of the power of an idea, of the might of written word and of spoken paragraphs. Shakespeare is the best example that educators have of someone going against the grain and writing about what he wanted and about what inspired him. He made fun of the upper classes in plays such as Twelfth Night, and some of his other works crossed socially acceptable barriers. Shakespeare conveys this message to students: your voices, your opinions, your ideas, they all matter.
So what am I trying to say? Creativity is not dead, but it is in desperate need of being encouraged. The language of your heart, of your soul, of your very being- that is not dead. It may not be the intention of our educators to kill this off in students, to stifle and choke the creative mind with the introduction of a quantitative scale to something that is merely qualitative. But this is the reality of our world today- creativity, in the scheme of things, has no place. We live in a world where science and math take precedence over painting and writing poetry- math and science are the wings on which humans will fly into the future. However, with that future comes the possibility that creative language will die off. Students, along with their parents and educators, and even world leaders, need to recognize that creativity is dying, and it will take language and poetry and theater and music along with it. People should never lose sight of their dreams and their imagination. We cannot ignore the works of Shakespeare or forgo learning about music in order to take another calculus class. Creativity and language take thinking to a new level, to a place where we can question the beliefs of the world and of ourselves, a place where imagination runs free and wild and allows freedom to take place. This freedom of thinking has brought so many changes to the world thus far, and fostering imagination can change the world even more. Creativity is not dead, and with a little help from educators, it will burn brighter than ever before.