Creativity makes for better learners

ON NOVEMBER 3, 2006, Sir Ken Robinson delivered a famous TED Talk called ‘Do schools kill creativity?’

Sir Ken argued that, as adults, “we don’t grow into creativity, we grow out of it. Or rather, we get educated out of it”.

Education is big in the news at the moment. NAPLAN is set for a makeover and there is debate about what the schools of the future should look like.

These are all important conversations, but so is how the creative and performing arts make students better learners.

There are many reasons why these subjects really matter – they reward creativity, build confidence, make students better problem solvers, build concentration and resilience, and teach nonverbal skills.

Creative subjects provide pathways to learning, including with literacy and numeracy.

Dr Anita Collins, who featured on the ABC series Don’t Stop the Music, said “musically trained children tend to acquire language quicker, learn how to read earlier and develop comprehension skills earlier”.

In a country obsessed with standardised tests, a prescriptive curriculum and imagination-free policy from governments, the creative and performing arts have never mattered more.

Good teachers know that creativity in general, and the creative subjects in particular, don’t get in the way of teaching English and maths – they make it easier.

Sir Ken puts it this way: “Creativity now is as important in education as literacy, and we should treat it with the same status.” What do you think?