Ken Robinson's TED Talk

Ken Robinson's concept that we should assign the same importance to creativity in schools as we do literacy is something I agree with. The school system should be fostering student's talents and unique intellectual and artistic abilities rather than squandering such eccentricity. Robinson mentions that today we are teaching children to fear imperfection and greatly magnify the consequences of a single mistake. Our education system runs on the notion that making all of the right decisions at the right time and executing them perfectly will lead to a future worth aspiring to. This, however, is not the case. By teaching kids that there is right and wrong in every aspect of life results in "growing out of creativity." We become more and more concerned with the idea that what we are creating or showing to the world is defected, or exhibits a weakness of some kind. The lack of education of the arts is an out growth of the education system's desire to foster the mind and produce people that are prepared to take on common careers. This focus ignores the ability to create widely-cultured, intellectually-rounded, and culturally-aware individuals that would be able to take on the world at a much higher level of intellect and understanding. Robinson makes the point that throughout school you may have been exposed to some arts or sports that you may have gotten great enjoyment out of but were given the impression that these facets of education were not grounds to build a career on. School makes the mistake of teaching children that things that they are interested in that do not lead to 9 to 5 desk jobs are not worth pursuing, even if it is at the expense of one's happiness. Academic ability dominates our sense of success in today's society and unfortunately this is largely in part to the structure of education.

Locke's Tabula Rasa, Rousseau's Noble Savage, and Piaget's Cognitive Development Theory

John Locke suggested that children come in to the world with nothing but a clean slate to create and navigate their own life experiences. We learn from the environment around us and have an unlimited potential for success. Children are in the process of a continual developmental growth. By establishing a system of rewards, and giving effective instructions and examples from parents, children are able to be shaped through good role models and proper life experiences. Children’s intelligence will gradually amount to that of a well-functioning adult. Locke’s philosophy was nurture rather than nature. He believed biological influences were not as prevalent in a child’s development as exploration of the world around them. First-hand experiences are what frame a child’s understanding of their environment. Locke theorized that this type of growth in children leads to their ability to better adapt to their surroundings as an adult. Also, this approach to development allows for children to enter the world and be prepared to mold to any setting, culture, or disabilities they may encounter. Children act out and explore in the way that they do simply because they are curious about their surroundings. Locke’s theory of a child’s passive development is

A child is inherently good, in Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s opinion. The changes a child goes through are all based on the notion that they entered this world with a strong knowledge of right and wrong. Parents, teachers, and guardians only tamper with a child’s built-in sense of morals. A child has a unique, pure way of thinking that stand only to be tarnished by disciplinary interactions with adults. There are certain milestones that children reach that are symbols of their developmental progression, theorized Rousseau. Along with this, Rousseau believed that a child’s maturation was “naturally unfolding,” yet genetically decisive; a balance of both nature and nurture.  He argued children are not set up to be successful or disastrous, rather they choose their own destiny or path in life.

Piaget’s Cognitive-Developmental Theory acknowledges that their ever-changing brain limits a child’s understanding of the world around them. The developments that take place years after birth are crucial in shaping the child’s future and view on people, objects, and places. Due to Piaget’s beginnings in the biology field, he was able to better understand that the mind is always adapting and learning. He made the case that one’s initial view of the world is only temporary until we are able to accommodate for the aspects of the world we don’t understand. This is a cycle of learning and realization that occurs well into young adulthood. Each stage of Piaget’s theory is a new level of competence. He argued that these stages are biologically based however require the correct environment to foster such growth. A child is not born naturally good or empty, said Piaget; he simply is born with the capabilities needed to learn fundamental facets of life.

The behaviors of newborns, toddlers, and young adults are merely an expression of his or her cognitive development. Piaget was able to separate the developmental turning points into four main stages: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational. At each stage we acquire new pieces of knowledge such as object permanence, class-systems, and mental representation, which allow us to navigate the world to the best of our ability. Through this, Piaget was able to make sense of the timeline that is child development. Our capability to process new information as we get older is important for us to be able to reason, problem solve, speak, write, and interact with all of the people, situations, and environments we encounter.