Is Creativity the Next Essential Literacy?

         It has been a long belief of mine that one of the most detrimental casualties of our current education system is the loss of wonder.  That innate desire to understand why things are the way they are.  I had the privilege of hearing Dr. Christine Carter speak at a conference on brain research and development entitled Learning and the Brain.  At the beginning of her keynote my first reaction was “she is an expert in Happiness, is that for real?”  However as I listened I began to see a correlation to my own core beliefs about learning and what education is missing. 

            The most powerful thing she said was something that education policy makers will ignore at all costs.  That is that Creativity is the next essential literacy.  Now keep in mind I am just beginning to try and wrap my mind around what that may look like.  My first belief in this discussion is that creativity is something that begins at a young age.  I also believe that creativity and imagination go hand and hand.  When I teach my courses for the college I refer to imagination as a sense of wonder because often people are distracted by the word imagination.  This is because it brings up a short time in their life when they were encouraged to imagine.  As an education system we ignore imagination and we have quickly weeded out that perceived “unnecessary” tool over the past 20 years. 

            There are a lot of articles/blogs popping up regarding creativity and can it be taught.  I am not sure I fully believe it can be taught but it can be coaxed out of students.  Having taught in various grade levels including kindergarten and fifth grade, I can assure you that teachers can coax/cultivate this literacy out of students.  It begins at the lowest grade levels but should be happening in all grade levels.  If we move from a test centered education system to a learning centered education system then imagination and creativity will flow freely.  

How to do this is easier than we think.  To start integrate discussion and problem solving in your classroom.  Have students solve real word authentic problems rather than numbers 1-5 in the book. Develop a culture of questioning, imagination and creativity.  Determine the interests of your students; develop curriculum units that require them to solve a problem related to their interests.  Begin each day with an imagination problem prompt, which may include, “imagine if you were….” and tie it to writing.

            I do believe that creativity is an essential literacy for education.  The only real solution to our education crisis and removing the need for this post is that policy makers begin to make time in education for educators to allow children to use their imagination and creativity.  Although assessment is great to inform instruction, let’s stop making them all paper and pencil multiple guess tests.  Lets take anecdotal notes, give projects, do short checks for understanding, peer review, etc. etc

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jef_safi/648838717/By jef safi \ 'pictosophizing