PAST PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE John Heath, Batavia High School
The Child
“Te creative mind of a child.” What a beautiful group of words, “the creative mind of a child.” Unfortunately when you pair those words with the words “standardized assessments,” “teaching to the test,” “does not meet standards;” “the creative mind of a child” looses some of its beauty.
Tere are few commentators on education, creativity or the Fine Arts that I really admire. Per- haps I’m becoming cynical as I reach the end of my career, or maybe because I tend to disagree with many of the views they hold. Tere is, however, one person out there that I have great respect for. If you don’t know this gentlemen or have not heard or read his ideas on imagina- tion and creativity, I strongly encourage you to check him out. At the last MENC (the former name of NAfME) National Conference in Milwaukee, one of the keynote speakers showed a video clip of Sir Ken Robinson’s presentation at a TED conference, where he discusses schools and how they are educating creativity out of the child. Watching this nineteen minute clip was humorous, eye opening and the highlight of the entire conference for me. In it, Robinson talks about education, creativity (which he defines as the process of having original ideas that have value) and his position that creativity in education is just as important as literacy. In the conclu- sion of his talk he tells the story of a hopeless young girl by the name of Gillian Lynne and what happens to her. It moved me to tears. You can view this video at:
www.ted.com/speakers/sir_ken_robinson.html
Robinson has also published two outstanding books.Out of Our Minds, Learning to be Creative (2011) asks these questions: Why is it essential to promote creativity? Why do so many people think they’re not creative? What is creativity and what can we do to develop creativity and innovation?
In his second book, Te Element, How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything (2009), Robinson defines “the element” as the point where natural talent meets personal passion. He discusses the diversity of intelligence, the power of imagination and creativity, and the importance of commitment to our own capabilities. I can not urge you enough to look into the works of this cutting edge thinker.
I hope you all have a great winter break and I’ll see you in Peoria. John Heath
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Illinois Music Educator | Volume 69 Number 3
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