The Importance of Creativity- Sir Ken Robinson

Why is creativity important?

            Creativity is important because it allows individuals the freedom of expressing themselves, without sanctions or enforcers to say if it's right or wrong. It allows people to experiment with any ideas they have, producing something which is personal and unique to them.

            Sir Ken Robinson defines creativity as "The process of having original ideas that have value". In the following YouTube clip, Sir Ken Robinson expresses the need for education to instil creativity. He believes that schools are formulated on conformity, and producing children who will benefit the economy. Schools were not designed for creativity to feature, and so they must be redesigned to cultivate creativity. Sir Ken Robinson believes that "creativity is not an option, it is an absolute necessity".

           
           Creativity has importance, as without it, we simply couldn't survive. We would be robots, carrying out mundane activities in our routine lives. Sir Ken Robinson believes that creativity brings achievement and fulfilment to human beings.
Steve Jobs-   “Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn't really do it, the just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while”  (Waters, 2013) 

        This quote sums up the elusive nature of being creative, it is not formative. It simply happens. It goes against the systematic programmes of education and produces something completely free.

Ken Robinson's TED talk on "Changing Education Paradigms" 

              
             This is an animated version on Sir Ken Robinson's influential speech, where he discusses issues such as the current education system dismissing the arts, engineering students on a production line, ADHD and children being uninterested by the subjects taught in schools. What Sir Robinson is saying is definitely resonant in education today. Standardised testing leads pupils to feel worthless and feel they have no talents if they do not succeed. Those who excel in subjects such as art, drama and music are made to feel their talents are not as worthy as those who perform well in mathematics and science. 
            However, it can be argued that this is not a fair representation of the education system in the UK. Education is changing all the time, and this view seems a little outdated. 


References 
Waters, P. (2013). Elite Daily. Why Creativity Is The Most Important Quality You Have. [Online]. [Accessed 19 February 2014]. Available from  http://elitedaily.com/money/entrepreneurship/creativity-important-quality