I have been thinking about what we as educators expect out of our students when we ask them to be creative. So often we ask students to share their learning in a way that expresses their creative understanding as if it should just ooze out naturally. The problem is creativity is not a natural or genetic preset. It is an active and intentional decision that arrives through the stages of consuming creative work and then copying elements of those creative works.
Only after enough time to imitate and play with those elements can students begin to piece together their own creative works. As educators, I have to wonder if we are expecting too much sometimes out of our students. Or more accurately, expecting too much too soon. If students don’t have the chance to “try on” or experiment with the ideas of others, is it reasonable to expect them to synthesize those ideas into something of their own? A recent example of this extreme expectation came from a respected friend who commented on a student dance troupe performance that it was “pretty gimmicky”. The students had not only performed at a very high level but these dances were entirely choreographed by the students themselves. Had we chosen to go see a professional dance ensemble, would the quality have been better? Sure. Less gimmicky? Not so sure. But we didn’t choose that. We chose to see our students expressing their creativity. I am not throwing my friend under the bus. This teacher does much to facilitate student growth. But comments like this are dismissive rather than celebratory. We all make these comments sometimes and thanks to the internet an entire culture of full of this language has been created. And maybe this is a call to not only accept creative work but to be mindful of our responses to that work. This type of corrosive language does more to deter students from creating. There is no dearth of people in this world unwilling or unable to express their true self and I would guess that the way teachers, parents and their peers have responded to their attempts at creative expression is a large part of their decision to stay dormant. We have all experienced the frustration of students copying the example or seeing one student do something interesting and suddenly everyone has the same look or sound. And sure, sometimes their work is gimmicky but consuming and imitating are important steps toward new and unique expressions. If I reach back to remember my own early attempts at creative expression, I very quickly find empathy and acceptance for the early attempts of others. May we all search for this empathy as we encourage our students, and maybe even ourselves, to move beyond the consumption level towards the creating.
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Grant SouderI am an educator, musician, parent and maker. I do my best to live with intention and to create learning environments that foster the same. This blog is an effort to share my thinking and learning. It is in no way a cementation of my understanding but a catalyst for unearthing it. These ideas are living and fluid. Archives
September 2019
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