when "creativity" is defined by displays of post-deconstructionist angst, rather than a better moped, academics have no way to respond. racing towards abandoned models as a result of fear --which is the driver in "education reform"--demonstrates a failure in the testing model, since all those rising creativity scores of 20 years ago are now decision makers in education and governance.
creativity, in my pov, is a function of purpose.
“[Indiana University professor Jonathan] Plucker recently toured a number of …schools in Shanghai and Beijing. He was amazed by a boy who, for a class science project, rigged a tracking device for his moped with parts from a cell phone. When faculty of a major Chinese university asked Plucker to identify trends in American education, he described our focus on standardized curriculum, rote memorization, and nationalized testing. “After my answer was translated, they just started laughing out loud,” Plucker say
s. “They said, ‘You’re racing toward our old model. But we’re racing toward your model, as fast as we can.’”
- from a recent Newsweek report on Innovation, highlighted by Daniel Pink
This selected passage from Newsweek’s recent piece on creativity and innovation seems to say it all. Authors Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman point to some of the structural and cultural issues that may be getting in the way of the US’s ability to compete in the emerging hyper-competitive global economy.
For example, US scores in the so-called “Torrance Test” — developed by professor E. Paul Torrance to measure children’s “Creativity Quotient” or CQ — have been falling over the past two decades. The test was first administered about 50 years ago. “Creativity scores had been steadily rising, just like IQ scores, until 1990. Since then, creativity scores have consistently inched downward.”
Bronson and Merryman call this evidence of a “creativity crisis” — but are we really falling short on our ability to innovate? Approaches such as crowdsourcing are opening new doors for innovation. Today’s organizations and society are desperate for creative solutions to problems. Why the decline? The article cites the fact that kids are spending too much time in front of video games. Another possible cause is the US educational system, which is hyper-focused on standardization and testing.
Bronson and Merryman say that creativity can be nurtured and learned — as shown by various scientific studies of cognitive function. But educational institutions need to provide environments that foster creative approaches. And organizations need to baking creativity and innovation into their corporate cultures.
The impact is being felt at the highest levels of business. A recent IBM study found CEOs instilling qualities such as creativity into their organization’s operations are those that are seeing the best results in this crazy world in which we operate. The study, which summarized the attitudes and opinions of more than 1,500 decision-makers from across the globe, examined the habits of highly effective CEOs — called “standouts” — and found this group was much more likely to embrace qualities such as customer intimacy, simplicity and creativity.
(Photo credit: Interior of the o2 Hotel, showing the concierge area, by Badudoy, via Wikimedia Commons)
