Sunday, April 18, 2010

The most imaginative kids are often the troublemakers.

At the Frontal Cortex, there is post up about creativity in children and how adults and teachers admire the idea of kids being creative but not the fruits of that creativity.

Everybody wants a creative child - in theory. The reality of creativity, however, is a little more complicated, as creative thoughts tend to emerge when we're distracted, daydreaming, disinhibited and not following the rules. In other words, the most imaginative kids are often the trouble-makers.
...
While the teachers said they wanted creative kids in their classroom, they actually didn't. In fact, when they were asked to rate their students on a variety of personality measures - the list included everything from "individualistic" to "risk-seeking" to "accepting of authority" - the traits mostly closely aligned with creative thinking were also closely associated with their "least favorite" students. As the researchers note, "Judgments for the favorite student were negatively correlated with creativity; judgments for the least favorite student were positively correlated with creativity."


The author uses the example of daydreaming. It enhances creativity but does nothing to enhance memorization of the multiplication tables.

I gotta say I agree with this post and I feel discomforted by that. Less creative students are easier, if not to teach, then to have in class while I am going through the motions that make me think I am teaching.

No comments: