TWIC 4 -ken robinson, sci-am research and more

More than a week has passed since my last post, but this is pretty good discipline for me.  I'm teaching at a ball-busting ESL camp now and haven't even had time to open a book not related to work.

Ken Robinson is on video for NPR talking about the need for creativity education and said, "When you speak to business leaders, they say they want people who are creative, who think differently, who can work in teams..."  You know I'm sympathetic but I'm also less than persuaded by his claim.  It might seem odd for a creativity advocate like myself to offer an argument against his recommendation, but I feel it needs to be examined.

I'm most interested in the "they say they want". For teachers, the creative types are uniformly described as troublemakers. "While the teachers said they wanted creative kids in their classroom, they actually didn't."   Creative people also tend to ignore social conventions and are somewhat more prone to cheating.

I'm not saying Sir Robinson is wrong, but perhaps that business leaders are saying what people want them to say.  Well, it is what I want them to say, too.

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Part of being creative is actually producing novel work.  Part of producing is the discipline needed to self-motivate.

It being the beginning of the new year, remember not to tell people about your resolutions.  Also own your resolutions. If you do talk about your plans, say, "I don't.." rather than "I can't...".
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Want to write a popular science book?  Sci Am can help you there, too.
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Want to think like Sherlock Holmes?  Yep, Sci Am again.
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This slideshow covers some familiar ground, but also extends beyond to new ideas.
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Not really related, but I applied for a Social Media Manager position recently so this article on how teens use social media caught my attention. Via Marginal Revolution.