At the junction of creativity and personalization

Joel VerDuin from Anoka-Hennipin Schools. tweeted this quote: "And now we are at a crossroads... The world needs flexible and adaptive learners, and people who will solve wicked problems. However we often ask students to solve problems that we already know the answer to." Pickup, Oliver. Educating children for the jobs of the future. Raconteur, Dec 5, 2018. The article is a good one and deserves a careful reading. Yet, it sells short the real need for encouraging creativity in our students. Creativity is not simply a vocational skill.

As a life-long educator, my mantra has always been that my mission is to create thinkers, not believers. A large part of thinking should be thinking creatively as a means of solving our own problems, solving the problems of society, and understanding that we all have the power to choose the paths we take in life.

I love the everyday MacGyver-like innovators I encounter - both children and adults. I respect those individuals who see an obstacle as something akin to a jungle gym - a chance to not just climb, but to get joy and satisfaction in doing so. I admire people who see their lives not as something into which they were born, but something they’ve created.

Can you think of a better reason that students need to practice creativity? Teaching Outside the Lines: Defeating the one-right-answer mentality and developing the creativity in every learner. Corwin, 2015.

The junction of creativity and personalization is magic in educational settings. Given a genuine problem of choice and the license to create an original solution, skills can be practiced in a real world context. As we spend dollars on 3-D printers, programmable robots, and other makerspace tools, I worry that we never achieve the true purpose for which these expensive toys were obtained. Ironically, I see too many activities in makerspaces and programming classes where the object is to follow the instructions to the letter, not to actually solve a genuine, personal problem.

Technology is not the answer to helping students acquire the skills they need for future success; a new perception about creativity held by teachers and media specialist is.