Do Schools Kill Creativity - response

After our discussion on 9/29 regarding curriculum and instruction, as well as viewing the video “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” I am left thinking about how schools approach curriculum and its effects on instruction. As new teachers, we are bound to the curriculum, as we are so nervous about the actual job of teaching that we need to feel secure about something. But, as we get more adept at instruction, we start to move away from the curriculum. In fact, as we become better teachers, the curriculum becomes secondary to what we do every day in the classroom. But, while watching the “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” video, I am struck by what instruction and the daily grind of the classroom can do to kids. It makes one reassess what they say to students every day, especially in light of all of the different types of curriculums (as we discussed) that exist on so many levels within a classroom. It makes one second guess the types of attitudes we exude on any different day within the classroom. So, even if I am having an “off” day, i.e. the server goes down, I am tired, etc, all of these become part of the experience of being in my classroom and having me as a teacher. Then, what if I say the wrong thing to a student, and they are affected in ways I cannot begin to imagine? This boils it down to the awesome responsibilities teachers have. I think this is one thing that Sir Ken Robinson did not touch upon – with all due respect, that could have been another lecture. In a world of test scores and cut funding, it’s important to realize that everything is curricular, and one curricular choice made by a teacher has longer reaching results than one could realize. So, the question can become, do TEACHERS kill creativity?