Here's my attempt at a flute solo with accompaniment in Mac's music program GarageBand. An excellent of musical technology in at work in the classroom.
Click the link to download. http://www.divshare.com/download/14246839-baf
Monday 7 March 2011
Sunday 6 March 2011
Ken Robinson: Do Schools Kill Creativity? (2006)
Ken Robinson presents several defining aspects that have affected the public school system. In regards to the importance of creativity, there is a generalised stagnation towards the celebration of individuality and the creative processes that generate these moments of originality and inspiration. Robinson has developed the notion that 'all children are born artists' and that it is through personal maturity that we diminish in our creative capacity. The task, in fact, is not to enable the ability to generate original ideas as we grow older, but rather, sustain this 'talent' from prior years of childhood. We do not grow into creativity, we grow out of it, or, are educated out of it.
Robinson enlightens us to the notion that every educational system on the planet has the same hierarchy: at the top are maths and languages, followed by humanities, and finally arts at the bottom. Within this bottom tier, the arts, can be segmented into its own hierarchy, with the visual arts and music at the top and dance and drama on the bottom. For, it is rare to find a school that teaches dance in the same manner as mathematics. As a result of this, intellectuals, such as university professors, are the goal for public education. Subjects that are brain-orientated, not body, are emphasised and encouraged by teachers and educational systems in order to produce more of the same system and guarantee employment opportunities.
The educational hierarchy is mainly as a result of two factors:
1. The most useful subjects for employment are emphasised (at the top). Students are steered away from favoured subjects that hold personal interest as it was/is considered little employment is available to those who make a career of 'lower' subjects, such as music or dance. This is called 'benign advice'.
2. The concept of 'academic ability' enables universities to design the educational system in their own 'intellectual' image. University degrees are suddenly seemingly worthless as a significant increase in tertiary students undertake intellectual, brain-orientated, courses. In the past, university degrees were almost a certainty in gaining employment, whereas, in the present, a need for additional education is required, such as post-graduate research, in order to gain an advantage over others.
Robinson finally addresses the need to embrace the concept of children who 'move to think' in order to generate originality. We must educate students as whole beings. Rather than considering students as 'thinkers' we must regard them as 'innovators', beings who include their surroundings and their whole bodies as a means of creativity. For, we as teachers and educators, may not be able to predict or be present in the future, the students we teach will be present. Therefore, our task, and duty, is to ensure assistance is given, whether it be intellectual or practical, in order to maximise the encouragement and sustainability of creativity throughout the educational system and beyond.
Robinson enlightens us to the notion that every educational system on the planet has the same hierarchy: at the top are maths and languages, followed by humanities, and finally arts at the bottom. Within this bottom tier, the arts, can be segmented into its own hierarchy, with the visual arts and music at the top and dance and drama on the bottom. For, it is rare to find a school that teaches dance in the same manner as mathematics. As a result of this, intellectuals, such as university professors, are the goal for public education. Subjects that are brain-orientated, not body, are emphasised and encouraged by teachers and educational systems in order to produce more of the same system and guarantee employment opportunities.
The educational hierarchy is mainly as a result of two factors:
1. The most useful subjects for employment are emphasised (at the top). Students are steered away from favoured subjects that hold personal interest as it was/is considered little employment is available to those who make a career of 'lower' subjects, such as music or dance. This is called 'benign advice'.
2. The concept of 'academic ability' enables universities to design the educational system in their own 'intellectual' image. University degrees are suddenly seemingly worthless as a significant increase in tertiary students undertake intellectual, brain-orientated, courses. In the past, university degrees were almost a certainty in gaining employment, whereas, in the present, a need for additional education is required, such as post-graduate research, in order to gain an advantage over others.
Robinson finally addresses the need to embrace the concept of children who 'move to think' in order to generate originality. We must educate students as whole beings. Rather than considering students as 'thinkers' we must regard them as 'innovators', beings who include their surroundings and their whole bodies as a means of creativity. For, we as teachers and educators, may not be able to predict or be present in the future, the students we teach will be present. Therefore, our task, and duty, is to ensure assistance is given, whether it be intellectual or practical, in order to maximise the encouragement and sustainability of creativity throughout the educational system and beyond.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)