Tjohn Loc: Inverness, FL formerly Arivaca, AZ

Thought this might be of interest to some. There is a little about Adams' education leading into where education and creativity is going today.
https://fee.org/articles/ansel-adams-was-unschooled-how-to-solve-americas-creativity-crisis

Dan Downie Loc: Rochester, NY

Interesting article. Thanks for sharing!

anotherview Loc: California

A standardized test measuring creativity? We seem to have here a contradiction of terms.

In any event, thank goodness the father of Ansel Adams perceived the mismatch of his son and the education system. Posterity has benefitted from his decision to school his son at home.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

34 years in the classroom taught me one size does not fit all.
But for those that didn't fit the classroom the self discipline some developed to stick with it was a definite plus in their lives. They learned how to function in both the controlled world of the classroom (and many careers) and in the freer creative world they preferred.
A prime example is some one with ADD who learns to use it to multitask.
I, myself am a mixture of both. I love learning, can focus on things for long periods but also multi-task. In high school while living with my Grandmother I would sit next to her big cabinet radio (6 bands) in the dining room and listen to stations from all over the world, keep track of the TV show the family was watching by looking into the living room through the door and do my reading and writing assignments at the same time. Well not at the same time, just able to very quickly change from one to another fast enough in a cycle that it looked to others like I was doing 3 things at once.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

Yes there are tests for creativity. They measure how the individual solves problems or sees things in creative ways. It does take a trained tester to evaluate them, not just anyone can do it.

I will make a guess at the decline of creativity. The drive to control activity (boys esp) and force compliance. Plus the "Critical Thinking" movement and its formulas for thinking coupled with the drive to "teach critical thinking" at the expense of accumulating vast amounts of knowledge. In the old days you learned the rules (and there were fewer), you read/watched/listened much and widely and accumulated a store of knowledge/facts that when they reached critical mass each child's brain developed their own way of dealing with all those facts. We did not attempt to force all students to do it the same way. And with fewer facts to begin with today.

E D Hirsch addresses a good part of this in his book (and education program/materials) "Cultural Literacy". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._D._Hirsch
One of his main points is that we restrict the breath of common knowledge and at the same time the facts and vocabulary to think about, thus producing students who are crippled in both knowledge and thinking.

Leicaflex Loc: Cymru

Interesting article.
Thank you for the link.

fergmark Loc: norwalk connecticut

Good article. Our school system seems designed to restrict an individuals imagination. Always propelling students to conform. The educational system is archaic, but I have read some very encouraging things about new thinking, where children are encouraged to take root and grow as it would seem their nature intended. An architect who taught one of my art classes, told us, "this is the last class of this age group I plan to teach. After third grade your minds have been dulled to a point where teaching you anything is almost a lost cause". Not in those exact words.

DaveC1 Loc: South East US

I am reminded of the complaint many employers have about recent BSEE graduates: They made excellent grades in school; they understand the math and the math based modelling; but when it gets down to real world problem solving, or troubleshooting when things don't go as expected, they don't have a clue.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

Actually a good part of the problem is that starting with Dewey and his movement we have gotten away from the old methods that were developed over generations. And worked.
No more “drill and kill”/ “rote learning” (memorize and learn facts, vocabulary and the language/composition rules so you had something to think about and the means to do so). Example: How do you do anything but add and subtract if you don’t memorize the multiplication tables? Calculators will do it, but what if you don’t have one or the power/batteries die? I have met people who were math whizzes but nearly helpless without a calculator or computer of some kind to do the basic work. They knew and understood the formulas but could not do the calculations without electronic help.
In reading and comprehension vocabulary is the key. And modern reading courses are lacking in that because they are age/grade normed. The old McGuffey’s Readers had vast amounts of new vocabulary words, to the point where 8th graders had the vocabulary of people with BA and MA degrees today. And they could write better. In my little home town in Kentucky in the 50s we were reading the classics in 3rd, 4th and 5th grade – Dickens and others in the original, not the grade norm rewrites used in High School/Jr High/Middle Schools today. Example: I once had a boy who went to Catholic School through 6th grade in my 9th Grade World History (middle of three sections-middle ages to about late 19th century) and I mentioned Dickens during the section on the Industrial Revolution starting in the UK. The English department had the kids reading Dickens. In a rewritten dumbed down version and the students were complaining about how hard it was. This boy spoke up and said “It’s easy and boring in the version we are reading for English. I read the original in 5th grade at Catholic School and it was interesting. I just used a dictionary a lot.”
Today their idea of classic literature is "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" which is fun for little kids.
My oldest went to a private school kindergarten through 6th grade because they had day care 6 AM to 6 PM for those students who needed it. (We both worked-RN and teacher.) In kindergarten they went through the old "Dick and Jane" reading course through the end of the third grade level. In one year of kindergarten!!!

Getting back to E D Hirsh:
I bought all the first editions (trade paper back) of his materials and tried to get my school to use the stuff, no luck, not on the approved list and “too difficult” and “old fashioned”.
Here is a review of him and his materials : http://www.nationalreview.com/2017/02/educational-reformer-hirsch-promotes-knowledge/
Here is a page about him and his Core Knowledge Foundation: http://www.coreknowledge.org/about-us/e-d-hirsch-jr/
Here is the foundation’s site: http://www.coreknowledge.org/
Not they even have free materials on links for some things and updated editions of his series of books outlining his “Core Knowledge” for those who are part of “Western Civilization” – starts with the ancients and works up (does include other parts of the world as background). In the past I read articles where people in other parts of the world worked up local versions (with his foundation’s help and/or consent in some cases) based on their local cultures.
Some complain that his courses take up too much – but he states that they are designed and meant to only take up ½ of the school time – leaving plenty for all the other things people think the modern school should do.