Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

I'm one of those people who tests off-the-chart for creativity (it doesn't mean I'm good, it just means that, if there's a box, my thinking can be found not only outside that box, but down the road, hitchhiking to some other city). Yet I don't think educators "fear" creativity as suggested in this post. I think creativity is actually valued! But it's true that people don't really know how to deal with it.

  • Johnson says educators fear change, and that creativity changes relationships. I think they crave change, but fear the changes proposed will never work, and that no change will result.
  • Johnson says creativity offends sensibilities. But what offends, I find, are the efforts of people trying to be creative but lacking the vocabulary (see my thoughts on offensive language, below)
  • Johnson says it makes people feel inferior and pressures them to be creative themselves. But I think that that creativity undermines the ability of people to make others feel inferior
  • Johnson says it undermines our efforts. But what creativity does is make clear where our efforts are actually leading, and suggests unsettling alternatives.
  • Johnson says it's hard to measure. But most things are hard to measure (see 'counting', below). What creativity shows is that the things we value aren't the things we're measuring.

Today: 1062 Total: 1067 [Direct link] [Share]

Image from the website


Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

Copyright 2024
Last Updated: Mar 29, 2024 04:13 a.m.

Canadian Flag Creative Commons License.

Force:yes