March 14 (3/14) was Pi Day (3.14). (March 14 is also Albert Einstein's birthday!) Some celebrate by writing pi-ku -- that, is haiku (17 syllables) about pi and/or a haiku-style poem inspired by pi (3.14, or a three-syllable line, a one-syllable line and a four-syllable line). In my "Creativity + Social Change" course at the University of Connecticut, we begin class each week with a creative thinking warm-up activity. This week, we wrote pi-ku about creativity. Below are the creative outcomes from that experience.
This exercise, of capturing a key idea about creativity in just a few words, is an excellent example of the creative ability of "highlighting the essence," as described by creativity researcher E. Paul Torrance. Highlighting the essence is about identifying what is important or essential.
What's YOUR creativity in pi-ku? Share yours in the comments below!
You and I
merge
image and thoughts.
- Laurie Lukasavage
Let me see
your
creative mind.
- Laurie Lukasavage
Pam and Willy
like
to get silly.
- Chris Filek
Wandering
through
creative minds.
- Chris Filek
Free your Mind
Think
And Then Be Free
- Derek Pettinelli
If You See
Then
You Can Believe
- Derek Pettinelli
Take a Look
See
Outside the Norm
- Derek Pettinelli
From nothing
Flash -
Beauty is there.
- Robert Sireno
Something needed -
What?
Ah-ha it's there.
- Robert Sireno
Apple Pi
Tastes
Most Delicious
Hot
- Ralph Famiglietti
Pi Day is
so
cool. March 14.
- Joan Terry
Creative
work
innovation.
- April Belanger
Love and laugh
Like
Community.
- April Belanger
What is fun?
Fun!
Nothing but fun!
- Shavon Roscoe
An artist
paints
creative waves
- Shavon Roscoe
A picture
drawn
yes, from my mind
- Shavon Roscoe
creating
pie
mix, roll, bake, eat
- Catherine Capuano
Creative
me,
what next for us?
- Steven Dahlberg
Judging much?
STOP!
Yes, and ... Yes, and ...
- Steven Dahlberg
Imagine ...
Why,
what if, what else?
- Steven Dahlberg
Openness.
Think.
Imagine now.
- Steven Dahlberg
Imagine
and
connect, engage.
- Steven Dahlberg
Showing posts with label creative thinking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label creative thinking. Show all posts
Friday, March 18, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Celebrate Pi Day With Your Own 'Pi-Ku'
Happy Pi Day. It's March 14 — or 3/14 if you write down the date in the m/d format. And that means it's time to celebrate that mysterious mathematical relationship between a circle's diameter and its circumference: 3.1415926535... Today is also, appropriately enough, Albert Einstein's birthday. So the science-minded among us have two good reasons to celebrate. He was born in 1879 and died in 1955. But back to Pi. Two years ago, NPR's Bryant Park Project noted Pi Day with this report. As they said, Pi Day is when "numbers geeks all over the world bake pies, write 'pi-kus' and recite pi to as many decimal points as possible." A "pi-ku", bu the way, works like this:
— First line: 3 syllables[14 March 2010 - NPR - More; and More from CNN]
— Second line: 1 syllable
— Third line: 4 syllables
Monday, September 27, 2010
Commentary: On Creativity and the Brain
By Renee George
Creativity + Social Change, University of Connecticut
Media Reviewed:
Jill Bolte Taylor is an neuroanatomist who suffered a stroke. She experienced herself having the stroke for more than four hours. She studied herself from the inside out. It took eight years for her to have a full recovery. She wrote a book about her experience and has appeared on several talk shows to tell about her story. I found it very moving. I never realized that the left and right sides of our brain store completely separate information. The right side of the brain is where we make our dreams into reality. We decide what we want and we make it happen. Our thoughts turn into energy and we send that energy out into the universe. The universe gives back to us what are thoughts put out. Our cells communicate with one another and with chemicals in the brain. This is how we process information. The right side of the brain is where we are right now. In the present moment. Jill explains that we are energy beings all connected together. I can relate to this because when I dream of something or I put a lot of thought into something, it manifests. It is the energy carried in the thoughts that I put out and the universe gives me what I ask for. This makes perfect sense to me. The right side of the brain is where everything is peaceful and right and beautiful. It is the side where we have the power to choose. We can choose to be whole beings. We can choose to believe that we are all perfect just the way we are. We can choose to get along with one another and let go of our perceptions and judgments. We are at peace with ourselves and with everyone else.
The left side of the brain is very different. This is the side that lives in the past and lives in the future. This is the side where we catergorize and add details. This is the side where we attach memories, sounds and sights to. This is the side that we build on from when we are children. Every experience is a memory and a story and we file it away. The story reoccurs over and over. Everytime an applie pie is baked a certain memory from childhood may pop up. Everytime we hear a certain song or movie we may recollect a memory or an experience. This can be positive or negative depending on the experience. If there is a tragedy in our past and we don’t deal with it, it will haunt us because our left brain does not forget. If someone hurts us, our left brain tells us not to trust that person. We hold on to that. We can’t let it go. Our left brain won’t let it go. This is how tension and resentment starts. We are not able to let go and this is what Jill talks about. We fill our left brain with BAGGAGE. That baggage gets in the way of us being who and and what we want to be. This is is how we become single, solid and separate from the rest of the world. We are not unified. We are out for ourselves alone. The left side of the brain thinks in language. It affects our relationships. It prevents us from connecting and experiencing joy. It holds on to grudges and stories. It does not let us progress as human beings because our minds are always going with chatter and we listen to it and it controls us. It tells us what to do and how to react. It tells us how to respond and how to feel. It is full of interpretations. I feel it can be our enemy if we let it control us.
I was moved by the closing of this video. Jill shared that we can be loving, beautiful, compassionate people who choose to step to the right of our left hemispheres. She talks about taking back our power and how we are the lifeforce of the universe. We can choose how we want to be in the world. We can let go of the chatter in our minds and just be. We can be that GIANT person where we feel on top of the world and nothing affects us. I found it to be liberating. I found it to be refreshing. I found it to be inspirational and motivating. We don’t know how long we have on this earth. Why are we spending so much energy on things that don’t really mean that much in the scheme of things. We are cells! We are dust living in an orbit in space. Most of what we complain about does not really matter. Do we really need to put so much time into fighting a war and guns and killing? When you put things into perspective, the small stuff seems so trivial to me. This video has helped me realize that if I can let go of the thoughts in my left brain and add to the thoughts in my right brain, I will experience nirvana.
Creativity + Social Change, University of Connecticut
Media Reviewed:
TED - February 2008: Jill Bolte Taylor's Stroke of Insight
Jill Bolte Taylor got a research opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: She had a massive stroke, and watched as her brain functions -- motion, speech, self-awareness -- shut down one by one. An astonishing story. Brain researcher Jill Bolte Taylor studied her own stroke as it happened -- and has become a powerful voice for brain recovery.
Jill Bolte Taylor is an neuroanatomist who suffered a stroke. She experienced herself having the stroke for more than four hours. She studied herself from the inside out. It took eight years for her to have a full recovery. She wrote a book about her experience and has appeared on several talk shows to tell about her story. I found it very moving. I never realized that the left and right sides of our brain store completely separate information. The right side of the brain is where we make our dreams into reality. We decide what we want and we make it happen. Our thoughts turn into energy and we send that energy out into the universe. The universe gives back to us what are thoughts put out. Our cells communicate with one another and with chemicals in the brain. This is how we process information. The right side of the brain is where we are right now. In the present moment. Jill explains that we are energy beings all connected together. I can relate to this because when I dream of something or I put a lot of thought into something, it manifests. It is the energy carried in the thoughts that I put out and the universe gives me what I ask for. This makes perfect sense to me. The right side of the brain is where everything is peaceful and right and beautiful. It is the side where we have the power to choose. We can choose to be whole beings. We can choose to believe that we are all perfect just the way we are. We can choose to get along with one another and let go of our perceptions and judgments. We are at peace with ourselves and with everyone else.
The left side of the brain is very different. This is the side that lives in the past and lives in the future. This is the side where we catergorize and add details. This is the side where we attach memories, sounds and sights to. This is the side that we build on from when we are children. Every experience is a memory and a story and we file it away. The story reoccurs over and over. Everytime an applie pie is baked a certain memory from childhood may pop up. Everytime we hear a certain song or movie we may recollect a memory or an experience. This can be positive or negative depending on the experience. If there is a tragedy in our past and we don’t deal with it, it will haunt us because our left brain does not forget. If someone hurts us, our left brain tells us not to trust that person. We hold on to that. We can’t let it go. Our left brain won’t let it go. This is how tension and resentment starts. We are not able to let go and this is what Jill talks about. We fill our left brain with BAGGAGE. That baggage gets in the way of us being who and and what we want to be. This is is how we become single, solid and separate from the rest of the world. We are not unified. We are out for ourselves alone. The left side of the brain thinks in language. It affects our relationships. It prevents us from connecting and experiencing joy. It holds on to grudges and stories. It does not let us progress as human beings because our minds are always going with chatter and we listen to it and it controls us. It tells us what to do and how to react. It tells us how to respond and how to feel. It is full of interpretations. I feel it can be our enemy if we let it control us.
I was moved by the closing of this video. Jill shared that we can be loving, beautiful, compassionate people who choose to step to the right of our left hemispheres. She talks about taking back our power and how we are the lifeforce of the universe. We can choose how we want to be in the world. We can let go of the chatter in our minds and just be. We can be that GIANT person where we feel on top of the world and nothing affects us. I found it to be liberating. I found it to be refreshing. I found it to be inspirational and motivating. We don’t know how long we have on this earth. Why are we spending so much energy on things that don’t really mean that much in the scheme of things. We are cells! We are dust living in an orbit in space. Most of what we complain about does not really matter. Do we really need to put so much time into fighting a war and guns and killing? When you put things into perspective, the small stuff seems so trivial to me. This video has helped me realize that if I can let go of the thoughts in my left brain and add to the thoughts in my right brain, I will experience nirvana.
Commentary: On Creative Decisions
By Simone Maxwell
Creativity + Social Change, University of Connecticut
Media Reviewed:
According to Bob Sharp on http://explodingcreativity.com/, decision making based on intuition is not irrational, it is creative. So all of us are creative, since at one point or another, a decision was made based only on that knee-jerk feeling we had. Decisions that based on the first thought that enter our brains are actually made because of our life experiences. In the moment the decision is made, we are actually being creative. "Decision" is defined by E. Frank Harrison as a “moment of choice; an ongoing process of evaluation of alternatives with a view to selecting one or some combination of them to obtain the desired end.” I love this definition. It makes me feel like a decision is an accomplishment. Did you know that not making a decision is a decision? I knew this, of course, but actually hearing someone else say it is another thing completely.
It was a complete eye opener to learn that a group decision can be more creative and somewhat easier than when a decision is made alone. I am not sure I agree with this idea. Being the master of my own destiny is easier to manage with me, my decision, and my consequences. Making a choice in a group can have its benefits, however. If all goes wrong, there is someone to share the blame with.
Decisions as a creative process have actually changed my outlook on the whole scenario. I will now take pride in the decision-making process. It is amazing to me that we do something that just comes naturally to us without thinking of the steps we actually take. So today I learned that creativity, decisions and intuition all go hand in hand. It is something that I am happy to say I learned and happy to acknowledge I do daily.
E. Frank Harrison also came up with a decision making process that I am going to place the flow chart below. You can tell me if you agree or not. I am still working my way through them.
Creativity + Social Change, University of Connecticut
Media Reviewed:
Exploding Creativity Episode 4 - September 9, 2008: Decision Making and Creativity (click to listen to audio podcast)Who would believe that when you make an intuitive decision it is actually based on creativity? After the decision is made, we often exhaust our brain power, worrying about the consequences for the action we just completed. Not once did I believe that creativity and decision making were interlinked.
You can and will use creativity in decision making, and you will make decisions in your creative pursuits, and depending how you look at it, creativity and decision making look a lot alike.
According to Bob Sharp on http://explodingcreativity.com/, decision making based on intuition is not irrational, it is creative. So all of us are creative, since at one point or another, a decision was made based only on that knee-jerk feeling we had. Decisions that based on the first thought that enter our brains are actually made because of our life experiences. In the moment the decision is made, we are actually being creative. "Decision" is defined by E. Frank Harrison as a “moment of choice; an ongoing process of evaluation of alternatives with a view to selecting one or some combination of them to obtain the desired end.” I love this definition. It makes me feel like a decision is an accomplishment. Did you know that not making a decision is a decision? I knew this, of course, but actually hearing someone else say it is another thing completely.
It was a complete eye opener to learn that a group decision can be more creative and somewhat easier than when a decision is made alone. I am not sure I agree with this idea. Being the master of my own destiny is easier to manage with me, my decision, and my consequences. Making a choice in a group can have its benefits, however. If all goes wrong, there is someone to share the blame with.
Decisions as a creative process have actually changed my outlook on the whole scenario. I will now take pride in the decision-making process. It is amazing to me that we do something that just comes naturally to us without thinking of the steps we actually take. So today I learned that creativity, decisions and intuition all go hand in hand. It is something that I am happy to say I learned and happy to acknowledge I do daily.
E. Frank Harrison also came up with a decision making process that I am going to place the flow chart below. You can tell me if you agree or not. I am still working my way through them.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Commentary: On Making Things to Explore Identity
By Natalie Morris
Media Reviewed:
I believe as an individual that every human being has the capability of making a change through the use of creativity. However, to discover our creativity one has to appreciate his or her own individuality and recognize ways in which to express it. "Representing Identities part 1" by David Guantlett uses a method by which people make things as a way of exploring one's identity or experiences. He uses visual methods, such as drawings, videos, collages, etc. to get the brain working in a different way. David feels as if at any given moment people are thinking of several things at once. He offers a creative way for how people can create a meaningful dialog or narrative picture of one specific thing. He suggests using creative methods by which people can create a meaningful response to sum up their identities.
I found it interesting that he used Legos as a way of exploring one’s individuality. The study conducted involves having participants become familiar with the idea of using Legos to create an idea of thinking and building in metaphors. Then the participants actually build their identity physically, but in a metaphoric way. I love it -- an individual can use this creative method to track patterns of behavior they want to change or behavioral pattern in others. David uses Legos so that the individual can actually sum up their life as a whole. The participants also were asked to create things that influenced them. One of the things I like best about this study is that it has people from all walks of life who participated.
Participants felt as if the experience was revealing and emotional. I shall try it myself, for I might find out something I never knew about my self. This creative method can be used to show how people really feel in a particular environment. It can be used to understand one’s life. It is very interesting and I suggest anyone also try it. You might even come up with a creative method of exploring your own identity!
Media Reviewed:
Representing Identities: February 26, 2008
A short introduction to research where we ask people to make things as part of the process; with particular focus on the Lego identity study.
I believe as an individual that every human being has the capability of making a change through the use of creativity. However, to discover our creativity one has to appreciate his or her own individuality and recognize ways in which to express it. "Representing Identities part 1" by David Guantlett uses a method by which people make things as a way of exploring one's identity or experiences. He uses visual methods, such as drawings, videos, collages, etc. to get the brain working in a different way. David feels as if at any given moment people are thinking of several things at once. He offers a creative way for how people can create a meaningful dialog or narrative picture of one specific thing. He suggests using creative methods by which people can create a meaningful response to sum up their identities.
I found it interesting that he used Legos as a way of exploring one’s individuality. The study conducted involves having participants become familiar with the idea of using Legos to create an idea of thinking and building in metaphors. Then the participants actually build their identity physically, but in a metaphoric way. I love it -- an individual can use this creative method to track patterns of behavior they want to change or behavioral pattern in others. David uses Legos so that the individual can actually sum up their life as a whole. The participants also were asked to create things that influenced them. One of the things I like best about this study is that it has people from all walks of life who participated.
Participants felt as if the experience was revealing and emotional. I shall try it myself, for I might find out something I never knew about my self. This creative method can be used to show how people really feel in a particular environment. It can be used to understand one’s life. It is very interesting and I suggest anyone also try it. You might even come up with a creative method of exploring your own identity!
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Commentary: On Creativity in the Workplace from 'Just Shoot Me'
By Lissette Rios
Creativity + Social Change, University of Connecticut
Media Reviewed:
Commentary:
Communication is extremely important in our life. We need to have excellent communication skills at work, school, church, home, etc., in order to succeed. There are many people who know how to communicate well; others have bad or poor communication skills, while still others have no communication skills at all.
The video clip that I chose is from the sitcom, “JUST SHOOT ME.” This show is about a fashion magazine so you know that the screen writers always need to be creative when writing the episodes. In the video clip, we see that the employees are having a group dynamics session with a therapist. There was miscommunication within the staff so the owner of the Blush magazine decided to address the issue with the help of a therapist.
My opinion about this clip is that the originality was excellent. I love the therapist’s group dynamic and how he addressed the bad communication within the group. He said, “Today we are a car” and asked each one of the members to make a noise that resembles a car. The team started to make the noise, which sounded terrible. Then, he said, “That’s how it is when we communicate badly.” The exercise made the point across the team. I believe that this type of creative activity helps people to recognize their issues without pointing fingers. Once again, creativity is important in our life.
Creativity helps us to address a negative quality of someone without making the person feel bad or uncomfortable. Like the video clip showed (and we learned in class), these types of creative activities do not depend on age, length of employment, type of work, level of education, etc. In the process of any particular activity, we could learn to be non-judgmental. That did not happen on that episode, but hey, each character in “JUST SHOOT ME” has his or her personality, and sarcasm sometimes makes us laugh. It’s a great show, if you want to have a good laugh you ought to watch the reruns.
We should have creative exercises like this one in the workplace; especially for this particular issue, COMMUNICATION. I did a research on creative activities for the workplace and communication and came to the conclusion that they can be used as icebreakers or warm ups before a meeting. They aer simple, inexpensive and most of all, FUN. I will be doing one at work and I’ll ask everyone to provide their honest feedback because in our last pulse survey, communication was one of our weaknesses. The activity that I am planning on doing (see below) will cover the other side of communication which is, “good listening.”
Paper-Tearing Exercise
Time Allocation: 5 minutes
Materials: Blank 8 ½-by-11-inch sheets of paper for each participant
Instructions:
Creativity + Social Change, University of Connecticut
Media Reviewed:
Commentary:
Communication is extremely important in our life. We need to have excellent communication skills at work, school, church, home, etc., in order to succeed. There are many people who know how to communicate well; others have bad or poor communication skills, while still others have no communication skills at all.
The video clip that I chose is from the sitcom, “JUST SHOOT ME.” This show is about a fashion magazine so you know that the screen writers always need to be creative when writing the episodes. In the video clip, we see that the employees are having a group dynamics session with a therapist. There was miscommunication within the staff so the owner of the Blush magazine decided to address the issue with the help of a therapist.
My opinion about this clip is that the originality was excellent. I love the therapist’s group dynamic and how he addressed the bad communication within the group. He said, “Today we are a car” and asked each one of the members to make a noise that resembles a car. The team started to make the noise, which sounded terrible. Then, he said, “That’s how it is when we communicate badly.” The exercise made the point across the team. I believe that this type of creative activity helps people to recognize their issues without pointing fingers. Once again, creativity is important in our life.
Creativity helps us to address a negative quality of someone without making the person feel bad or uncomfortable. Like the video clip showed (and we learned in class), these types of creative activities do not depend on age, length of employment, type of work, level of education, etc. In the process of any particular activity, we could learn to be non-judgmental. That did not happen on that episode, but hey, each character in “JUST SHOOT ME” has his or her personality, and sarcasm sometimes makes us laugh. It’s a great show, if you want to have a good laugh you ought to watch the reruns.
We should have creative exercises like this one in the workplace; especially for this particular issue, COMMUNICATION. I did a research on creative activities for the workplace and communication and came to the conclusion that they can be used as icebreakers or warm ups before a meeting. They aer simple, inexpensive and most of all, FUN. I will be doing one at work and I’ll ask everyone to provide their honest feedback because in our last pulse survey, communication was one of our weaknesses. The activity that I am planning on doing (see below) will cover the other side of communication which is, “good listening.”
Paper-Tearing Exercise
Time Allocation: 5 minutes
Materials: Blank 8 ½-by-11-inch sheets of paper for each participant
Instructions:
- Tell the participants the following: “We are going to play a game that will show us some important things about communication. Pick up your sheet of paper and hold it in front of you. Now, close your eyes and follow the directions I will give you—and no peeking!" Participants cannot ask questions.
- Give the following directions, carrying them out yourself with your own sheet of paper and pausing after each instruction to give the group time to comply:
“The first thing I want you to do is to fold your sheet of paper in half. Now tear off the upper right-hand corner. Fold it in half again and tear off the upper left hand corner of the sheet. Fold it in half again. Now tear off the lower right-hand corner of the sheet.” - After the tearing is complete, say something like, “Now open your eyes, and let’s see what you have. If I did a good job of communicating and you did a good job of listening, all of our sheets should look the same!” Hold your sheet up for them to see. It is highly unlikely any sheet will match yours exactly.
- Observe the differences. There will probably be much laughter.
- Ask the group why no one’s paper matched yours. (You will probably get responses like “You didn’t let us ask questions!” or “Your directions could be interpreted in different ways.”) Then, lead into a presentation on the need for two-way communication in the workplace.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Imagination Conversation Set for Connecticut, April 19 in Hartford
CONNECTICUT TO EXPLORE CRITICAL ROLE OF IMAGINATION AS KEY TO FLOURISHING SOCIETY ... Connecticut Imagination Conversation is Part of 50-State Effort to Raise Awareness of Imagination: Why It Matters and How to Develop It in Our Lives and in Our Communities.
On April 19, 2010, the International Centre for Creativity and Imagination and the University of Connecticut, in affiliation with Lincoln Center Institute for the Arts in Education (LCI), will hold an Imagination Conversation at 7:00 p.m. at the University of Connecticut Greater Hartford Campus.
The Conversation will bring together leaders from an array of fields -- government, business, science, education, and the arts -- to explore the ways they experience and promote imagination in their work and communities. The goal of the Conversation is to present imagination as a key cognitive capacity, one that leads to creativity and innovation; and to help build awareness of imagination as a key skill in work and in life.
It is LCI's contention, as well as that of numerous scientists, government leaders, and educators, that imagination must be taught to children in our schools and nurtured in our communities. Applying imagination is crucial if Americans are to not only compete in the 21st-century marketplace, but create positive, flourishing communities that continually engage every citizen's creativity, imagination and ideas.
The Imagination Conversation will be in the auditorium of the Library Building at the University of Connecticut Greater Hartford Campus, 1800 Asylum Ave., West Hartford, Conn., 06117. The event begins with networking at 6 p.m. and the Imagination Conversation at 7 p.m. More details, along with parking and registration information, are available at:
http://www.appliedimagination.org
The Imagination Conversation is open to the public and will be recorded for broadcast on WNPR's Where We Live on Friday, April 23, at 9 a.m. WNPR's John Dankosky will moderate the Conversation with guests Steven Dahlberg and Scott Noppe-Brandon. Dahlberg is head of the New Milford, Conn.-based International Centre for Creativity and Imagination (ICCI) and teaches "Creativity + Social Change" at the University of Connecticut. Noppe-Brandon is executive director of Lincoln Center Institute and author of "Imagination First: Unlocking the Power of Possibility." Artists John O'Donnell and Ted Efremoff will visually map and document the Conversation while it happens. Students from the "Creativity + Social Change" class, invited participants from diverse sectors across the state, and the general public will also be involved in the Conversation.
This Conversation will focus on the role of imagination in education, creative community and economic development, and creative leadership in organizations. It seeks to build a relevant imagination-fueled agenda for the state to pursue. ICCI will coordinate follow-up action that emerges from this conversation, as well as additional future conversations.
“Creativity and imagination matter in every aspect of society,” says Dahlberg. “Imagination matters for engaging students and teachers in meaningful education. It matters for bringing new ideas into reality to improve the economy. And it matters for helping people express their creative capacities in their work and their communities. We hope to help connect people who want to tap into more of their imagination and apply it for creating positive change across this state.”
Imagination Conversations are expected to take place during the next two years in each of the 50 states. All of the Conversations will be documented and final proposals for nationwide educational reform will be made at a national Imagination Summit in New York in the summer or fall of 2011. At the Summit, Imagination Conversation findings and an action agenda will be presented to public policy makers, educators, legislators and the media in an effort to make cultivation of imagination a key element in our schools.
"Imagination can be described as having the ability to visualize new possibilities and the ability to ask, 'what if ...?'" says Noppe-Brandon. "Developing students' imaginations and teaching them to proceed from imaginative thinking to creative action is vital if they are to meet the challenges of today's world. If the United States is to maintain its position at the vanguard of innovation, it needs a workforce capable of finding fresh solutions to challenges and inventing groundbreaking products and services. LCI understands that imaginative learning in schools will produce such a population."
ICCI is dedicated to applying creativity to improve the well-being of individuals, organizations and communities. It promotes imagination and creativity through public events such as the monthly Creativity Networking series; professional development training for educators and business people; advocacy for creativity topics in local, national and international conferences; dissemination of creativity ideas through writing and commentary in various media; and teaching and guest lecturing at various universities.
The University of Connecticut's Bachelor of General Studies Program encourages imagination, collaboration and democratic participation through its Public and Community Engagement-themed courses in Storrs and Hartford and online.
Having recognized the global importance of imagination early on, LCI has established itself as a leader in the implementation of a method by which imagination is introduced into classrooms and used across the curriculum. Through the hands-on study of works of art, students develop their capacities to think imaginatively and critically, which serve them in all subject areas. With its programs reaching an estimated 390,000 students per year through its partnerships with schools across the U.S. and abroad, LCI is making an impact on the direction of education not just in New York but all over the world.
ABOUT THE HOSTING ORGANIZATIONS:
About Steven Dahlberg and the International Centre for Creativity and Imagination:
Steven Dahlberg is director of the International Centre for Creativity and Imagination, which is dedicated to applying creativity to improve the well-being of individuals, organizations and communities. He teaches "Creativity + Social Change" in the Public and Community Engagement theme at the University of Connecticut. He has nearly 20 years of experience in this field, and has worked with Yale University, Guggenheim Museum, Yahoo!, Americans for the Arts, Danbury Public Schools, UNESCO, Louisiana's Office of the Lt. Governor, New Economics Foundation, Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism, World Knowledge Forum, City of Providence, 3M, Aldrich Museum, State of Connecticut, and Rhode Island College, among other organizations. He has helped toy inventors launch a creativity consulting business, directed an international creativity conference, and taught an undergraduate creativity course for incarcerated men. Dahlberg edits the Applied Imagination blog, authored the foreword to the book, Education is Everybody's Business. He is particularly interested in creative community building, creative education, local food and sustainable agriculture, and creative aging.
About Lincoln Center Institute (LCI):
LCI is the educational cornerstone of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc., and is the model for arts education programs across the U.S. and abroad. Founded in 1975, the Institute is known for its inventive repertory, and brings music, dance, theater, visual arts, and architecture into classrooms in the New York City area, across the nation, and around the world. In more than three decades of outreach, LCI's approach has reached more than 20 million students, teachers, administrators, parents, community members and professors of education worldwide. The number is projected to increase in the next few years, thanks to LCI's highly successful professional development programs and Internet presence.
On April 19, 2010, the International Centre for Creativity and Imagination and the University of Connecticut, in affiliation with Lincoln Center Institute for the Arts in Education (LCI), will hold an Imagination Conversation at 7:00 p.m. at the University of Connecticut Greater Hartford Campus.
The Conversation will bring together leaders from an array of fields -- government, business, science, education, and the arts -- to explore the ways they experience and promote imagination in their work and communities. The goal of the Conversation is to present imagination as a key cognitive capacity, one that leads to creativity and innovation; and to help build awareness of imagination as a key skill in work and in life.
It is LCI's contention, as well as that of numerous scientists, government leaders, and educators, that imagination must be taught to children in our schools and nurtured in our communities. Applying imagination is crucial if Americans are to not only compete in the 21st-century marketplace, but create positive, flourishing communities that continually engage every citizen's creativity, imagination and ideas.
The Imagination Conversation will be in the auditorium of the Library Building at the University of Connecticut Greater Hartford Campus, 1800 Asylum Ave., West Hartford, Conn., 06117. The event begins with networking at 6 p.m. and the Imagination Conversation at 7 p.m. More details, along with parking and registration information, are available at:
http://www.appliedimagination.org
The Imagination Conversation is open to the public and will be recorded for broadcast on WNPR's Where We Live on Friday, April 23, at 9 a.m. WNPR's John Dankosky will moderate the Conversation with guests Steven Dahlberg and Scott Noppe-Brandon. Dahlberg is head of the New Milford, Conn.-based International Centre for Creativity and Imagination (ICCI) and teaches "Creativity + Social Change" at the University of Connecticut. Noppe-Brandon is executive director of Lincoln Center Institute and author of "Imagination First: Unlocking the Power of Possibility." Artists John O'Donnell and Ted Efremoff will visually map and document the Conversation while it happens. Students from the "Creativity + Social Change" class, invited participants from diverse sectors across the state, and the general public will also be involved in the Conversation.
This Conversation will focus on the role of imagination in education, creative community and economic development, and creative leadership in organizations. It seeks to build a relevant imagination-fueled agenda for the state to pursue. ICCI will coordinate follow-up action that emerges from this conversation, as well as additional future conversations.
“Creativity and imagination matter in every aspect of society,” says Dahlberg. “Imagination matters for engaging students and teachers in meaningful education. It matters for bringing new ideas into reality to improve the economy. And it matters for helping people express their creative capacities in their work and their communities. We hope to help connect people who want to tap into more of their imagination and apply it for creating positive change across this state.”
Imagination Conversations are expected to take place during the next two years in each of the 50 states. All of the Conversations will be documented and final proposals for nationwide educational reform will be made at a national Imagination Summit in New York in the summer or fall of 2011. At the Summit, Imagination Conversation findings and an action agenda will be presented to public policy makers, educators, legislators and the media in an effort to make cultivation of imagination a key element in our schools.
"Imagination can be described as having the ability to visualize new possibilities and the ability to ask, 'what if ...?'" says Noppe-Brandon. "Developing students' imaginations and teaching them to proceed from imaginative thinking to creative action is vital if they are to meet the challenges of today's world. If the United States is to maintain its position at the vanguard of innovation, it needs a workforce capable of finding fresh solutions to challenges and inventing groundbreaking products and services. LCI understands that imaginative learning in schools will produce such a population."
ICCI is dedicated to applying creativity to improve the well-being of individuals, organizations and communities. It promotes imagination and creativity through public events such as the monthly Creativity Networking series; professional development training for educators and business people; advocacy for creativity topics in local, national and international conferences; dissemination of creativity ideas through writing and commentary in various media; and teaching and guest lecturing at various universities.
The University of Connecticut's Bachelor of General Studies Program encourages imagination, collaboration and democratic participation through its Public and Community Engagement-themed courses in Storrs and Hartford and online.
Having recognized the global importance of imagination early on, LCI has established itself as a leader in the implementation of a method by which imagination is introduced into classrooms and used across the curriculum. Through the hands-on study of works of art, students develop their capacities to think imaginatively and critically, which serve them in all subject areas. With its programs reaching an estimated 390,000 students per year through its partnerships with schools across the U.S. and abroad, LCI is making an impact on the direction of education not just in New York but all over the world.
ABOUT THE HOSTING ORGANIZATIONS:
About Steven Dahlberg and the International Centre for Creativity and Imagination:
Steven Dahlberg is director of the International Centre for Creativity and Imagination, which is dedicated to applying creativity to improve the well-being of individuals, organizations and communities. He teaches "Creativity + Social Change" in the Public and Community Engagement theme at the University of Connecticut. He has nearly 20 years of experience in this field, and has worked with Yale University, Guggenheim Museum, Yahoo!, Americans for the Arts, Danbury Public Schools, UNESCO, Louisiana's Office of the Lt. Governor, New Economics Foundation, Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism, World Knowledge Forum, City of Providence, 3M, Aldrich Museum, State of Connecticut, and Rhode Island College, among other organizations. He has helped toy inventors launch a creativity consulting business, directed an international creativity conference, and taught an undergraduate creativity course for incarcerated men. Dahlberg edits the Applied Imagination blog, authored the foreword to the book, Education is Everybody's Business. He is particularly interested in creative community building, creative education, local food and sustainable agriculture, and creative aging.
About Lincoln Center Institute (LCI):
LCI is the educational cornerstone of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc., and is the model for arts education programs across the U.S. and abroad. Founded in 1975, the Institute is known for its inventive repertory, and brings music, dance, theater, visual arts, and architecture into classrooms in the New York City area, across the nation, and around the world. In more than three decades of outreach, LCI's approach has reached more than 20 million students, teachers, administrators, parents, community members and professors of education worldwide. The number is projected to increase in the next few years, thanks to LCI's highly successful professional development programs and Internet presence.
Friday, April 9, 2010
In What Ways Might Imagination Improve Society?
206 IDEAS GENERATED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT 'CREATIVITY + SOCIAL CHANGE' STUDENTS ON 6 APRIL 2010 - HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT
What's YOUR idea for how imagination might improve society? Add your ideas in the comments section below. And plan now to participate in the Connecticut Imagination Conversation on Monday, April 19, in Hartford, Connecticut ... or host your own Imagination Conversation in your community.
What's YOUR idea for how imagination might improve society? Add your ideas in the comments section below. And plan now to participate in the Connecticut Imagination Conversation on Monday, April 19, in Hartford, Connecticut ... or host your own Imagination Conversation in your community.
What's YOUR idea for how imagination might improve society? Add your ideas in the comments section below. And plan now to participate in the Connecticut Imagination Conversation on Monday, April 19, in Hartford, Connecticut ... or host your own Imagination Conversation in your community.
- Communicating
- Open communication between groups
- Stop cancer
- Stop juvenile diabetes
- Stop crimes within the same community
- Feed the world
- Improve living conditions
- Respect people's sexuality
- Discover or create new ways to safely and effectively mass produce food and other products
- Lead to more openness, diversity, tolerance and integration of differences
- Encourage creative conversations
- Invest in creative education
- End child abuse
- Education will become an adventure that children will crave - no more dropping out
- Tell them that you are happy with imagination, then they will join you
- Teach the youth manners and morals so that they can grow
- Create tolerance
- Stop hunger
- Celebrate diversity
- Neighbors of the community care for each other more
- Stop poverty
- Be positive
- Stop hate
- Appreciate or accept people stepping out of the norm
- I can use my imagination to encourage prisoners
- Think before you act
- Treat one the way you want to be treated
- Providing ideas with individuals in society to solve problems
- Teamwork or brainstorming in a group
- Clarity of mind and soul
- Respect life as a whole
- Read other people's minds
- Work with other people's strengths
- Help those who need us the most
- Fight racism -> open mindedness
- Peace with others
- Improve self-esteem
- Encourage more active, positive citizen engagement
- Encourage others to join organization
- End homelessness
- Creative ways to be healthy, maintain health, regain health, defeat disease
- Show the society how important they are, then they will accept it
- Through education
- Team work
- Talking things out
- Appreciation of different types of beauty
- Fly to new, livable planets
- By laughing
- Build a healthier place for my kids and other kids
- Open-mindedness
- Make a commitment
- Love the curvalicious
- Travel to new dimensions
- Travel through time and space
- I can use my imagination to help my own community
- End frivolous spending in government
- To infinity and beyond - explore the universe within and without
- By coming up with different solutions for different issues
- Helping neighbors, taking care of each other's children, watching out for one another
- Allowing expression through art, music, theater and dance
- Reading books
- Give importance to all animals
- Have a moment of silent (regrouping)
- Live life ... one life, one blood, one love
- Make batteries that never have to recharge for my cell phone and laptop
- Make batteries that are environmentally friendly when disposed or recycled
- Eliminate existing regulations against farmers in Connecticut
- Open new doors
- Greater-good technology
- Warm, nurturing environment to support the development of great ideas
- Through education, broadcasting
- Through billboards
- Playing a game on team building
- Promote trust among individuals
- "The world can live as one"
- Live forever - never die
- Don't be afraid of death
- Stop discrimination among us
- Say no to Botox
- Play
- Get kids to be more physically active and healthy
- Move
- I can use my imagination to improve the unemployment rate
- Creative community building - creating jobs
- Build magnificent cities - buildings, gathering places, parks, museums, schools, etc.
- Make sufficient information available to the community
- Visiting the sick
- Helping those in need (homeless)
- Believing in yourself
- Make veggies taste better
- Build places that encourage creativity, instead of limiting it (i.e., Billings Forge and the G. Fox Building, respectively)
- Encourage kids to continue with school and get educated
- "Imagine there's no hunger, I wonder if we can"
- Plant a tree
- By communication
- Travel to the past
- Help third world countries
- Bring out technologies that do not already exist. Similar to how real technologies can follow the imaginative, fiction-based technologies proposed in science fiction. How culture and arts can "invent" technology.
- I can help the youth thing critically and explore their creativity
- Creating meaningful jobs, reducing unemployment
- Create/implement ways to care for and preserve the earth for generations to come
- Make creativity a learning tool for society
- Live Love Laugh
- Have a social gathering
- Love your neighbors
- Less serious
- Downloadable intelligence and knowledge (like in the Matrix)
- It could give us new games to play
- Share more with people in the community
- Living for today
- Spread the word by gathering with others or making a Web site for a fundraiser.
- Interact with others more
- Imagination can improve society through additional ideas being deposited into the "idea bank" and when there are more options, it can lead to more solutions to problems
- Decrease the crimes among teenagers
- Increase ideas among everyone (not just children)
- Educate children to be creative
- Spread the love
- Encourage uniqueness
- Marketplace of ideas
- I can bring peace to the world
- End drug abuse
- Life will be interesting, stimulating, purposeful and a delight
- Involve some stipends; it will bring people's interest
- Ignite idea that would improve the community
- Having dinner together - everyone likes to eat
- Love like you haven't been hurt before
- Humor - entertainment
- Comedians will have better jokes and can make us laugh in different ways
- Help people in the community to be more humble and to care for others
- Open communication
- Get some fresh air and fresh ideas
- Live Love Laugh for a better me
- Improve self-esteem and community confidence
- I can use my imagination to create a farm
- Improve or encourage people to eat healthier since one of my imaginings is about promoting organic food
- Stop judgment
- Improve the environment
- Improve economy
- Lead to healthier school lunches
- Lead to healthier planet and humans
- I can spread love throughout the world
- Proper treatment of animals
- Crime will decrease as there is openness, acceptance, a place for all
- It will create jobs; many will participate
- Share ideas
- Hand shaking and hugging each other
- Peace and love for every creature in the world
- Stop greed and pointless want in society
- Lead to society being more collaborative as opposed to individualistic -> solve problems together
- Increase mental capacity about a problem
- I can join different organizations within the community and help them resolve issues
- Decrease unemployment
- Accept each other
- More advertisements/commercials
- Through prayers
- Listen to others
- Less technology and more free play (outside)
- "Imagine all the people, living life in peace"
- Birth control that is 100% effective
- Guns that are truly idiot-proof
- Decrease healthy activities in kids in our community
- Go shopping
- By maximizing its potential
- Establish better problem solving skills to introduce to children in school
- By fostering problem solving potential in students and society's youth
- My imagination can help encourage others
- I can bring a sense of joy to others
- Reduce teen drug abuse
- Harmony and connectedness and unity among all cultures
- Do it in many different ways, even in different languages, others will enjoy
- Create something to challenge the community
- Don't be judgmental
- Challenge everyone to be the person they were meant to be; no judgment if that person turns out to be different than you expected
- Open minded
- Growth
- Defer judgment
- Improve existing ideas
- Keeping a smile on people's faces
- Decrease homelessness
- Develop spirituality
- Make known to the society why it is important
- Be creative in arts and music
- Develop strategies as a team or group
- Dance
- "No need for greed or hunger, a brotherhood of man"
- Never have traffic jams on the highway
- Exploring new areas and investing tourist dollars in them
- Focus on those young kids forgotten by parents and provide them with the love their parents don't give them
- Free spirit
- New ideas
- Globalization
- Defer judgment
- Engage students more in their learning experience
- Defer judgment
- I can create a community organization to improve the community
- Creative after-school programs
- Being there for each other in neighborhoods
- Keep kids out of trouble
- Purpose and work for all
- Do it with others, you will succeed
- Go hiking with kids
- Bring more family togetherness
- The world is your family, embrace your diversity
- Stop hate and war
- Help globalize an economy while preventing the fall of local business
- Care more for our elderly
# # #
67 IDEAS GENERATED BY THE RHODE ISLAND COLLEGE 'THE AMERICAN NONPROFIT SECTOR AND PHILANTHROPY II' STUDENTS ON 7 APRIL 2010 - PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLANDWhat's YOUR idea for how imagination might improve society? Add your ideas in the comments section below. And plan now to participate in the Connecticut Imagination Conversation on Monday, April 19, in Hartford, Connecticut ... or host your own Imagination Conversation in your community.
- By creating a bike trail that goes through the whole town
- Clean-up crews for the community
- Neighborhood closeness to reduce crime/increase community
- Help community to produce better housing for diverse people
- Imagination could show people parts of the place they live like they've never seen them before
- Dig a deep, underground housing complex
- Build better buildings
- Make environment of community
- More conducive to green technology - less polluted
- Could add beauty to community art projects, music, opportunities to participate
- Imagine ways to be more energy efficient
- Have a community-wide BBQ
- Creativity in finding solutions to health problems
- Create dams and levies
- Think out of day-to-day procedures -> fill someone else's shoes for a day (i.e., public/union workers and laymen)
- Space travel
- Off to civilization (arts, theater, etc)
- Better public welfare systems
- Improve different fuel sources
- Renewable energy
- New ways of communication
- Improve transportation
- Make community more fun to live in
- Create another system in some part of space (zoning)
- Better government system
- Better transportation system
- Better schools
- Better cars
- More ways to share resources
- Increase social interaction
- Thinking outside the box for creative solutions to common problems
- Better land use
- Imagining a better community - like better schools - imagine what we wanted schools to be filled with when we were kids - putting it into action
- Children govern the adults as they have better grip on imagination
- Offer community-wide movie showings
- Improve arts
- Find different resources - imagine possible venues
- Better ways to share resources
- More accessible buildings with less technology handprint
- Provide creative ways for people to make social connections - community projects
- Find new uses for the resources/food sources near you
- Have a community garden to grow food
- Improve environment
- Create a center for the arts
- Community cooking classes - take garden product and put in school lunches
- To expand people's minds to new things
- To expand the local business base of the community
- Provide opportunities for people to be things they've imagined - musicians, painter, teacher ...
- Have a town-wide pajama day
- Improve opportunities for high school graduates
- Healthier consumer products/food
- "Own" a block for clean up and community pride
- Time travel
- Imagination can give a community a different perception of old things
- Recycle old things into props; or add areas in parks with toy boxes or props
- Have playgrounds on every block
- Better ways toward health care
- Create climate of creativity to problem solve as community
- Get out of our houses and interact with people
- Better transportation for people with mobility problems
- New social interactions that are authentic, unplugged and involve storytelling
- Have a community clean-up day
- Creative activities in classrooms
- Create a community center
- Recycle end products to use waste in different ways
- Just go clean up a neighborhood without asking for anything
- Involve more people in volunteer projects for community
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Creativity in the Classroom Workshop at The Aldrich - Monday
CREATIVITY IN THE CLASSROOM
A creative education workshop for teachers, administrators, and parents ... with Facilitator Steven Dahlberg, Director, International Centre for Creativity and Imagination
==========================
MONDAY, MARCH 22, 2010, 4:00-6:30 P.M.
The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum
258 Main Street, Ridgefield, CT 06877
$30 (members)/$35 (non-members)
.2 CEUs available
Register online:
http://www.aldrichart.org/events/?id=642
==========================
CREATIVITY IN THE CLASSROOM
Creativity includes -- and is more than -- the arts. Creative thinking is a twenty-first century skill that applies to all subjects, all grade levels, and all ages. It is a skill that prepares students and adults for a rapidly changing world, where complex problems do not have pre-defined, easy solutions.
Creativity involves creative and critical thinking skills that can be taught, practiced, and applied in all curriculums. In this workshop, you will:
* Explore what creativity is, who has it, and how to unleash more of it.
* Think about thinking ... and learn how to think in new ways.
* Learn and practice applied creative thinking skills.
* Discover styles and types of creative thinking within the creative process.
* Connect creativity to the classroom.
ABOUT THE FACILITATOR
Steven Dahlberg is head of the International Centre for Creativity and Imagination, which is dedicated to applying creativity to improve the well-being of individuals, organizations and communities. He works with the Public and Community Engagement program at the University of Connecticut,
where he teaches the "Creativity + Social Change" course. More info at:
http://www.appliedimagination.org
REGISTER NOW
For registration and further information please contact:
Suzanne Ryan
Museum Educator
The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum
seryan @ aldrichart . org
203.438.4519
A creative education workshop for teachers, administrators, and parents ... with Facilitator Steven Dahlberg, Director, International Centre for Creativity and Imagination
==========================
MONDAY, MARCH 22, 2010, 4:00-6:30 P.M.
The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum
258 Main Street, Ridgefield, CT 06877
$30 (members)/$35 (non-members)
.2 CEUs available
Register online:
http://www.aldrichart.org/events/?id=642
==========================
CREATIVITY IN THE CLASSROOM
Creativity includes -- and is more than -- the arts. Creative thinking is a twenty-first century skill that applies to all subjects, all grade levels, and all ages. It is a skill that prepares students and adults for a rapidly changing world, where complex problems do not have pre-defined, easy solutions.
Creativity involves creative and critical thinking skills that can be taught, practiced, and applied in all curriculums. In this workshop, you will:
* Explore what creativity is, who has it, and how to unleash more of it.
* Think about thinking ... and learn how to think in new ways.
* Learn and practice applied creative thinking skills.
* Discover styles and types of creative thinking within the creative process.
* Connect creativity to the classroom.
ABOUT THE FACILITATOR
Steven Dahlberg is head of the International Centre for Creativity and Imagination, which is dedicated to applying creativity to improve the well-being of individuals, organizations and communities. He works with the Public and Community Engagement program at the University of Connecticut,
where he teaches the "Creativity + Social Change" course. More info at:
http://www.appliedimagination.org
REGISTER NOW
For registration and further information please contact:
Suzanne Ryan
Museum Educator
The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum
seryan @ aldrichart . org
203.438.4519
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Ken Robinson ... Again on Creativity and Education
[15 March 2010 - The Bonnie Hunt Show] Sir Ken Robinson shares what isn't working with our teaching system in schools.
Commentary: On James O’Brien's PopTech Talk ... Hands-on Education
By Angela Hyde
Creativity + Social Change, University of Connecticut
Media Reviewed:
The current education system in the United States is failing many of the young people it is meant to prepare to take their places as responsible, contributing members of modern society. The system as it exists is archaic, focusing on teaching knowledge and skills that are no longer relevant in today’s knowledge-based global economy. Many students are being totally lost in the system, missing out not only on personal fulfillment and growth, but also on the ability to become productive, engaged workers and citizens. Is there another way to approach how we educate our youth so that they are truly prepared to enter the world after high school? Is it possible to nurture and develop their innate curiosity into a lifelong love of learning that provides the foundation to become the problem solvers and innovators of tomorrow?
James O’Brien, principal and founder of the Brooklyn Community Arts and Media High School (BCAM), is building an environment at that school to tackle these challenges, employing unconventional methods and approaches. The mission at BCAM is to support and provide a relevant education to ninth through twelfth graders, preparing them for college and careers beyond high-school graduation. The challenge is heightened by the additional issues of daily urban life: student literacy capabilities that range from college-ready to third- and fourth-grade reading levels; a student population that feels alienated and unmotivated and that lives in an environment of violence, crime and gang affiliations.
To implement their goals, the innovative staff at BCAM developed a “21st Century Professional Preparatory Model Curriculum,” which uses a three-pronged approach to educating students: academics, creative arts as part of the core curriculum, and professional development. Mr. O’Brien discusses how the school meets students at their level and works with them to develop their talents and skills. Academics are steeped in the inquiry model, and students are taught to relate the lessons learned in academics with what is happening in their lives and to connect with their communities. Because in New York state all students are required to pass five Regent exams in order to graduate from high school, preparation for those tests is incorporated into the academics portion of the curriculum. Arts, which include fine arts and media arts, are required for three years to foster personal expression and creativity. To foster professional development, the school partners with professional organizations and businesses where students serve internships that involve them in the work world. Mr. O’Brien is pursuing paid internships, which would give the high school students added incentive to be truly “invested” in their work and futures.
While BCAM is still in its infancy, it is an example of how educators are going outside of the current education model to create vital, engaged education systems that address the needs of young people and their world.
For more information on the state of education in the United States and a look at how others are revolutionizing education, check out these Web sites/video clips:
Creativity + Social Change, University of Connecticut
Media Reviewed:
PopTech: James O'Brien: Hands-on Education
2009 PopTech Fellow James O’Brien assembled a staff of like-minded educators to create BCAM – Brooklyn Community Arts & Media High School. The fledgling educational-innovation tank combines performance-based academics and professional training in media and arts to prepare teenagers for success in the 21st century.
The current education system in the United States is failing many of the young people it is meant to prepare to take their places as responsible, contributing members of modern society. The system as it exists is archaic, focusing on teaching knowledge and skills that are no longer relevant in today’s knowledge-based global economy. Many students are being totally lost in the system, missing out not only on personal fulfillment and growth, but also on the ability to become productive, engaged workers and citizens. Is there another way to approach how we educate our youth so that they are truly prepared to enter the world after high school? Is it possible to nurture and develop their innate curiosity into a lifelong love of learning that provides the foundation to become the problem solvers and innovators of tomorrow?
James O’Brien, principal and founder of the Brooklyn Community Arts and Media High School (BCAM), is building an environment at that school to tackle these challenges, employing unconventional methods and approaches. The mission at BCAM is to support and provide a relevant education to ninth through twelfth graders, preparing them for college and careers beyond high-school graduation. The challenge is heightened by the additional issues of daily urban life: student literacy capabilities that range from college-ready to third- and fourth-grade reading levels; a student population that feels alienated and unmotivated and that lives in an environment of violence, crime and gang affiliations.
To implement their goals, the innovative staff at BCAM developed a “21st Century Professional Preparatory Model Curriculum,” which uses a three-pronged approach to educating students: academics, creative arts as part of the core curriculum, and professional development. Mr. O’Brien discusses how the school meets students at their level and works with them to develop their talents and skills. Academics are steeped in the inquiry model, and students are taught to relate the lessons learned in academics with what is happening in their lives and to connect with their communities. Because in New York state all students are required to pass five Regent exams in order to graduate from high school, preparation for those tests is incorporated into the academics portion of the curriculum. Arts, which include fine arts and media arts, are required for three years to foster personal expression and creativity. To foster professional development, the school partners with professional organizations and businesses where students serve internships that involve them in the work world. Mr. O’Brien is pursuing paid internships, which would give the high school students added incentive to be truly “invested” in their work and futures.
While BCAM is still in its infancy, it is an example of how educators are going outside of the current education model to create vital, engaged education systems that address the needs of young people and their world.
For more information on the state of education in the United States and a look at how others are revolutionizing education, check out these Web sites/video clips:
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Commentary: On Ken Robinson's TED Talk ... Schools Kill Creativity
By Brooke Smith
Creativity + Social Change, University of Connecticut
Media Reviewed:
Creativity + Social Change, University of Connecticut
Media Reviewed:
TED Conference: February 2006
Creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson challenges the way we're educating our children. He champions a radical rethink of our school systems, to cultivate creativity and acknowledge multiple types of intelligence. In this talk, he makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.
Background:
I watched a video presentation from the TED Conference. The ultimate goal of TED is to highlight, study, and show how one can use the gift of human imagination. The man giving the speech was Sir Ken Robinson. He grew up in England and moved to California later in life. The speech was easy to listen to and humorous. Sir Ken Robinson used to be a university professor but now writes and speaks about creativity and education. The speech took place in Monterey, California, in February 2006 during a four-day TED Conference.
Commentary:
This video relates to our class in many ways. Sir Ken Robinson spoke about the main goal of changing our education system and how we use this system to teach our young children. He believes that creativity is the backbone to every individual and that traditional education teaches children how to conform to become studious while losing their creativity. According to him, the definition of creativity is, "the process of having original ideas that have value." In class, we spoke about this exact concern with the educational system. I believe that teachers should modify the way they attempt to conduct their classrooms. According to the video, education was created before the 1900s to meet the needs of industrialization. The most useful subjects back then were reading, writing and mathematics. This time period began steering children away from things they enjoyed because there was no future in being a musician or a dancer. Instead, the goal was to force everyone to become academic and find careers that they may not enjoy but will obtain financial success.
Sir Ken Robinson said: "We have a huge vested interest in [education], partly because it's education that's meant to take us into this future that we can't grasp." I agree with this statement. Traditional education and the subjects it deems important have become outdated. The times have changed and it is time we revamp the goal, focus and purpose of education. If we do this, we can better prepare our children for the uncertain future and the necessary skills needed to be successful today.
The speaker believed that children "all have tremendous talents, we [adults and education] squander them." How do we create schools and education to stop dismissing creativity and talent? This question was asked in class. I do not believe that there is just one change that would fix the educational system. Instead, it is many little changes such as teaching style, use of technology, etc., that would help begin a new style of learning. Children are full of imagination and talent. This is the main reason I love my job. I go to work every day and learn more from the children than they learn from me. They may not know that they do this, but I love their innocence, imaginations, ideas and passion. Children are very passionate about most of the things they do. "Kids will take a chance, even if they don't know how to do something or why they are, they still try," Robinson said. It is only through our educational eystem and adults telling children "No" that we hinder and/or stop children's creativity.
I took down many interesting things that Sir Ken Robinson said. These are just a few of the quotes that stuck with me.
- Creativity is as important now as literacy.
- If you not prepared to be wrong we will never be original.
- The challenge is how to remain an artist, because we were all born as one. (quoting Picasso)
- Highly brilliant people and brilliantly creative people no longer think this way because of being STIGMATIZED in school.
This video was easy to watch and full of valuable information on why the need to change the educational hierarchy is necessary to adequately prepare future generations. Instead, we are setting children up for failure. A degree no longer holds as much value as it once did. Everyone has them now. Instead, you have to continue your education and obtain higher degrees like a master's degree or law degree. It is time for a change to our system. How can we as individuals begin this change? Will it help future generations if we do?
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
On Creative Thinking ... "The Dot and the Line"
The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics
Once upon a time there was a sensible straight line who was hopelessly in love with a beautiful dot. But the dot, though perfect in every way, only had eyes for a wild and unkempt squiggle. All of the line's romantic dreams were in vain, until he discovered . . . angles! Now, with newfound self-expression, he can be anything he wants to be--a square, a triangle, a parallelogram. . . . And that's just the beginning! First published in 1963 and made into an Academy Award-winning animated short film, here is a supremely witty love story with a twist that reveals profound truths about relationships--both human and mathematical--sure to tickle lovers of all ages.
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