Picasso in 21st Century Education

Picasso didn't start out creating abstract works of art. His early expressions were traditional. I wonder if his transformation came about when he began to focus on his belief that all children are born artists and that the trick is to remain an artist as we grow up? My feeling is that if a talented artist can recalibrate his creativity, then talented teachers can do the same. After listening to Ken Robinson, I've come to believe it is possible to propose and implement a theory of educational change through powerful pilot programs with new technologies. We just need a Picasso-like program to jump start the effort that will be needed to gather individuals to bring about such a change. Teachers must look through Picasso's eyes to begin to determine how we might transform education. We must determine ways to rearrange the components so that children hold onto their divergent thinking.

Sir Ken Robinson comments on the need for a global revolution in education in "Creatively Speaking: Parts 1 and 2" and in "Schools Must Validate Artistic Expression." He feels there are actually two climate crises happening simultaneously: the crisis portrayed in Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" and the human resources crises playing out everyday in classrooms worldwide.

Education needs to be transformed--not reformed. Robinson states that it is time to devote ourselves to reconnecting with creativity and intelligence and that everyone can reconnect with their creativity by working in school systems with teachers who meet the 21st century challenge to cultivate creativity across whole systems.

Robinson defines creativity as the process of having original ideas that have value. Creativity is not a gift or a scattered wish but rather it is a process that can be learned. "I'm not creative translates to I don't know how." He wonders what education would look like if divergent thinking were taught as opposed to linear thinking? An assessment is shared that charted the decline of genius. In children aged 3-5, 98% were divergent thinkers. When the same children were assessed between the ages of 8-10, the percentage dropped to 32%. At 13-15 years old, the percentage of genius was 18%. The good news in examining this data is that we all start out with the ability to think in divergent ways.

Sir Ken goes on to note that current trends and standardized tests are narrowing our curriculum. He feels we need a new creative renaissance using expanding technologies to improve teaching and learning so that our curriculum, assessments and pedagogy are interdisciplinary and broad based. This causes me to wonder how he interprets the statistics coming out of China and India that offered a powerful punch in the "Did You Know? 3.0" video clip. Does this information work together or is there now a Linear Camp and a Divergent Camp?