20110114 Do Schools Kill Creativity (1)

Can students really be creative at school?

High school students Erin and Paul are talking after class.

Conversation

Erin: What do you think of Mr. Powers' assignment?

Paul: It doesn't matter what I think. Mr. Powers did all the thinking for us. He told us exactly what to do and how to do it.

Erin: What's wrong with that?

Paul: There's no creativity involved. If I decide to do the assignment differently, I'll get a bad grade.

Erin: Why would you want to do it differently?

Paul: Well, I might want to be creative. Maybe I want to think outside the box. But schools kill creativity. Mr. powers' assignment is a perfect example.

Erin: Schools don't kill creativity. The structure, the established hours and the schedules all help prepare us for the expectations of the real world.

Paul: Schools just ensure we're all alike. In school, we are taught to get the right answers and to conform.

Erin: But we have to learn skills like reading and math to be anything in life.Those subjects have right and wrong answers.

Paul: I know. But we also need to be able to play with idea and not just complete assignments.

//== Chat room ==//

kill 殺死

=> destroy

kill creativity 扼殺創意

kill time 打發時間

kill the engine 停止引擎