Reading response 4

It is not hard to see that the arts often take a back seat to traditional curriculum in school, those being reading, writing and math. But what are we losing by not helping kids develop creatively? Ken Robinson who speaks on “ How Schools Kill Creativity” seems to believe we are losing a lot. In his speech Mr. Robinson gives the example of Jillian Linn, who was the choreographer for such famous plays as Cats and Phantom of The Opera. When Ms. Linn was in school as a young girl she was never able to sit still it seemed and it eventually became such a problem that her mother was called in. At this time they explained the problem to her mother and the principle asked to talk to Ms. Linns mother outside the office, and as they walked out he turned on the radio. Before long Jillian Linn began moving to the music, at which time the principal proclaimed that she wasn’t sick, and she didn’t have a problem, she was just a dancer. She went on to dance in and choreograph two of the most famous plays of all time. What Mr. Robinson was trying to argue with this is example is how much could have been lost if her creativity had been stifled, and she was just given Riddilin and told she had A.D.D. , much the same as happens to a lot of kids these days. I believe what Mr. Robinson is ultimately trying to argue would be we are not teaching children to think creatively. In order to make well rounded citizens, which is the idea behind so much school in different areas, we need to teach them to approach situations and confrontation creatively. Mr. Robinson argues that the way schools are set up now, with a traditional curriculum that doesn’t even see the arts as second or third, there is no way we are doing this.