Posted By: MacEwen Patterson
To: Members in Keep the Arts in Public Schools
Newsweek - Creativity Crisis in America; what's wrong and how do we fix it?
I'm so grateful for our partnership with Americans for the Arts. A friend over there pointed out the cover article in this week’s edition of Newsweek, “Creativity in America”. It reaffirms that now is the moment to be engaged in this work. If you think that we are alone in understanding that the current moment represents a key opportunity for the arts and education reform, think again.
 
I encourage you to read the article in full; here’s the link: The Creativity Crisis - Newsweek - http://www.newsweek.com/2010/07/10/the-creativity-crisis.html
 
These really hit me:

“It’s too early to determine conclusively why U.S. creativity scores are declining [but one likely culprit] is the lack of creativity development in our schools. In effect, it’s left to the luck of the draw who becomes creative: there’s no concerted effort to nurture the creativity of all children.”
 
“Around the world, other countries are making creativity development a national priority. The European Union designated 2009 as the European Year of Creativity and Innovation, holding conferences on the neuroscience of creativity, financing teacher training, and instituting problem-based learning programs—curricula driven by real-world inquiry—for both children and adults. In China there has been widespread education reform to extinguish the drill-and-kill teaching style.”
 
“Researchers say creativity should be taken out of the art room and put into homeroom.”
 
The article goes further in challenging the arts to articulate the unique value they bring to training and incubating the habits of creativity. I know Americans for the Arts is engaged in pushing the envelope to answer this important question. I hope KAIPS members will keep it in mind as we engage in our work.

Share this article with friends. Applaud the mainstream media for uncovering such a key issue. Just a few weeks ago, I asked everyone to reach out to the press. That email unfortunately never got sent, just posted.

But look what happened. This is a response we can be proud of. Let's ask for more, go bigger, create real results, like a generation of children who can invent a world that works for everyone through creativity, innovation, collaboration and care.