ARTiculation: Solving problems... creatively

Last week, as I scrolled through my Facebook feed in bed – sorry Oprah, I know I’m not supposed to – I came across this: “Of the 3 million available jobs today, less than 20 per cent require a four-year degree. We’re lending money we don’t have to kids who can’t pay it back so they can educate themselves for jobs that no longer exist.”

In our current education system, the importance is heavily placed on finding a job and making money as a post-grad. Most of us grew up being force-fed the idea that you have to go to college or university in order to be successful. But there is a major flaw in this idea, and it’s one that has its heels dug so deep into the system that it’s now the backbone of how North America’s educational system is structured.

I wholly believe that education is as important as they do, I just don’t think it’s for the same reasons.

I’d like to introduce Ken Robinson into the conversation.

He is a widely recognized leader in the development of creativity, having consulted governments in Europe, Asia and North America. And he believes that education and creativity can not only co-exist but thrive in relationship with one another.

“Creativity is the gift of human intelligence,” he says in the preface in his book Out of Our Minds. “Yet many people wonder if they have any creative abilities at all.”

“Realizing our creative potential is partly a question of finding our medium, of being in our element. Education should help us to achieve this, but too often it does not and too many people are instead displaced from their own true talents.”

Here’s the problem: the way we learn has not adapted to the times in which we’re learning. Sure, teachers are using SmartBoards and iPads now, but the strategy behind what we’re teaching hasn’t evolved.

Our current system was developed largely to create workers during the Industrial Revolution. When factories began popping up, they needed skilled workers to fill the positions. So they set up a system to create them, sort of like an assembly line in it’s own right. Standardized and efficient from an economic viewpoint.

“The more complex the world becomes, the more creative we need to be to meet its challenges” Robinson continues.

This is applicable both on a societal and individual level.

I believe our education system needs to be overhauled to produce adults who can think and analyze a situation critically, not just able to do one specific job. That type of intelligence can be used for a great number of problem- solving scenarios, not just as a cog in the economic mill.

Creativity is not only about painting a picture, snapping a photo or writing an article. It’s about finding unique perspectives and ultimately, solutions. The creative process is applicable to most every facet of life, not just traditional, fine art like we generally imagine.

We shouldn’t be going to school to educate ourselves for jobs that no longer exist, we should be educating ourselves because knowledge is power, and heaven knows we, as a people need to be able to pull it together, pool our resources and get shit done for the world we live in.

Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.