[p2p-research] newsweek on The Creativity Crisis

Mon Jul 19 17:09:27 CEST 2010

IMHO, there is no single (simplistic) cause as would be suggested by TV or
the internet. Since I don't know what is happening in other countries my
remarks are confined to the U.S. alone.

Several years back TCFIR commissioned an ethnography of a kindergarten class
in a metro Denver, CO school. What was evident from the qualitative
narrative was learning core skills was less important than management and
social control. Staying on task and within the behavioral boundaries was
primary to exploration and discovery. OK, I know that one observation does
not make a good predictor. (One swallow doesn't make a summer). On
investigation we found that this style of pedagogy was pervasive across
schools and districts. So some generalization is possible.

To the point: For creativity and innovation to survive and thrive there must
be climate where being right or wrong is less important than the process of
discovery. Rigid social control trumps this process. In the U.S.,
standardized testing has (right/wrong) taken priority over measures of
critical thinking. This is the subject of great national debate and little
resolution.

T.A. Bells (former secretary of Education) set this trend in motion with his
1983 book, "A Nation at Risk". By the 1990s the effects were in full bloom
in U.S. Education and then cast in concrete by the passage of HR-1 (No Child
Left Behind). This law made standardized testing the instrument of academic
and social control.

The Newsweek article simply described the effect of this law and what many
have know to be the ultimate consequences.

What horrifies me is that many nations are following the U.S. over the
precipice of rigid standardized education.

Please do not think I see this as the only explanation. I truly appreciate
the complexity of this problem.

R

From: p2presearch-bounces at listcultures.org
[mailto:p2presearch-bounces at listcultures.org] On Behalf Of Michel Bauwens
Sent: Monday, July 19, 2010 12:00 AM
To: p2p research network
Subject: Re: [p2p-research] newsweek on The Creativity Crisis

Michael, and others, 

do you have any specific idea of why creativity started declining in the
90's, and not before?

seems to me that it is too late to blame TV for this, and to early to blame
the internet which only became in full usage in the late 90's

changes in the school system?

otherwise, of course, Ryan's comment that the death of creativity is "good
news for socialism", is baffling,

first, because as you correctly point out, it occurred in the era of
neoliberal dominance, so following the policy prescriptions of the free
market ideology, secondly, because historically, socialism has been about
extending creativity for all .. while I think Stalinist systems were
counter-creative because of their enforced collectivism under the umbrella
of a bureaucratic state, the historical record of social-democracy in
extending aphabetisation, schooling, and creative education for all, has no
parallel ... it stands as a major achievement of humanity ...

who could consider scandinavian states as non-creative? they have a very
strong record of technological innovation, and unlike Silicon Valley, they
do not achieve this by a brain drain from the rest of the world, but by
internal dynamics,

Michel

On Mon, Jul 19, 2010 at 2:20 AM, Michael Gurstein <gurstein at gmail.com>
wrote:

Your "capitalist" crew (Bush and co.) have been running the show for the
last ten years, what are you complaining about. You are getting what you are
(not) paying for... 

M

-----Original Message-----
From: p2presearch-bounces at listcultures.org
[mailto:p2presearch-bounces at listcultures.org] On Behalf Of Ryan Lanham
Sent: Sunday, July 18, 2010 7:08 PM
To: p2p research network
Subject: Re: [p2p-research] newsweek on The Creativity Crisis

Couldn't agree more with the article...we've seen it too.  Good news for
socialism.  Not very good news for humanity. 

R.

On Sun, Jul 18, 2010 at 9:02 AM, Michel Bauwens <michelsub2004 at gmail.com>
wrote:

http://www.newsweek.com/2010/07/10/the-creativity-crisis.html

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