In my opinion, teaching our children to think creatively is probably one of the most important lessons that they can learn beside honesty, working hard, having grace, and honoring their commitments.  This morning, I read the attached article about arts in schools.  Yes, it’s with regard to Great Britain.  However, I believe pertinent to our schools here in the USA.  I hear from our local educators that the arts continue to be cut in the curriculum.  Taking an art course is not an easy “A”.  If you think so, I challenge you to monitor an art course.  The instructors typically teach techniques to the students, then, give them an assignment.  Many times the student, will need to do research about a subject matter; consider what they think about it; and then begin by writing or drawing sketches of how they will complete the assignment.  From there, they talk with their teacher, who ask good questions, and the student begins creating using the newly learned techniques.  As you can tell, there are many skill sets used to complete the homework.  Thinking creatively to solve problems will be used all of their lives helping them to be better partners, employees, and business owners.  Let me know what you think after you read the article.  Take care, C2.

‘Arts teaching could become more important than maths in tech-based future’ – education expert

I read the attached article about arts in schools this morning.  Yes, it’s with regard to Great Britain.  However, I believe pertinent to our schools here in the USA.  I hear from our local educators that the arts continue to be cut in the curriculum.  Taking an art course is not an easy “A” in high school.  If you think so, I challenge you to monitor an art course.  The instructors typically teach techniques to the students, then, give them an assignment.  Many times the student, will need to do research about a subject matter; consider what they think about it; and then begin by writing or drawing sketches of how they will complete the assignment.  From there, they talk with their teacher, who asks good questions, and the student begins creating using the newly learned techniques.  As you can tell, there are many skill sets used to complete the homework.

The arts could become more important for young people than maths in the future, according to a leading education expert.

Researcher Andreas Schleicher, who leads the Programme for International Student Assessment at the intergovernmental economic organization OECD, told a House of Commons inquiry that he believed young people could benefit more from the skills gained through creativity than test-based learning.

He was giving evidence to the Education Select Committee as part of an ongoing inquiry into the fourth industrial revolution – the influence of technologies such as robotics and artificial intelligence on society.

Schleicher, who is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading educational thinkers, said: “I would say, in the fourth industrial revolution, arts may become more important than maths.”

“We talk about ‘soft skills’ often as social and emotional skills, and hard skills as about science and maths, but it might be the opposite,” he said, suggesting that science and maths may become ‘softer’ in future when the need for them decreases due to technology, and the ‘hard skills’ will be “your curiosity, your leadership, your persistence and your resilience”.

His comments come amid ongoing concerns about the narrowing of the education system in the UK to exclude creativity and prioritize academic subjects.

Campaigners argue that this is prohibiting many young people from pursuing creative careers. However, Schleicher said that too narrow a curriculum could also make young people less prepared for the demands of the future.

He said British schools largely regard skills as inferior to knowledge, and can be very focused on traditional tasks such as memorization.

“When you look at the types of tasks that British students are doing better [than other countries], they are more those that are associated with the past than the future – the kind of things that are easy to teach and easy to test. It is precisely those things that are easy to digitize.

“The modern world doesn’t reward you for what you know, but for what you can do with what you know,” he said.

(from:  https://www.thestage.co.uk/news/2019/arts-teaching-become-important-maths-tech-based-future-education-expert/)

Images from our local students in a competition for our downtown banners: