A lot has happen since I last blogged

Another college year has started
Another placement has started
Another year of my life has started
Another skill I have begun to learn (driving)

Oh well there we go

That wasn't really what I wanted to blog about anyway but I thought I'd give an update on my present situation.

You know one of the things I hate about writing assignments for college is that they are soooo boring. They are so perscribed that they kill originality and creativity. they not only tell you what to write an assignment on but tell you what they want in it. In fact it's rather ironic that these assignments often contain information on how 'not' to do the very same thing to young children. (hardly a great example is it)

Notice these three point on discouraging creativity in children taken from "Goleman, Kaufman and Ray (1992) The creative spirit, 63"

Over-control - Constantly telling kid how to do things, . . . Often leaves children feeling like their originality is a mistake and any exploration a waste of time.

Restricting choice - Telling children which activities they should engage in instead of letting them follow where their curiosity and passion lead . . . Again restricts active exploration and experimentation that might lead to creative discovery and production.

Pressure - Establishing grandiose expectations for a child's performance . . . Often ends up instilling aversion for a subject or activity. . . .Unreasonably high expectations often pressure children to perform and conform within strictly prescribed guidelines, and, again, deter experimentation, exploration, and innovation. Grandiose expectations are often beyond children's developmental capabilities.

Doesn't this sound familiar, I've no doubt that this is not my experience alone.

Should not this not also be encouraged

Fluency - The ability to generate a number of ideas so that there is an increase of possible solutions or related products.

Flexibility - The ability to produce different categories or perceptions whereby there are a variety of different ideas about the same problem or thing.

Elaboration - The ability to add to, embellish, or build off of an idea or product.

Originality - The ability to create fresh, unique, unusual, totally new, or extremely different ideas or products

Complexity -The ability to conceptualize difficult, intricate, many layered or multifaceted ideas or products.

Risk-taking - The willingness to be courageous, adventuresome, daring -- trying new things or taking risks in order to stand apart.

Imagination - The ability to dream up, invent, or to see, to think, to conceptualize new ideas or products to be ingenious.

Curiosity - The trait of exhibiting probing behaviors, asking and posing questions, searching, being able to look deeper into ideas, and the wanting to know more about something.

(Adapted and modified from the works of Williams, F. E)

Sorry, end of rant