Students at Sherman Institute, 1919. Courtesy Sherman Indian High School, Riverside CA.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Hundred Languages of Children-Creativity

Ahhhh I tried to post and it all got deleted because my internet unplugged. I super-hate technology :(
Well...I'll try again...

The Hundred Languages of Children reading was quite extensive and already I cannot recall or understand all that was said, but what struck me the most was the notion of creativity. On page 75, Malaguzzi states that when the theme of creativity became so popular in the 1950s, it was very exciting and there were many intriguing theories about it, but in his experience, it’s best to be cautious about creativity.
But what particularly struck me was this idea that creativity is not “sacred.”
It is not a special gift, but is innate to every child, every human being. However, a child will understand when creativity is or is not valued within their community, school, or household and this will affect how free they feel to be creative and influence their desire to "venture beyond the known."
I worry about children growing up today (particularly in the U.S.)I'm sure that the generations before mine also worried about us, but though I wouldn't call myself a creative genius, my childhood consisted of a lot of rope swings, forts, tree climbing, rock collections (which of course had personalites) and miniature stick villages. Oh yeah, and Barbies and stuffed animals and the cat that didn't run away fast enough. Other than the cat, it was I who gave each of these objects life and invented new imaginary worlds. I don't doubt my nieces' ability for creativity, but all of their toys are shiny and talk and do something cool, and though they may be interactive, in my opinion ultimately make the child a viewer because they end up thinking that the toys themselves and it's abilities are cool, rather than thinking of the toy as instrument for the imagination. My nieces get bored easily, something that I think is showing a deepening dependency on technology. (which I'm scared of, obviously, so of course my opinion is biased.)
Anyway, this is what my reading of the Hundred Languages of Children brought me too...hating on technology...jk...kind of. But the underlying commonality that I found in all the readings was a vital need for relationship. It must be a two-way street. The learner must care of they will never really learn. To learn is to care which is to have an emotional investment.

No comments: