I used to think of the shift we need to make in education as one in which we move from making our students simply knowledgeable (knowing a bunch of stuff) to being knowledge-able (able to find, sort, analyze, criticize and ultimately create new information and knowledge). But more important than anything is that we must inspire them to wonder. Wonder is the wellspring from which ideas and creativity flow. One could even argue that there is no truly creative act or critical thinking without wonder, for it is only through wonder that we attempt to go beyond what has been said and done.
Maybe Ken Robinson is wrong in that schools don’t kill creativity as much as schools kill a sense of wonder, and that without wonder, we have no reason to be creative. Without that initial question… But schools can’t dictate what kids wonder about, right?
And therein lies the problem…