Creativity-What's
That?
By
Mark Berger
Montessori education is
the only approach to education that is preparing children for today's world,
tomorrow's world and beyond. The only one. Fully and completely. That's a powerful statement and message. Recently there was a media
story, in Harvard Business Review, no
less, that referenced Montessori
education as a source of innovative creators and entrepreneurs (HRB online,
editor's blog, Sept. 28, 2009; with a full article to appear in the December
2009 issue of HBR). This is not the only statement out there of its kind........
In his book, A Whole New Mind (Riverhead Books, 2005), Dan Pink argued for a new approach to
thinking and education. He argued that the "old" way of thinking -
linear, analytical - was fine and did wonderful things for advancing
civilization, but if we want to move forward we'll need a "whole new mind", one
that integrates the strengths of the right hemisphere: seeing the big picture,
sensitive to esthetics, etc. with those of the left hemisphere. This new mind
will unleash humanity's true creativity,
he argues, and help people solve the problems that will need to be solved.
Pink has convincing
arguments for why this matters. He considers the fact that the "global
economy" is not part of the future, but is here today. He considers the
impact that this is having on how we live and work. He considers the
shifting job prospects for people in various parts of the globe. One of
his overall points is that people will need to have far greater adaptability and be more fundamentally creative with their
lives; people will experience greater career shifts and more often. An "education"
should prepare people for that. Montessori
schools do just this............. Our environments create children who see
the world as an integrated place. They function with a truly creative
mind because they have been steeped in an approach that asks them, requires
them even, to consider more than what's just in front of them.
This kind of innovative
thinking has already begun to shape our culture, and the Montessori children
who are behind much of this innovation are talking about it. "I want people to feel creative and
involved and feel like they're doing something constructive. Montessori is a great tool for that purpose,"
says Will Wright (Kotaku online
magazine, March 2009), creator of the Spore
computer game/toy as well as the Sims series. He also said "Maria Montessori thought that it was very valuable for kids to
discover things on their own rather than bring taught things overtly..." and he
relates this to the ability to fail and to generate new ideas and approaches,
much as he has with his inventive toys, as he calls them. (TED talk, March
2007, Monterey, CA).
Today we have more. Today we can show the results. We must present not only the facts of
Montessori children becoming innovative thinkers and creators, but show how it is that Montessori does this. The supportive work of Dr. Steven Hughes (www.goodatdoingthings.com) in this
area is an indication of how this can be done. His "Good at Doing Things"
presentation makes clear how and why it is that Montessori children are good at doing things.
Editor's note: Read more about Steven Hughes "Good at Doing Things" talk in our Forza Vitale archives.
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Mark Berger is currently
head of school at Corvallis Montessori School in Oregon. This article
was taken from the Corvallis
Montessori School's blog at www.corvallismontessori.org/blog/
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Reprinted by permission of the author.
Oregon Montessori Association
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Brought to you by the Oregon Montessori Association.
The Oregon Montessori Association is a group of schools and individuals who support vibrant Montessori education in Oregon and Southwest Washington...and beyond.
Visit www.oregonmontessori.org
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