Ahh the binary. Two categories. Creative or analytical. Left-brain or right-brain. Usability or Design. Science is straight-forward process. It’s using a method and following steps. There is no place for creavity or imagination in science … or is there?
Name a creative person. Don’t think too hard. Who did you name? What is their profession? Did you name an artist? A music performer? A dancer? An author? What about a scientist? An engineer? Are these people creative?
Imagination is more important than knowledge. – Albert Einstein
In a 1929 interview with The Saturday Evening Post, Einstein (1879 – 1955) says “I am enough of the artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” Our culture doesn’t value scientists and engineers for their creativity. Being able to make predictions, test ideas, refine practices … that’s creativity. Brainstorm ideas, solving real-world challenges, dreaming up solutions … that’s creativity.
One of my favorite authors, Sir Ken Robinson, has presented the most-watched TED Talk of all-time: Do Schools Kill Creativity? His book Out of our Minds: Learning to Be Creative addresses three essential questions:
- Why is it essential to promote creativity?
- What is the problem? Why do so many people think they’re not creative?
- What can be done about it?
It’s thought-provoking for any educator but especially within the context of science education. Ken doesn’t provide a check-list of “must do’s” for us; that wouldn’t be very creative. Instead, he challenges us to access current systems and ways we can shift the paradigm of creativity. Simple things – like asking kids how they used their imagination during the science experiment – are small ways to infuse these ideas. What are others you can think of? Happy Science!
