Where will the next Edison, Einstein, or E.E. Cummings come from?

Recently I read an article about the decline of creativity. The article, "The Creativity Crisis", was published in The Daily Beast and can be found at http://tinyurl.com/3wgxrzd. The authors of the article cite findings showing the decline of creativity over the past 20 years. The current emphasis on “standard-obsessed” schools is proposed as one possible cause of the decline. One of the suggestions in the article was for teachers to forego the practice of encouraging students to find the one right answer and move toward lessons that promote questioning and problem solving including problems that may have many solutions or explanations.

I have been thinking about this in light of my own current teaching experiences. I am provided a reading curriculum that includes numerous ‘non-negotiable’ practices. These include teaching isolated phonics, comprehension, and grammar skills. These are tested each week, (again – ‘non-negotiable’) through multiple choice tests. Also, I am required every 5 weeks to give a multiple choice theme test which is many pages long. Two or three times a year we are also required to administer a standardized test provided by our district. Math is approached in much the same way. All these testing experiences are designed to ensure that when our students reach 3^rd grade, they will be prepared for the required standardized tests. This type of educational environment does not lend itself to questioning and problem solving because if I want my students to successfully complete the required tests, they must provide the ‘correct’ answers.

Having said that, my colleagues and I work very hard to balance our need to follow district guidelines and provide truly enriching learning experiences for our students. But my fear is that we are wasting precious learning time teaching and testing isolated skills.

Edison, Einstein, and EE Cummings - These are individuals who contributed greatly to our society by thinking outside conventions.  I am truly afraid that I have a student in my class right now that could be the next great inventor or artist. Am I really taking the time to look for creative thinking and expression? Am I really creating an educational environment that nurtures creativity? Or have I become so caught up in the culture of testing that I do not make the time?

Where are our future inventors, innovators, and artists going to come from?