Stereotypes & Things Fall Apart

 Intelligence is Diverse

                                  America needs to radically rethink their view of education. Everyone thinks about the world through their experiences. Some kids think visually, some kids learn via sound, some kids learn  kinesthetically, some learn abstractly, and some learn through movement. Intelligence is dynamic. Intelligence is distinct. The human brain is interactive. In fact, creativity comes about through interaction. The education system in America has a hierarchy of subjects, for example. Mathematics, then Language, then Humanities, then, at the very bottom - the Arts. Then, there's a hierarchy of Arts. First Art & Music being at the top, then Drama & Dance. No public school on the American standard education system teaches Dance everyday to students in the same way it teaches Math. Why? They all have bodies don't they?
                                This system is predicated on the idea of academic ability. Keep in mind though, America is not a country, it's a company. And the education system of this company is modeled on the interests of industrialization, and in the image of it. Schools are still organized as factory lines: ringing bells, separate facilities, specialized into separate subjects...this factory still educates children by batches. Schools put them through the system by age group. Why? Why is there an assumption that the most important thing kids have in common is how old they are? Their date of manufacture in this case. There are kids who are much better than others of the same age, but have different disciplines....or better at different times of the day, or better in small groups, or large groups, and some just like to work by themselves. Standardized testing, teaching kids in batches, and assuming they all learn the exact same way, is essentially just training conformity.

1) "Does Education Kill Creativity? - Jesus Jazz and Buddhism." Jesus Jazz and Buddhism - Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2013. <http://www.jesusjazzbuddhism.org/does-education-kill-creativity.html>.
2) "RSA Animate - Changing Education Paradigms - YouTube." YouTube. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U>.
3) "Sir Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity? - YouTube." YouTube. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY>.

4)Achebe, Chinua. Things fall apart. New York: Anchor Books, 1994. Print.