Does your school need a school improvement plan for creativity?

Does your school need a school improvement plan for creativity?

Spoiler Alert:  yes.

In their Newsweek article "The Creativity Crisis," Bronson and Merryman cited a poll that indicated that creativity is considered the critical leadership competency by CEOs (http://www.newsweek.com/creativity-crisis-74665).

Dan Pink wrote a blog post about how China is embracing creativity in education (http://www.danpink.com/2010/07/quote-of-the-day-the-real-reason-china-is-laughing-at-the-us/). He posted about the misalignment between business and school superintendents regarding the most important elements of creativity (http://www.danpink.com/2009/01/the-problem-with-problems/).  He also suggested that the Great Recession might have been due in part to the actions of people who lacked long-range, empathetic, or imaginative thinking (http://www.danpink.com/2008/10/too-many-left-brains-spoil-the-pot/).

Let's pause for a moment.  These are not calls for personal expression and fulfillment from the hippy-dippy crowd.  These are arguments for creativity that are rooted in economic development.

Then, let's acknowledge that there are many who consider the economic justification of education anywhere from short-sighted to nefarious.  For many, education is about the development of the whole person in order to lead a more fulfilling life.

Everywhere you look, creativity is cherished.  And yet, it is systematically excluded from school improvement plans, primarily due to lack of accountability pressure via standardized testing.

Do we measure what we treasure, or vice versa?

The PLC process does not need to be the enemy of the fine arts.  Robert Eaker published an article about including art in school improvement plans (http://www.allthingsplc.info/files/uploads/ArtEducationAndTheEffectiveSchools.pdf).  I say, if it's important enough for one of the primary PLC authors, it's important enough for your school.  Let's move past school improvement plans with two goals.

Stop using SMART goals, PLCs, and standardized testing as excuses to marginalize the arts. We can make this work, but only if we acknowledge its importance.