School, Schmool

In grade school, I was very competitive. Education was about the grades and nothing else. I would always prioritize Math, Science and English over Music and Arts for the basic reason that the last two were only .6 units. That’s how the educational system made us operate, it wasn’t bad but it wasn’t good either. Although Sir Ken Robinson’s “The Arts and Education Changing Track” was referring to US education system, it was very much like how it was in my school.

The crisis in the text lies in what I learned in my Leadership and Entrepreneurship class abroad. Creativity was given very much importance because of the ideas on leadership and innovation. In the past, Intelligence Quotient (IQ) tests have been administered to predict someone’s capabilities to act as a leader. The only criterion for a good leader was the academic intelligence. Luckily, the multiple intelligences determined by Howard Gardner were given consideration. These multiple intelligences included the following: linguistic intelligence, logical-mathematical intelligence, musical intelligence, bodily- kinaesthetic intelligence, spatial intelligence, naturalistic intelligence, interpersonal intelligence, and intrapersonal intelligence (Smith, 2008). These intelligences that are associated with the arts and what are called 'personal intelligences’ tell us that leadership encompasses various disciplines, these make up a transformational leader (Mandell & Pherwani, 2003). With this said, no leader can be transformative just by being academically excellent. And as the text states: “the current system doesn’t need to be improved; it has to be transformed”, we are in need of transformational leaders, those who give value to imagination, creativity and innovation. Basically, it is true that although the current education system pursues creating people who will be economically competitive, it does not produce such. 

As a Communications Technology Management student, I believe that creativity is what stimulates my academic learning. I've learned to look beyond my grades because I have engaged in other fields. I have learned to actually listen and appreciate lessons because of the different approaches taken by educators. 

Sources:

Mandell, B., & Pherwani, S. (2003). RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP STYLE: A GENDER COMPARISON. Journal of Business and Psychology , 17 (3).

Smith, M. (2008). Howard Gardner, Multiple Intelligences and Education . Retrieved January 27, 2011, from Infed: http://www.infed.org/thinkers/gardner.htm