My friend, Ed, met Michael Jackson in 1989 when the King of Pop visited a school in Harlem. As part of his visit, Jackson took a group of kids out to dinner and to the Big Apple Circus. Ed, who was working
Welcome 2016! Educating innovators who are creative and resourceful should be the goal of all educators. President Obama said “innovation is the currency of the 21st century.” But we are devaluing our children’s learning through a currency of knowledge retention, too often
Entrepreneurs, students and community activists use design thinking to solve complex problems. And through its process of solving problems and conquering challenges, design thinking forces us to exercise our brains as creative thinkers and doers. A recent article in the
I am always on the lookout for examples of the creative process to inspire educational practices. And bingo (or slots in my case), I found it in Las Vegas at the Cirque du Soleil Michael Jackson ONE show. This breathtaking barrage
“Often schools are teaching kids things they might never need to know again. We’re not teaching them how to be creative, or design, … or deal with unexpected situations. A lot of people are aware that we really need to
“The world in general disapproves of creativity,” wrote Isaac Asimov. In a 1959 letter to a team of scientists at MIT, the great science fiction writer advised his colleagues to prepare themselves for disapproval. Creative ideas would appear outlandish and
Thinking about creativity as a skill, not a mighty mystery, makes it accessible to all of us. Too many people still think of creativity as a mystery — the exclusive property of the very intellectually gifted or a bolt of
Creativity across cultures is increasingly important in the 21st century. U.S. employers rate creativity as one of the top five skills that will increase in importance during the next five years. The specific role of culture in creativity is still
Teachers in the United States establish “maker spaces” in elementary classrooms. School leaders in Peru develop a “blended learning” curriculum for low income students. Students in Singapore enroll in an “Imagineering Programme” that leads to a certificate in problem solving
When you think of design and design thinkers, do you visualize professional designers and engineers creating new products? Is it difficult to imagine yourself in that group? In fact, design thinking is not only about professional designers creating innovative products. Design
