Killing off our inner child

The system’s really good at killing off our creativity, our curiosity, and our ability to fail.

We don’t want to do more than what we’re expected to. We don’t question things a lot anymore. We don’t want to risk standing out and making a fool of ourselves. 

And it has a lot to do with education. 

Linchpin

My critique for the education system began while reading Seth Godin’s book “Linchpin”. 

To summarise, its messages included:

1. Workers are split into 2 categories, the Linchpins and factory cogs. The indispensable workers we rely on, and those who do their job nothing more nothing less, trading effort for stability 

2. Our society now rewards Linchpins, indispensable workers who don’t wait for instructions, and pave their own map (creative and out of the box thinkers) 

3. But school culls our inner child, creative genius… our inner linchpin.

The education system:

Since taking a step back from school and university, I’ve mainly noticed this. 

Linchpinning is so hard because it’s ingrained in us to follow the rules. We get praised if we do, we get told off if we don’t.

School starts. We trade obedience and following the rules for an A. We trade our unique selves to a standardised system, a one size fits all. 

If you have an out of the box idea…great! But bring it somewhere else because it’s not part of the exam. 

We get told what to study. When to study. But rarely why to study. 

We begin blindly studying for the sake of it. To follow the rules - a skill we’ve practiced well. 

So then we grow up.

We CAN’T NOT follow the rules. To do as others say. To not contribute any risky ideas because it might be rejected. 

Failing? Haha thanks, I’ll pass. 

…But that’s not what jobs want anymore. They want the creativity that was culled early on. They want the daring ideas, the ones that not everyone can see.  

Why’re you bringing this up?

The reason why I bring this up is because of a recent volunteering experience I had. 

While the Sudanese women’s group was running, their kids (ages 3-9) would be in the room next door, playing and exploring with the spare time they had. 

Here I began to notice the subtle tampering  of our inner creative mind in play. 

A musician came in to play a few songs with the children. I heard the standard baa baa black sheep and twinkle twinkle little star. As well as ‘Old Mcdonald had a farm’. When kids were asked ‘What sound does a horse make?’, they replied with all sorts of horse sounds, some that made me snort a little. Funny ones. 

But they were met with ‘nooo haha, it’s neigh’. 

Or a song that lists body parts from the top down and asks kids to find it on their body. e.g knees, and kids put their hands on their knees.  

During the song, once we hit the shoulders, a kid shouts out ‘elbows!’ to which prompts a reply ‘that’s not right, it should be shoulders first!’

All I could think was ‘Technically they’re not wrong though…it’s still a body part” 

What if…

What if instead we asked kids to make the sound of what they think an animal makes, and then incorporate their ideas into the song? To make a song so outrageous, weird and inclusive. 

What if we praised kids for contributing ideas that rationally speaking don’t make sense? 

And not so related…

What if (and this is a big what if)… we asked kids in child care what they want to do that day and compromise with the person caring for them? That they put in their 2 cents and work WITH others to come to a fitting decision. 

Sit still, behave

There was also so much pressure for kids to sit still. To focus. To behave. 

I kept thinking… “why are we actively fighting against a kid’s natural urge to move?”. Why don’t we instead work with what they have? To transform it into an educational game? To dance? To move? 

To enact a story out instead of passively listening to someone read a book? 

Your point is…?

“Ok Jo… I think you’re being a bit dramatic”.

I’m going to have to disagree. 

We all know that consistency is everything. That seemingly minor situations like these, if consistent, will have a huge impact on us long term. 

If we’re brought up from an early age of what is ‘right’ and ‘wrong’, where does that leave the ‘what ifs’? What happens to the child’s curiosity and seemingly unrealistic thinking?

It’s just too early to shut down their creativity. If anything, we should be working with it. To dream big. To contribute kooky, irrational ideas that might one day not be.

“So you’re saying to be wishy washy and never tell children their ideas are wrong at all?”

No, I’m not saying that. 

Some ideas will always be better than others. No doubt. 

But it’s how we approach the creation of those ideas. We want to encourage the drive to be creative, to risk it and experiment. It’s to never discount an idea, but just be up front if it’s not applicable to this situation.  

You’re all talk Jo

Yeah I am currently. 

I have no idea how to change this age old education mindset, but I’m determined to find a way. 

There’s no easy way of creating linchpins in the current education system, not by myself at least. First we need more people aware of the need for change, for change to happen. 

Then, we can start thinking of redesigning the curriculum e.g focusing on critical thinking rather than a letter grade, to produce linchpins, not factory cogs. 

“What has been will always be…” Said no one ever

I’m confused, please summarise

I’ve thrown a lot of ideas here. 

My main point is… why not raise kids  with the mindset of ‘why not?’ and ‘what if?’. 

With the mindset of possibility, not scarcity, structure or conformity. 

The only way for the world to develop is from the unique perspectives of individuals. Out of the box thinking that in this moment seem too farfetched. 

We need to start young. 

While I’m not endorsing chaos with kids running around doing what they want, we should reach a compromise that gives children room to provide ideas and be praised for that, rather than simply following the rules. 

 It’s just not worth it to conform if that means sacrificing your inner creativity and ‘weirdness’. 

Jo x