Imagination - Intelect or Impedement?

I caught up with my folks yesterday for a coffee. Mum handed across the table, a big yellow envelope with her handwriting on the front (black Artline felt tip, as is her trademark) and a couple of "well done" stickers and gold stars (Mum is a primary school teacher!). Inside was a swag of my report cards from school, from about grade 1 all the way up to year 11 (the school I went to in year 12 didn't issue reports). Lastnight, I sat down with Judy & Andy and started reading through them, being reminded of all the teachers who guided me through my younger years as best they could. There were a few really sweet comments from teachers who I remember as being favourites and a few not so great comments ("Anne struggles with basic mathematical concepts, etc etc"). One common thread came through loud and clear though. The words "imaginative, creative and daydreamer" were used in almost every single report card. They are the three words that so beautifully describe me! At first I felt proud of those words, then I read the context of them. They were put there as a grim reality, a warning for my parents. This child is TROUBLE! My creative spirit was seen as a problem in my learning ability.

I remember being that kid. I remember that I was always telling stories, acting out the parts as I did, drawing pictures, writing tales, composing little dances, putting on plays and musicals with my friends, and this was all fuelled by my ever present day-dreaming! Doing those things made me feel happy and confident! I did them and I did them well. But I couldn't do maths or science as well. Sometimes I spelt words wrong, sometimes I wrote my numbers back to front and sticking to the facts wasn't half as exciting as making up a story! So I was marked down. I was seen as "not very academic", teachers thought I was a struggling student. One even went so far as to say my playground behaviour was 'immature' (grade 5, when my friends and I put together a musical show for all our parents, we used to practice our parts in the courtyard at lunch time).

Nobody bothered to explore my creativity and imagination (I am not sure if they do that in schools these days) because nobody thought that someone could make a living being creative and imaginative. Nobody saw the value of a "dreamer".

Interestingly enough, in my working life, I have frequently been repremanded for being "off with the fairies" or being unmotivated to do the job at hand. I think it is because when I was at school, creativity and imagination was seen as a behavioural problem, not a gift. I was forced to try and be good at all the other subjects and as a result, kind of bombed out in year 12 with a complete lack of confidence in my ability. I guess what I am getting at (yes, some reports also may have mentioned my inability to concisely get a point across), is that children and adults who are creative, imaginative dreamers, should not be discouraged from persuing and cultivating such gifts! I now work in a job that I am not very good at, because I was lead to beleive that creativity is something for fun and will never pay the bills. Maybe there is an element of reality there, but plenty of people make aliving by doing something they love. Sure, maths and science is part of curriculum, but so is art, english and drama. One person is seldom good at all of these things. I think schools need to focus more on basic life skills and celebrate individuality rather than trying to change children into something they are not!
Now that you've read this, go do something you love but your teacher told you wan naughty!!! (unless it involves teasing the kid with braces and zits! Thats just nasty!)