[Oz-gifted] New book about creativity and education

[Steve Dahlberg]

   Hi all -
   Many of you might have interest in this new book about creativity and
   education called "Education is Everybody's Business: A Wake-Up Call to
   Advocates
   of Educational Change" (Rowman & Littlefield Education). It's by
   educator Berenice Bleedorn ( [1]www.creativityforce.com ). She was the
   gifted consultant for the Minnesota State Department of Education, a
   professor of creativity in the business and education schools at the
   University of St. Thomas, has taught creativity in the state prison to
   inmates, is a colleague of the Creative Education Foundation, and
   writes and speaks about creativity throughout the world.
   This book really makes the case for the deliberate teaching of
   thinking in education. It also links the importance of education to a
   thriving democracy. One of my favorite quotes in the book is
   "democracy deserves the best thinking possible," which offers a great
   place to begin one's thinking about any number of political issues in
   the world today.
   Some other good quotes from the book include:
   * Children and youth are all much smarter than we think. They are
   smarter than the standardized test scores tell us. They have a longer
   tomorrow than adults,
   and most of them think about it more than we realize. Students have a
   right to understand what is happening to the world that they are
   inheriting.
   * The hope is that educational programs will become better designed to
   make the best possible use of the natural power of the human mind to
   grow and develop and to be significantly active in service to a cause
   beyond oneself.
   * There are no limits to the intellectual resource of the human mind
   when it is provided with an atmosphere for personal growth.
   * The idea that `Creativity=Capital' is not a facetious one. The
   capacity of the human mind for creativity and innovation is unlimited.
   Harvesting the creativity in a business translates to money in the
   bank.
   * Creative thinking can be taught if learners can practice the art of
   being serious and playful at the same time.
   * The educational problem of a disparity between average achievement
   scores of white students and black students may have some of its
   origin in the nature of schooling that neglects programs that identify
   creative talent and fails to provide for its appropriate expression in
   problem solving and other creative thinking activities.
   * Educators have not only an opportunity but an obligation to open the
   `doors of perception' for all students. The enduring purpose of
   education is to provide students with a perception of the outer
   reaches of their talents and possibilities and, ideally, to give them
   a reason to continue to learn and contribute to their society for all
   of their lives.
   * The mandate is undeniable. The future of the environment can be
   guaranteed only with the determined effort of all the players in the
   world drama in every society, and there is no time to lose. It is a
   perfect project for the integration of schools and society, the
   community and the education profession. It is a time for personal
   action and resolve.
   * Initiatives from concerned citizens and business interests have a
   vital place in developing educational outcomes that can be competitive
   with the rest of the developing world and can continue to contribute
   to a better life for all.
   * Paradoxical thinking is a prerequisite for a society and world
   steeped in a diversity of cultures, religions and ideologies if we
   ever hope to achieve a more sane
   and peaceful world. If complex thinking were taught, practiced and
   modeled during the process of education everywhere, the people of the
   world would understand more and fight less.
   Steve Dahlberg
   International Centre for Creativity and Imagination
   [2]http://www.appliedimagination.co.uk

References

   1. http://www.creativityforce.com/
   2. http://www.appliedimagination.co.uk/