The Balance, Creativity vs. Structure

I found our conversation in class very interesting. I had some thoughts as I was leaving the other night and would like to share them.

The balance between creativity and structure is one that I encounter (and I assume all teachers encounter) on a daily basis.

As I stated in class before, and I state to my friends often in less constructive contexts, I am deeply unsatisfied by Gymboree Corporation's approach to education in general. As I work there I am finding more reasons to loathe being a teacher for such a misguided corporation. I could rant about their short comings constantly (and I do in my personal blog).

From a creative standpoint, I marvel at how the corporation manages to both harbor and squalsh creativity at the same time. It is a truely facinating phenomenon. On one hand, they do provide opportunities for children to complete activities that are creative within it's lesson plan structure. At the same time, it limits its educators to doing exactly what they say. In more strict Gymborees (not mine) teachers are not allowed to deviate from the lesson plan for any reason. If the online description says your quacking like a duck, you quack like a duck or you are fired. One could argue that in limiting the teachers, we are by extension limiting the education of these children to something that is corporately driven. It is the educational equivilent to eating at McDonalds. The food is satisfying and everyone likes it, but it isn't food that is high in nutrients or organic materials. I can see the benefit of freeplay that is directed, but I struggle with this idea that every class of children world wide in a specified age group will successfully learn from the same lesson plan for a given topic. Teachers who are familiar with their particular groups of kids should be given the opportunity to think out their process for teaching and make it something that reflects their own knowledge of the material.

Now I know that in reality the entire planet doesn't work in a Gymboree, but the fact that this corporation exists and is sucessful is a direct reflection on the direction that education is going. Standardized tests to define ability and national standards are arguably the beginning.