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I strongly feel that our teaching methods in schools are killing creativity. Students have lost their capacity of creation simply because our teaching methods don’t stimulate innovation and creativity.1
Years continue to pass, some students graduate, some fail out, some drop out and nothing really changes. The education system reminds me of2 a dictator that is unwilling to step down.
I’m aware that no education system is perfect, and I believe they are all the same across the world. We memorize, study for the test and forget.
我坚决认为学校的教学方法正在抹杀创造性。学生们丧失了创新力，只是因为我们的教学方法不激励发明和创新。
日子年复一年，有些学生毕业了，有些通不过考试无法毕业，有些辍学了，但是（学校的教育体制）不曾有什么实质的改变。这样的教育体制让我想起了不愿下台的独裁者。
我明白没有教育体制是完美的，但是我相信世界各国的教育体制没有什么区别——我们死记硬背，为考试而学习，考完后就又都忘了。
Remember being a kid and wanting to play around? No one told you how to use your imagination or taught you how to be creative. You played with LEGOS3. You pretended you were an astronaut and imagined traveling in space. Being naturally creative, you asked questions like “Why is the grass green?” and“Are we alone?”—questions no wise man could answer.
Then came school, and you had this teacher who told you to stop dreaming and live in reality. So what did you learn at school? You learned to stop questioning the world, to go with the flow, and that there’s only one right answer to each question.
The “whys” you have always wanted to ask are never on the test, and they are omitted4 from the curriculum.
Creativity isn’t a test to take, a skill to learn, or a program to develop. Creativity is seeing things in new ways, breaking barriers that stood in front of you for some time. Creativity is the art of hearing a song that has never been written or seeing a work of art on empty canvas.5 Its essence is in its freshness and the ability to make dreams come to life.
还记得小时候想玩耍的时候吗？没人告诉你如何运用想象力，也没人教你怎样才能创新。你玩乐高积木。你假装是个宇航员，想象你在太空遨游。你很自然地表现出创新意识，你问 “为什么草是绿色的？”或是“除了我们还有别的（类似人的智能）生物吗？”——这些问题即使是圣贤也无法回答。
然后该上学了，于是你就有了这个老师，他让你别再做梦了，告诉你要活在现实当中。那么，你究竟在学校里学到了什么呢？你学会了停止对世界提出质疑，学会了随波逐流，还学会了每个问题只有一个正确答案。
那些你一直都想问的“为什么”从来不在考卷上出现，课程安排中也把这些漏掉了。
创新不是一次考试，不是一门技能，也不是一个有待开发的项目。创新是从新的角度看问题，打破那些长久以来在你面前的约束。创新是这样一种能力：有一首歌曲没有人写过，但是你却能够听到它，或者你能从空空的画布上看到一幅艺术品。它的核心在于它的新颖和能够使梦想变为生活的能力。
In school, children are “taught” to draw shapes like a “perfect” triangle6. Everything is“properly” drawn. Whenever a child attempts to color something, the teacher screams in panic:“Do NOT color outside the lines!”7
Today’s teaching techniques are taking the beauty out of learning. Diminishing8 creativity from our student’s mind is a serious problem with wide-reaching effects.
How exactly are schools diminishing creativity?
We learn that being “good” means sitting still and nodding yes, while being “bad” means attempting to do things differently.
How do we expect students to be creative if teachers give them the outline, the title, and the structure of their “creative writing assignment?”We give students model answers to memorize, we give a specific title to write a poem about, and we truly give them everything but the freedom to express their ideas.
Education isn’t about facts being stored in our minds so that we can get tested on them. Education is the beauty to nurture creativity, to fuel curiosity and to create a well-rounded person. In the 21st century, the world demands students who can think creatively and critically. As technology develops, we will have robots to do all the basic work for us. However, it is our mission to ensure that the world will be full of inventors, musicians, painters, mathematicians who will, in turn, bring humanity to another level.
在学校里，孩子们“被教会”画一些诸如“完美的”三角形等图形。所有的东西都得画得“得当”。每当有孩子试着去给什么上色时，老师就会惊慌失措地叫起来：“不要在线外涂颜色！”
如今的教学技术已经让学习变得不再美好。学生们头脑中的创新意识在不断减弱，这是个很严重的问题，影响也十分深远。
但是学校究竟是怎么削弱创新的呢？
我们学到了“好学生”就意味着要安静地坐在那里，点头说好，而“坏学生”则指那些尝试用不同方法做事的人。
如果老师在布置“创意写作作业”时就先给出了提纲、题目和结构，那么我们怎能期待学生们有所创新呢？我们给了学生标准答案让他们牢记，我们给出了一首诗的具体题目让学生们去自由发挥，事实上我们给了他们一切，唯独没有给他们表达想法的自由。
教育不是要在我们的脑袋里装满事实好让我们去参加考试。教育是培养创新的美，去开发（学生们）的好奇心，并培养出通才。在21世纪，世界需要具有创新和批判思维的学生。随着技术的发展，我们会有机器人来帮我们处理一切简单事务。然而，我们的任务是保证世界上有很多发明家、音乐家、画家和数学家，因为唯有他们才能将人类带到一个新的高度。
单词卡片
1. stimulate: 促进，激 innovation: 新观念，新方法，新发
2. remind sb. of: 使想起（某事）。
3. LEGOS: 乐高公司推出的乐高积木玩具，由五彩的塑料积木、齿轮、迷你小人和各种不同其他零件组成，孩子可用其拼成各种事物。
4. omit: 省去，略去。
5. art: 在本文中的第一个art是“技术，技巧”的意思，而第二个art是“艺术”之意；canvas: 帆布，画布。
6. triangle: 三角形。
7. scream: 惊叫；panic: 恐慌。
8. diminish: 降低，削弱。
Years continue to pass, some students graduate, some fail out, some drop out and nothing really changes. The education system reminds me of2 a dictator that is unwilling to step down.
I’m aware that no education system is perfect, and I believe they are all the same across the world. We memorize, study for the test and forget.
我坚决认为学校的教学方法正在抹杀创造性。学生们丧失了创新力，只是因为我们的教学方法不激励发明和创新。
日子年复一年，有些学生毕业了，有些通不过考试无法毕业，有些辍学了，但是（学校的教育体制）不曾有什么实质的改变。这样的教育体制让我想起了不愿下台的独裁者。
我明白没有教育体制是完美的，但是我相信世界各国的教育体制没有什么区别——我们死记硬背，为考试而学习，考完后就又都忘了。
Remember being a kid and wanting to play around? No one told you how to use your imagination or taught you how to be creative. You played with LEGOS3. You pretended you were an astronaut and imagined traveling in space. Being naturally creative, you asked questions like “Why is the grass green?” and“Are we alone?”—questions no wise man could answer.
Then came school, and you had this teacher who told you to stop dreaming and live in reality. So what did you learn at school? You learned to stop questioning the world, to go with the flow, and that there’s only one right answer to each question.
The “whys” you have always wanted to ask are never on the test, and they are omitted4 from the curriculum.
Creativity isn’t a test to take, a skill to learn, or a program to develop. Creativity is seeing things in new ways, breaking barriers that stood in front of you for some time. Creativity is the art of hearing a song that has never been written or seeing a work of art on empty canvas.5 Its essence is in its freshness and the ability to make dreams come to life.
还记得小时候想玩耍的时候吗？没人告诉你如何运用想象力，也没人教你怎样才能创新。你玩乐高积木。你假装是个宇航员，想象你在太空遨游。你很自然地表现出创新意识，你问 “为什么草是绿色的？”或是“除了我们还有别的（类似人的智能）生物吗？”——这些问题即使是圣贤也无法回答。
然后该上学了，于是你就有了这个老师，他让你别再做梦了，告诉你要活在现实当中。那么，你究竟在学校里学到了什么呢？你学会了停止对世界提出质疑，学会了随波逐流，还学会了每个问题只有一个正确答案。
那些你一直都想问的“为什么”从来不在考卷上出现，课程安排中也把这些漏掉了。
创新不是一次考试，不是一门技能，也不是一个有待开发的项目。创新是从新的角度看问题，打破那些长久以来在你面前的约束。创新是这样一种能力：有一首歌曲没有人写过，但是你却能够听到它，或者你能从空空的画布上看到一幅艺术品。它的核心在于它的新颖和能够使梦想变为生活的能力。
In school, children are “taught” to draw shapes like a “perfect” triangle6. Everything is“properly” drawn. Whenever a child attempts to color something, the teacher screams in panic:“Do NOT color outside the lines!”7
Today’s teaching techniques are taking the beauty out of learning. Diminishing8 creativity from our student’s mind is a serious problem with wide-reaching effects.
How exactly are schools diminishing creativity?
We learn that being “good” means sitting still and nodding yes, while being “bad” means attempting to do things differently.
How do we expect students to be creative if teachers give them the outline, the title, and the structure of their “creative writing assignment?”We give students model answers to memorize, we give a specific title to write a poem about, and we truly give them everything but the freedom to express their ideas.
Education isn’t about facts being stored in our minds so that we can get tested on them. Education is the beauty to nurture creativity, to fuel curiosity and to create a well-rounded person. In the 21st century, the world demands students who can think creatively and critically. As technology develops, we will have robots to do all the basic work for us. However, it is our mission to ensure that the world will be full of inventors, musicians, painters, mathematicians who will, in turn, bring humanity to another level.
在学校里，孩子们“被教会”画一些诸如“完美的”三角形等图形。所有的东西都得画得“得当”。每当有孩子试着去给什么上色时，老师就会惊慌失措地叫起来：“不要在线外涂颜色！”
如今的教学技术已经让学习变得不再美好。学生们头脑中的创新意识在不断减弱，这是个很严重的问题，影响也十分深远。
但是学校究竟是怎么削弱创新的呢？
我们学到了“好学生”就意味着要安静地坐在那里，点头说好，而“坏学生”则指那些尝试用不同方法做事的人。
如果老师在布置“创意写作作业”时就先给出了提纲、题目和结构，那么我们怎能期待学生们有所创新呢？我们给了学生标准答案让他们牢记，我们给出了一首诗的具体题目让学生们去自由发挥，事实上我们给了他们一切，唯独没有给他们表达想法的自由。
教育不是要在我们的脑袋里装满事实好让我们去参加考试。教育是培养创新的美，去开发（学生们）的好奇心，并培养出通才。在21世纪，世界需要具有创新和批判思维的学生。随着技术的发展，我们会有机器人来帮我们处理一切简单事务。然而，我们的任务是保证世界上有很多发明家、音乐家、画家和数学家，因为唯有他们才能将人类带到一个新的高度。
单词卡片
1. stimulate: 促进，激 innovation: 新观念，新方法，新发
2. remind sb. of: 使想起（某事）。
3. LEGOS: 乐高公司推出的乐高积木玩具，由五彩的塑料积木、齿轮、迷你小人和各种不同其他零件组成，孩子可用其拼成各种事物。
4. omit: 省去，略去。
5. art: 在本文中的第一个art是“技术，技巧”的意思，而第二个art是“艺术”之意；canvas: 帆布，画布。
6. triangle: 三角形。
7. scream: 惊叫；panic: 恐慌。
8. diminish: 降低，削弱。