Sir Ken Robinson still can remember a time he was sitting in a restaurant when he noticed a couple obviously on a date. As he watched them, he said they weren’t staring longingly into each other’s eyes, as you might expect a couple to do. Instead, they were looking at their cell phones, texting.
Robinson said this is one of the many dangers of the tools of technology. But despite the drawback of technology sometimes distracting us from forming stronger relationships, Robinson told students when he visited MSU yesterday that such devices actually can be used for good when it comes to creativity.
On Wednesday evening, Robinson, a motivational speaker and internationally recognized leader in the development of creativity, visited MSU. During his visit, Robinson met with students in the College of Arts and Letters before reading from two of his books in front of a sold-out crowd at the Wharton Center’s Pasant Theatre.
Robinson, who has worked with governments in Europe, Asia and the U.S., said he enjoyed meeting with students, and it was encouraging to see the university make creativity a priority.
As an advocate for creativity being implemented into education systems, Robinson was interested in speaking with education majors who already are curious about creative thinking.
“For people of college age, just now, it’s often been the case that they’ve come up through an education system that is very narrow and restricting,” Robinson said. “I think it is very encouraging that they recognize there is a different way of thinking about it.”
Kendra Shirey, Residential College in the Arts and Humanities and professional writing senior, attended a meet and greet organized by the College of Arts and Letters Creativity Exploratory.
Shirey said she has been a fan of Robinson since she first watched a speech he gave on teacher education when she was a freshman.
Shirey, who plans to work for Teach for America after graduation, said she was excited to see Robinson speak personally because it helped her start thinking about how to bring creativity into her classroom next fall.
“Hearing some of the practical ideas for implementing creativity in the classroom was inspiring,” she said. “It gave me a lot of great ideas for bringing creativity into my classroom and even more into my life.”
Robinson said it is important for students to find their own creative activities that excite them. This can be done through reflection, meditation or yoga, and it is important not to let others’ opinions influence what you choose to do, he said.
“If you’re constantly responding to other people’s messages to you or thoughts about you, it’s easy to get lost in the forest, you know?” Robinson said. “I think that you need to create a clearing occasionally and spend some time in it.”
Robinson also shared his perspective on technology and its relationship with creativity.
“The new digital technology offers all kinds of interesting opportunities now,” Robinson said. “They give us access to ideas and information in a way that we never could before, and it needs to be integrated into education.”
Chelsea Kirksey, art education sophomore and student member of the Creativity Exploratory, helped organize creative groups on campus to perform in front of the students while the group waited for the reading to begin.
“I hope they take out of it that there are these groups on campus, and you can be involved in creativity here on campus and in Lansing,” Kirksey said.
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