“A teacher put a dot of chalk on a blackboard and asked a classroom of 15 and 16 year olds to say what they saw. They responded with the obvious – a chalk dot. She pointed out to them that she asked the same question of a group of 5 and 6 year olds the day before and elicited responses such as a squashed bug, the top of a telephone pole, an owl’s eye and the like.”
- Did you know that 96% of 4 year olds believe that they can become anything they want to?
- Did you know that by the time these 4 year olds are 18 only 4% of them will hold this belief?
- Did you know that 100% of 5 year olds are driven by their imagination?
- Did you know that only 10% of 7 year olds are driven by their imagination?
- And does it scare you to know that only 2% of 20 year olds are driven by their imagination?
Are you wondering why we are sharing these statistics? Are you wondering what relevance does this have with The Adventure Team?
Is so please read on 
Young children love playing games, inventing “things”, building, drawing and creating. They are brilliant at solving problems. They are not afraid to take risks! And most of all, they having an amazing desire to succeed!
Yet as children grow older these natural skills diminish and with that so do their aspirations and dreams!
Part of this can be attributed to the academia based education system that has been endorsed by society for so many years. Endorsed because we live in a world where the first question young adults are asked upon entering the “work chapter” of their life is “what qualifications do you have?”
Please know, we are not slating the education system – it is there to do what it does: teach our children how to pass their exams. This focus however, has left some gaps in the overall education and development of our children. In fact, it is only recently that this gap has been recognised and our education system has now introduced new subject areas such as:
- Thinking skills and personal capabilities
- Personal development and mutual understanding
Filling these gaps is a big job that needs to be addressed throughout our society and not just our schools! And there are some things that we do that we know make a difference and as a wise man once said “Big differences change the world and the little differences fuel the big ones”.
Here are our little differences:
- We encourage children to be more confident in their ability to solve problems
- We focus on the process not the end goal. For example, "it looks like you had a lot of fun making that bridge."
- We actively listen to children and use their opinions and suggestions to plan their activities
- We give them positive feedback, e.g., "That’s a great looking Raft!" Balance it with self-affirming statements as well, e.g., "You certainly worked hard on that. You must be proud of yourselves and the fine job that you did." This helps children learn how to validate themselves.
- We encourage inquisitiveness by answering their questions with another question
What little difference are you going to make?
What an amazing post and the statistics at the start speak for themselves. As parents we sometimes, inadvertently pass on limiting beliefs to (our) children. They are often the ones passed on to us by our parents and teachers, people who should really know better.
I am so please to know you.
Dont be so shy to point out that our education system, though improving, is fundamentally flawed.
In the absence of a better system, it is imperative that the other educators that interact with children, young people and adult learners grasp the essence of what you are promoting in this post. The subtlety with which these crucial messages are given is what makes them effective, and that they are deliberate and conscious and based of observations says much of your skill and knowledge in your area of expertise.
Some people can fluke these ways of communicating with people from time to time, but articulating an intentional rationale and reason, backed with factual evidence and understanding is what makes you stand out!
The average adult thinks of 3-6 alternatives for any given situation. The average child thinks of 60. A study by George Land reveals that we are naturally creative and as we grow up we learn to be uncreative. Learning to be creative is akin to learning a sport. It requires practice to develop the right muscles, and a supportive environment in which to flourish..
We can all do a little bit more of that for ourselves and the children and young people around us..
http://www.creativityatwork.com/articlesContent/Currency.html
Great true story. Is there perhaps a creativity that we lose over the course of our lives that we need to regain? Think of the number of people we currently know that are not doing what they really love or achieving what they feel they can achieve.
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html
When Is Ken Robinson not relevant in a conversation?
i’ve got 2 boys (5 & 2).
its a joy to see them fighting armies with a sword or chasing dragons. Sometimes i forget how much fun i used to have in my head before the world of mortgages & overdrafts.
The best metaphor i heard of this was an essay title.
One teacher poses the question, “Describe Hannibals journey over the alps to attack Rome”. The other ” You are Hannibal ! describe your journey over the Alps”
Perhaps i need to spend more time in their world.
So could 4 year old children become highly paid creativity consultants? Maybe so. These bits of research are highly thought-provoking, but I suspect that the reason why there is so much creative thinking around in the early years is linked to the need for rapid learning at this stage of life.
I wonder if there are cultures in which creativity and imagination are developed throughout life – or if people who manage to sustain creativity and imagination are always in a small minority – and are either highly paid or socially marginalised?
Wow, this is a very complete blog about lifestyle. This is something close to my own heart. Sorry guys, I cannot whip up case studies or statistics as I barely spend time on those, or give an objective response.
My own mother died when i was 4 years and it does not matter when a parent dies, you always remember the time around it. My father re-married quickly to a very assertive Methodist woman determined i would kick off school top of the class !! To do this be a fluid reader when I started school. No ABC or Janet and John book for me. It was the Bible, my first learn to read project. I remember taking on the challenge and loving it. As a 4 year old I had no concept of religion, but loved the stories.
Alas, at school I was bored as I was too ahead of everyone and I began to despise books. I discovered Ordnance Survey Maps a5 years old and all those colours, contours and symbols sent my imagination flying. I quickly learned to ride a bike and escaped with a local OS map on bike journeys most parents would be horrified about if they knew.
I could go on and on with this story, I’m writing this almost 55 years later, but the lesson here is how important it is to follow the flow of inspiration and creativity of a child and to boost this by being around and saying “this is great, way to go, excellent work, and you must explain from your heart why you like what the child is doing, and most important join in and add more ideas !!!”
Perhaps even more important, its never too late for adults to be children again too.