Towards The Creative Society

Next Generation Forum Toward the Creative Society

Next Generation Forum Next Generation Forum is an independent organisation with the aim of promoting the uniqueness, potential and vital importance of our children – the next generation. To its founding members, the need for such a forum is clear. As technological and wide societal changes reshape every aspect of childhood, experts from across the globe are fundamentally rethinking the ways in which we stimulate the creativity, playfulness and learning of adults and children alike. By pulling together ideas from different continents and cultures, the Next Generation Forum will act as an inspirational nerve center. The result should be not only be the cross-pollination of ideas, but also the establishment of a new global agenda for children, with “creativity” as the measuring stick for the next generations. The forum is named: Next Generation Forum, as it will - at all times - have its focus on the next generation The Founding Principles The Next Generation Forum is founded on the fundamental belief, that human creativity and interaction is the vital turning point for development of human competence and personal self-esteem Children are vital to this vision, not only because they are the next generation, but also because they are the role models of the Creative Society Next Generation Forum shares this belief with its founder, the LEGO Company, who is also committed to take a leading role in supporting and coordinating the movement

The vision and mission of Next Generation Forum The vision of Next Generation Forum is described in the concept of the Creative Society: The Creative Society Playfulne Creativit Human s s y developme nt Learnin g

This will be elaborated over the next pages The mission is to inspire the world to new visions, development projects and activities with relation to the interaction between creativity, playfulness and learning - and its vital importance for human development - and for our societies .. thereby creating a movement towards The Creative Society Objective The Objective is to focus and boost a global movement – by: • Propagating a serious and credible understanding of the vital importance of creativity and playfulness for development and learning - and for our societies •

Appealing to dialogue and participation in a global connected network of partners, supporters and endorsers

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Building the movement through actual involvement of children, parents, educational professionals, opinion leaders and political decision makers

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Inspire to and initiate projects and events

We have a dream … .. a dream of the Creative Society. Most people generally agree that our society is rapidly evolving. But what will take its place? What values and human characteristics will be dominant and which will we strive for? Next Generation Forum believes that we should strive for a society, where we as creative individuals constantly create new possibilities for ourselves, and our communities. Thus, we choose to call the vision: the “Creative Society.” The Creative Society is built on the fundamental belief, that human creativity is the vital turning point of any development as well as for human self-esteem. A shift in attitude is already on its way. We have already seen the information age and the knowledge society enter the stage, but we can begin to envision a new era. Human resources – our creative potential and ability to learn - are beginning to form the primary point of attention. Children are vital to this transition to the Creative Society, not only because they are the “Next Generation”, but also because childhood is naturally one of the most creative periods of our lives. In many ways children can serve as models for the Creative Society by helping adults to relearn what it means to be playful and creative. In the past, it has been important for children to grow up learning at least one skill – a craft or a trade – so they can survive as adults. In the future, though, it is already becoming more important to develop and nourish children’s capacity for being creative, beyond childhood and long into adulthood. This will lead to the ultimate goal of a society which experiences, joy, prosperity and self-esteem through creative, playful and learning activities.

A little boy had just begun school. One day his teacher said: “Today we are going to draw and paint”. “Great” the boy thought, since he loved to paint lions, tigers, birds, cattle, trains and boats. The little boy took out his crayons and started drawing. But the teacher said: “Wait! I’ll show you what to do!” And she started drawing a flower on the blackboard. It was red with a green stalk. “Now it’s your turn”, the teacher said. The little boy looked at the teacher’s flower. Then he looked at his own flowers, which he liked much better - but he didn’t say anything. He just took a new piece of paper and drew a flower like the one the teacher had shown. A red flower with a green stalk. Then one day he had a new teacher. She said: “Today we are going to do drawings and paintings!”. “Great”“ the little boy thought, and waited for the teacher to instruct him. But, the teacher said nothing - she just walked around and talked to the children. She asked the little boy: What are you going to paint?” “I don’t know” said the little boy, “what shall I do? “Whatever you like”, said the teacher - it wouldn’t be much fun if everyone painted the same thing, would it?”. The little boy chose to paint a flower. It was red with a green stalk.

Children are Taking the Societal Centre Stage The current economic and social trends of global development all point towards a historically new, and ever more important role for children in society. Profound changes within basic societal institutions such as the family, the labour market, and educational systems all over the world put children – their learning and imagination – at the centre of decision making about social, economic and technological matters.

information, or even on knowledge, but on how they are used – on creativity. •

The consumer power of the 21st century. Children constitute a new, strong consumer power. Children’s markets are already booming, but in addition children exert a large influence on their parents’ consumption. This power is enhanced by the fact that children are also future consumers of adult products. Brand loyalty starts in kindergarten.

The following general trends outline the societal background on which the vision of the Creative Society is founded:

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A new “human competence culture”. The upspring of a culture based on human values and competencies makes children’s learning and imagination a new linchpin for societal development. There are two reasons for this: understanding children’s potentials is paramount to understand human potential in general; and, increasingly, children need to be regarded as the most important resource for future growth and advancement in the economical, social and cultural sustainability of society.

Children are front-runners of the digital revolution. Today’s IT-proficient children acquire their IT skills while learning basic qualifications such as reading, expressing themselves etc. The digital revolution will in many ways herald new learning processes, and is sufficiently powerful to alter the authority relationships between adults and children.

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Children lead the path to new methods of learning. The new information technology moves the learning process out of schools and into children’s homes. This poses a tremendous challenge to our understanding of learning and the existing structure of our school systems across the globe. Some IT “futurologists” claim that demanding children will change the schools and learning processes from the inside out. For instance, the number of PCs and Internet links are rapidly increasing in children’s homes, making it possible for them to explore this new media for learning when most schools are still trailing hopelessly behind.

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The quest for life long learning. We are already seeing the first generation, where ones skill will not last for a full working lifetime. Everybody who does not want to see their skills become obsolete, will need to learn throughout their lives.

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Work life is changing. The structures of work life and labour markets will change profoundly in the decades to come. The labour market will be characterised by greater individualisation and flexibility, rendering obsolete concepts such as 9 to 5 jobs, workplace, and spare time. In the future, the ability to recruit, retain and develop creative and learning apt employees will be vital to forming teams and building new competitive capabilities. The Knowledge economy. Economists point out that the fastest-growing companies are those which increasingly place their value on their human resources and intangible assets. But information and knowledge by themselves are of limited value until they are played with and used creatively. Success in tomorrow’s world will not be based primarily on

In sum, these global trends indicate a move towards an era characterised by substantial influence from children and childhood in developing our future societies.

What is the Creative Society? The Creative Society will: •

Focus on human’s ability to grow and learn

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Focus on human resources and values, .. less on institutions and systems

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Focus on creativity, playfulness and learning ability, .. less on memorising facts

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Focus on children as a valuable source of ideas, .. and not just adults as the sole source of ideas

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Use technology to do totally new things .. instead of using technology to do things a little faster

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Build a knowledge economy based on ideas, creativity and other human resources … - on the foundation of the standardised industrial economy of physical resources

In 1965, futurist George Land and his team developed a test for NASA to select their most creative engineers and scientists for its space program. The test was highly successful. In 1968, the test was expanded to pre-school young children aged five. The test was repeated until they reached adulthood. This is what they found: Age 5 10 15 Adults

Creativity Potential 98% 30% 12% 2%

The conclusion is that children are extremely creative, but once they start schooling, their creativity drops tremendously. YKK, Quotes to unzip your mind

“All the valuable things, material, spiritual, and moral, which we receive from society can be tracked back through countless generations to certain creative individuals”. Albert Einstein

The Crucial Elements of the Creative Society Creativity Creativity is about making connections where none existed before – pushing the limits of own expertise - and learning in areas that are unfamiliar. “There is no doubt that creativity is the most important human resource of all. Without creativity, there would be no progress, and we would be forever repeating the same patterns”. Edward de Bono Playfulness Play is perhaps the most important element of human development. Play helps us develop a social sense, physical abilities and communicative skills. It helps us to make sense of the world. It provides a basis for our cultural development - and our civilization. It teaches us to take on different roles, to relate to our feelings and to give us the important sense of mastery. For the Creative Society, it is playfulness that really matters. Playfulness is a mindset of approach, which applies equally well to children and adults. Playfulness therefore bridges the fundamental gap in the understanding from childhood to adulthood. Learning Some people when they hear the word learning, immediately think of classrooms, teachers, curriculum and the other components of schooling. At Next Generation Forum we define the word much more broadly to mean exploring and making sense of the world and the ability to do more things in it. In this sense we are all of us, learning all the time. Children are born curious, with an instinct to learn, and unless something happens to them to stifle and deaden their curiosity, their desire to learn lasts a lifetime.

Before starting school children have already learned more than they ever will for the rest of their lives. Already they have learned to handle their bodies, interact socially, talk and communicate, come up with problem-solving ideas and much more - all without any type of formal schooling “The debt we owe to the play of imagination is incalculable” Carl Jung Young children learn by games; compulsory education cannot remain in the soul. Plato

Next Generation Learning Environments Imagine an education system where none of the educators are trained. Indeed, where training is seen as a sign of weakness. There is no curriculum but the amount to be learned is vast and it is assumed that everyone knows what it is. There is no assessment, but if people fail the penalties are severe. This is not any old education system but the foundation for every course, job and profession in the world. It is of course the family, the playground, the street – and the job. 85 per cent of waking hours between birth and age 16 are spent outside the classroom. The natural creativity and playfulness of children enables them to learn in any environment – at home, at school and in the play arena. The intellectual development of formal competencies such as the ability to read and write is still as important for children’s further development and life chances as ever. But we need to take learning a step further than blackboard teaching, repetitions and multiple choice tests and find other ways to feed children’s appetite for learning and knowledge. If an inspiring environment - with the right opportunities - exists, children will be naturally motivated to become designers and creators of their own learning. The learning environments must therefore build on the notion that children themselves use a variety of approaches, when they try to figure something out or become skilled at something. However, if you look at what parents do intuitively with their children and what children do themselves it is variety that stands out.

Wahida and Hanene are two friends attending the Majhouba School in the northwestern part of Tunisia. Its teaching methods makes their school quite remarkable in these parts of the world: No more rapping on the knuckles when giving a wrong answer, and virtual elimination of the practice of having to take the same grade twice. The Majhouba School has expelled chastisement and involved the learners - the children - in their own learning. The new teaching method - strongly supported by UNICEF - is based on the children’s own competencies and focuses on which competencies they should be able to acquire, not on standard assumptions about what they must be taught. As part of this method, students sign a “contract” with the teachers about the nature and amount of school work to be done. This involves them in the planning and teaches them responsibility for their own learning. Furthermore, the learning situation is based on groups and dialogue between peer learners and a tutoring system where the stronger students support the weaker ones. Since Wahida tutors her friend Hanene, the two girls’ friendship from walking to school together extends deep into their learning experiences. In the case of the Mahjouba school the new learning methods have improved the children’s enthusiasm for learning and reduced the number of students that did not qualify for the next grade.

Creative tools When Frederich Froebel created the world's first kindergarten in 1837, he filled it with "gifts" - physical objects such as balls, building blocks and sticks - for children. The objects were helping children explore physical shapes and spark their imaginations through openended play, in which children attached symbolic meaning to their creations.

Research shows that pre-school children spend approximately seven hours a day playing, very often with toys. Another research project has shown that children born two months prematurely will have a higher IQ at the age of two if they have had access to many different toys in their first six months.

What the educational pioneer Maria Montessori realised years ago was that children who are allowed to explore regard a toy or tool as a chance to be active, along the lines of “What can I do with this toy”. Those children will manipulate the tools to create play, stories and subsequently something, which is meaningful to them.

“New technological tools should be seen as the digital equivalent of Froebel’s set of gifts. Like the gifts the new technological tools should support children’s efforts to explore and make sense of their world.” Mitchel Resnick, member of Next Generation Roundtable

As a contrast, children who are not encouraged in their explorative activities develop a passive attitude to toys along the lines of “what can this toy do for me”. No tool guarantees creativity. But some tools are in fact more likely to foster creativity than others are. Therefore, the capacity for creative use must be taken very seriously into account when designing the tools. They should be used as “finger-paint” rather than “television”. The right learning tools are essential for building the foundations of the Creative Society.

A teacher tells the story of how - ever since computers entered the classroom - she was afraid of the day her students would know more about programming than herself. The first few times the students had problems that she could not understand let alone solve, she tried to hide it. Eventually she broke down, confessed she did not know and suggested that the students discussed it among themselves. And working together a solution was found. The remarkable thing was that what the teacher had feared turned out to be a liberation. Giving up the monopoly on answers has changed her relationship with the children and with herself. The class has become a much more collaborative community in which everyone is learning.

Building Partnerships The Creative Society must be built on partnerships. Partnerships which are driven by a common interest for our future societies. We are all dependent on the next generation growing up to become sound, creative and innovative.

At Blue Mountain School in Cottage Cove, Oregon, the children are the ruling power. The Head of School Council is a 16 year old boy. The overall principle of the school is that the children decide what they want to do –whether they want to learn or not.

The most important partnership in children’s lives is - of course - the parents. However, as family situations throughout the world undergo significant change, others will need to join the group of responsible partners in the development of children’s potential.

The school stands out from traditional schools in most countries since there is no predefined curriculum, no division of the day into subjects. There are no teachers either since all the adults are referred to as “members of staff”. Instead of directing classroom sessions, the children can call them in as active and inspiring partners - when needed.

The construction of partnerships must also involve children themselves, who should be viewed as competent partners in the shaping of their own lives. The goals will only be achieved if adults governments, educators and business - will cooperate and involve themselves more actively in the development of the Creative Society. The challenge is to construct partnerships and ways of living that will boost creativity, and increase children’s inborn curiosity and instinct for seeking information and learning. Projects of this kind already exist in all corners of the world. We just need to bring these forward and to engage ourselves in the quest for a creative world.

Teachers believe that the children learn faster at Blue Mountain School because they decide when and what to learn. In fact, the children are extremely eager to learn, and very aware that knowledge is the key to future success. As a result of the success of the alternative school in Oregon, the state is about to pass a law on systematic state support for such schools. The Japanese Ministry of Education now recognises the need for change toward creativity. Whereas the key slogan ten years ago was ‘internationalisation’ it is now ‘getting children to be creative’. Education planners are now recognizing that creativity is a key element for the future of Japanese society. One longitudinal study in the USA showed that for every single US dollar invested in quality day-care the American government made a long-term profit of seven US dollar due to reduced social costs, less crime etc.

How to make this dream come through The Creative Society is an image of the future. The task at hand is not to predict the advent of this society but to enable its realization. This will require fundamental changes in the way we regard society and childhood. It requires us all of us to take part in the unfolding of our own and of our children’s creative potential. Meeting the needs of the next generation will require a change of thinking and a change of action at several levels. Real change only happens when local action and initiatives goes hand in hand with supporting strategic initiatives on a larger scale.

Published January 2000 by: