Do Schools Kill Creativity?

學校扼殺了創意嗎？Can students really be creative at school?學生在校真能發揮創意？by Ruth Devlin and Pam Osment

High school students Erin and Paul are talking after class.

Conversation
Erin: What do you think of Mr. Powers' assignment?
Paul: It doesn't matter what I think. Mr. Powers did all the thinking for us. He told us exactly what to do and how to do it.
Erin: What's wrong with that?
Paul: There's no creativity involved. If I decide to do the assignment differently, I'll get a bad grade.
Erin: Why would you want to do it differently?
Paul: Well, I might want to be creative. Maybe I want to think outside the box. But schools kill creativity. Mr. powers' assignment is a perfect example.
Erin: Schools don't kill creativity. The structure, the established hours and the schedules all help prepare us for the expectations of the real world.
Paul: Schools just ensure we're all alike. In school, we are taught to get the right answers and to conform.
Erin: But we have to learn skills like reading and math to be anything in life.Those subjects have right and wrong answers.
Paul: I know. But we also need to be able to play with idea and not just complete assignments.
Besides, people are different and don't all learn in exactly the same way.
Erin: What do you mean?
Paul: Well, for example, teachers once thought the choreographer for Cats, Gillian Lynne, had a learning disability.
Erin: And did she?
Paul: No! Her teachers assumed that she did because she couldn't sit still. Fortunately, her doctor realized she just needed to express herself through movement.
Erin: What happened?
Paul: Her parents enrolled her in a performing arts school. Instead of having all of her creativity suppressed she was able to excel in her field and in life.
Erin: That's a great story, but I really think our school has to follow certain guidelines.
Paul: Maybe. But the classrooms still don't all have to be structured exactly the same way. The same format every day causes students to loss interest and imagination.
Erin: Our classes aren't all like that, though. Ms. Wyann uses lots of creative methods to teach us English.
Paul: You're right. She fosters creativity and gets us excited about learning. I hope her teaching style is contagious!

Grammar:
But we have to learn skills like reading and math to be anything in life.
to be anything in life- the "anything" is not an "object" as "I didn't see anything outside."
"anything" here is "someone or something that is important."
To be anything in any profession, a lot of people start from the bottom and work their way to the top.
If you want to be anything in show business, you have to be willing to work hard.

Vocabulary tips:
established-已確定的，已設定的，即定的，establish-設立，設置
*The established methods are not efficient enough nowadays.
*The family's established connections in politics helped them greatly with their businesses.
conform-順服，順從，服從，遵從。“to”
*All students were requested to conform to the school's rules.
*All our products conform to the government's safety regulations.遵從
play with something-思考，考慮，心中盤算
*My husband and I are playing with the idea of moving to the suburbs.
*I've been playing with the possibility of changing jobs.

Chat Room:
kill-殺死destroy, end of, finish
kill creativity-扼殺創意
kill time-打發時間
kill the engine-停止引擎
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******
The Sky Cries For You
Don't cry, oh please don't cry
Don't cry, oh please don't cry
It'll be all right, I promise!
When your heart aches, the Angels cry
When your heart breaks, the sky cries.
Raining, washing your tears away.
Changing your sorrow, and pain in a day.

For sorrow may endure for a night, but
Joy comes in the morning!
Joy comes in the morning! so please don't cry.
Because our heart hurts when we see you cry.
The Angels and I, please don't cry.
Every time you hurt at home, in school, at work,
I know, yea, I care... about you,
I know, yea, I care....about you,
We all do, the Angels cry,
The sky cries too.
The sky cries for you - Rain!

We really hate to see you cry,
To see the tears fall from your eyes.
Let me ease your pain,
Wash away your tears with the rain,
Please don't cry...
Please don't cry,
Because our heart hurts when we see you cry.
The Angels and I.
So please don't cry
Every time you hurt at home, in school, at work,
I know, I care.... about you..
We all do, the Angels cry
The sky cries too,
The sky cries for you.
Raining, Raining
The sky cries for you.