Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative

by Sir Ken Robinson
PRMS hardcover 305 pages (with endnotes)
genre: non-fiction

I couldn't finish this. I tried, but was only at the half-way point (page 148, to be exact) after seven months. Clearly, this just isn't the right time for me to be reading this. It was on our Summer 2013 Litwits list and I heard fabulous things about Robinson and his work on creativity. There were parts early on that captivated me, but I am trying to teach myself to put a book down if I'm not enjoying it. And the last two dozen times I've read a few pages, I've been forcing myself to read it. Perhaps I'll try it again next year . . .

From the jacket blurb: "There is a paradox. As children, most of us think we are highly creative; as adults many of us think we are not. What changes as children grow up? Organizations across the globe are competing in a world that is changing faster than ever. They say they need people who can think creatively, who are flexible and quick to adapt. Too often they say they can't find them. Why not?"

This is especially interesting to me as an educator. Are we stressing conformity and obedience over more important qualities?