Torrance Journal for Applied Creativity

“This school is a good place for
children. I think with new leadership
and energy from teachers like you, it
could be a great school. Even with just
a few changes, a stifled teacher can see
new possibilities and a rigid classroom
can become a schoolyard for creative
investigation. Education of the masses
will never be effective. Our founding
fathers understood this and thus left it
out of the Constitution and up to the
individual states to determine education
of its citizens. We can have these
common standards of excellence but
the successful implementation goes far
beyond the higher offices of education.
It all boils down to the unique application
that each state, district, school, and
teacher brings to the students. Americans
are fiercely independent. We want
to be self-governed; at our very core,
humans are uniquely individual. Teaching
and learning must always be about
the individual expression of intelligence,
creativity, and contribution. The sooner
we stop arguing about the standards
and start thinking about thinking, the
sooner we’ll have a nation of doers.”
The young teacher left the
meeting flattered but stunned. With
contract in hand for the fall and with a
summer stipend for curriculum work,
she knew her work hadn’t gone unnoticed
after all. Following her own moral
compass had led her down the right
path. She never settled for what was
easy. She recognized the strengths in
others. She was a willing learner with a
get-it-done attitude. And each day since
she first stepped foot in the coat closet
to unbutton her coat at school, her foremost
thought of the day was, “How can
I bring my very best self to my students
today?” She plans to ask that on her last
day of teaching.
References
Common Core State Standards Initiative.
(2015). Retrieved from http://www.
corestandards.org/
Haydon, K., & Harvey, J. (2015). Creativity
for everybody. Katonah, NY: Sparkitivity,
LLC.
Torrance, E.P. (2002). The manifesto: A
guide to developing a creative career. Westport,
CT: Greenwood Publishing Group.
Torrance, E.P. (1979). The search for Satori
and creativity. Buffalo, NY: Creative Education
Foundation.
Karen Morse is the Head of School at The
Knox School of Santa Barbara for Gifted
and Talented Children in Santa Barbara,
California. www.knoxschoolsb.org. Karen
has written numerous articles for gifted
journals and speaks locally and nationally
on topics related to meeting the needs
of gifted students at home and at school,
with a specific focus on micro schools and
homeschooling for highly gifted young
people.
“Do what you love and can
do well.”
The Manifesto,
E. Paul Torrance Mesk Samara
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