ARE WE WASTING OUR PRECIOUS HUMAN RESOURCES?

One of our most precious and powerful resources is the human mind in all its diversities. We have been told that “the mind is a terrible thing to waste.” Our society, along with most of our schools, has been unintentionally wasting some of the highest level of thinking talents in a big way. Certainly our educational system has been failing to capitalize on the natural creative and critical thinking talents of students of all ages.

From the beginning of their schooling children are forced into the rigid system of categories simply on the basis of their chronological age with little regard for the nature of their individual thinking styles and levels of intellect. The system then force fits them into a standardized learning experience with measures of achievement based on standardized testing.

Serious frustrations over the misfits of a smart, creative spirit in a standardized, authoritarian school experience can be the reason for dropouts, negative behavior, and loss of spirit and motivation. The loss to society for failure to understand how to recognize and reward creative and innovative young minds that demonstrate an aptitude for deep, independent thinking, for the mental capacity to make judgments that are fair and aware of possible future developments ……that failure deprives society of some of its most potent human resources and competent leadership.

If we continue to fail to recognize these God-given natural talents and if we succomb to the tyranny of the absolute numbers game in our assessment of achievement, we are wasting the preciouos resource of human complex thought.

Fifty years ago Dr. E.. Paul Torrance understood the value of creative potential and created the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking. It is one of his most enduring gifts to education for identifying and cultivating creative potential. The creative mind really is a terrible thing to waste.

Berenice Bleedorn
Retired University Professor and Author
4300 West River Pkwy #227
Minneapolis, MN 55406

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