Creativity | Katie's Learning Journey

If I am honest, I was not particularly interested in learning about the Fibonacci sequence, but I tried to be open minded. We learned that it is a number sequence in which each number is the sum of the sum of the previous two numbers:

eg. 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987….

To me this was interesting, as there is a very clear logic to the numbers, and it is almost aesthetically beautiful. My own choice of wording surprises me. I like that this

I also was told about Fibonacci coming out a lot in art, which was very interesting to me. when researching this, the most prominent was the Fibonacci spiral. This is a spiral which moves out from the centre by the Fibonacci numbers as demonstrated below:

After our lecture on maths in art, we were told that art containing fibonacci numbers is generally more aesthetically pleasing to us. I decided to try this out, as I did not really see how this could be true. I tested it out for myself, I drew two pictures the same size, using the same colours. One used shapes which were based on fibonacci numbers, e.g. 3×5, or 1×8. The other used random numbers.

The Random Picture.

The Fibonacci-based Picture.

I then set about asking people I knew which of the two pictures they preferred. All of them said that they preferred the Fibonacci-based Picture. When asked why, none could give me a definitive answer. The best conclusion I can come up with is that the Fibonacci numbers in the picture are what makes people prefer the picture.

Before watching the above clip, I would have said that I could understand the arguments that schools do stifle creativity, through making them wear uniforms, and learn uncreative subjects like mathematics and providing them with a structured day. But I would also have said that many schools do provide what I would deem adequate facilities for children to express their creativity, through the compulsory inclusion of the expressive arts.

Having listened to the ideas of Sir Ken Robinson, I find the concept of ‘compulsory expressive arts’. This seems ironic now, as we are attempting to structure our children’s creativity. I now agree that we probably do educate children out of their creative capacities, as we move through the education system, less and less emphasis is placed upon the expressive arts subjects, unless one has a specific talent in it, at which point we again attempt to structure their work, while we have the other children learn ‘more useful’ subjects.

I also accept his point that children begin to lose the ability to have a go and make mistakes, I see it all the time at university. I myself do not volunteer to answer questions or otherwise contribute incase I am wrong or look daft in front of other students. I think that children are almost conditioned to think that mistakes are bad as they go through school, and I hate to think that the children I will work with will have this worry.

I remember sayings like “Don’t do music, you won’t be an musician” and “Don’t do art, you won’t be an artist”. And while I did not have a specific interest myself, I have friends who did and I am sure would have done well, but they had parents who did not think that there was a lot of value in it, though on the other hand, I also had friends who received scholarships to school in music and have now left school and gone on to pursue their talent.

I think that there are some children who have to ‘move to think’, though I was not one myself, preferring to sit and listen. I think that there is probably more that schools could do to help these children to learn effectively, though I would have to do some more research to give any examples. I think that an increase in the amount of time spent on the expressive arts may be a good place to start.