— Overview
The notes stay with a childhood of odd-colored skies, and with a book that looks for the loss of that freedom in public schooling.
— Contents and key concepts
A kindergarten art room, and a sky no one corrected
Many people, the notes say, once sat in an art academy dressed up as a kindergarten. The writer did too, and filled picture diaries. The sky might be red or light green; a house might be a geometric shape.
No one said the picture was wrong, or moved at once to correct it. Looking back, the writer both laughs and feels a pang, as if a kind of artistry had been there and is harder to hold now.
The Element, Lou Aronica, and a title about schools and creativity
An answer, the notes say, came from a book they call The Element, by Ken Robinson and Lou Aronica. They also write the title as Element, and they set beside it a line they write as “How Schools kill creativity.”
The authors, in this reading, look for the loss of imagination in the public-school curriculum.
A hierarchy of subjects, and a pressure to conform
Public school, as the notes read them, tends to prize children who score high in fields such as language, so a gift for art, music, dance, or theatre is not easily found. Variety counts for less than uniform conformity.
The school, they write, puts constant pressure on students to conform. The notes stop at those two charges. The same Korean report, at fuller length, is on CampusDown.
Sources
- The notes, a student reading of The Element by Ken Robinson and Lou Aronica: a childhood art room where a red sky was not corrected, a hierarchy of school subjects, and a pressure to conform. The notes also write the title “How Schools kill creativity.”
Last updated: 15 November 2026
Frequently asked questions
What childhood does the writer bring to the book?
Many people, the notes say, once attended an art academy dressed up as a kindergarten. The writer did too, though the memory is faint, and drew any number of picture diaries. At that academy the pictures were often nonsensical: the sky painted red or light green, a house drawn in geometric shapes. No one said those pictures were wrong, or moved at once to correct them. Looking now at those images, so far from everyday reality, the writer both laughs and feels a pang, as if a kind of artistry had been there and is no longer easy to hold.
Which book, and which authors, do the notes name?
The writer found an answer, they say, in a book they call The Element — they also write Element in a second spelling — by Ken Robinson and Lou Aronica, and they set beside it a title they write as “How Schools kill creativity.” The authors, in this reading, look for the loss of imagination in the public-school curriculum.
What two problems in public school do they take from the book?
The first is a hierarchy of subjects. Public school, as the notes read the authors, tends to prize children who score high in fields such as language, and so children with a gift for art, music, dance, or theatre do not easily discover that gift. The second is that uniform conformity is valued above variety. Public school, they write, puts constant pressure on students to conform. The notes stop at those two charges, and do not go on into a later shop summary of assembly lines or still-life classes.
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