Calling for Greater Creators

The Greater Educator

There’s a fantastic advertisement by Adidas called “Calling All Creators”. The ad features a group of professional athletes sharing a roundtable discussion with some other folks: musical artists, a fashion designer, and a supermodel are all present for a conversation about what it means to be a creator. Take a listen: [transcript from the ad] Calling all creators those with the need to make something new, you who are obsessed with progress creativity is everything in today’s game it’s about making a statement i think what we’re all trying to do is leave a mark so the game will never be the same the game will never be the same we’re all creators related by a mindset that’s our job; to continue to try to enlighten while we inspire i’ve been taking the example of you but now I have to create for myself It’s not about borders, gender, race (I ain’t tryin to say) I’m trying to strike while the iron is hot it’s all intertwined fashion inspires music (art design is for it together) Come on Hopkins, you know you listening to push the T before you get to fear it and Aaron Rodgers, maybe you should! Join us, join us, pull up a chair, let’s change sport, change lives let’s create let’s create I can’t watch or listen to this ad without thinking about how it applies to what we do, or what we should be doing, with our students everyday. I love how the ad starts: “Calling all creators, those with the need to make something new, you who are obsessed with progress”. I love how this elevates creation, one of the famous 4 C’s, alongside collaboration, critical thinking, and, the subject of last week’s podcast, communication. Creators are framed as being people who don’t have a choice in the matter - they MUST be original, the MUST re-establish the standard. This is just what creators do - they can’t help it. The ad continues, “It’s about making a statement..leaving a mark...so the game will never be the same”. Creators don’t just mimic greatness. They don’t just reach the standard that is set before them. Creators don’t just win the game, they change the game. Creators are also natural leaders, because by changing the game, the encourage others to do it like them. Quoting the ad, “we’re all creators, related by a mindset...to try to enlighten while we inspire” While creators started as learners, they can’t leave well enough alone, “I’ve been taking the example of you, but now I have to create for myself”. As teachers, how can we nurture the attitude expressed in this ad? The best way is for us to model creativity for our students. Being a model-creator means letting go of control and allowing the game to be changed. We can’t let go of control without embracing a degree of risk, and this is our biggest obstacle. The demands of the teaching profession can be overwhelming, even when all we try to do is play the game the way it is set up for us to play - teaching the way we always have, the way teachers have for decades since the dawn of the industrial revolution. Obstacles that come to us from the widespread needs of our students are made even more difficult to overcome when our class sizes grow, our resources shrink, and our professional development is uninspired. With so much seemingly on the verge of collapse, our instincts are to tighten our grip, not to loosen it. Yet, if we are to model the kind of creative spirit that will inspire our students to be game changers in the world, we simply must embrace the risk inherent in letting go. We must be willing to let go of our carefully-crafted lesson plans and routines if we are to ever discover something that might work better. And it’s in the discovering that we improve - our improvement changes the game - the game will never be the same. Allow me to tell a little story about how my ‘letting go’ led to my history students using SoundCloud as a way to inspire them to keep up with their daily reading assignments... --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the-greater-educator/support