Yes, we can

We have all seen, heard or read that Obama won the US elections. A historical moment. While Obama will have to prove his political skills over the next four years, he has already proven his exceptional strong orator skills. Obama gave a memorable victory speech. A remarkable speech that brought out emotion, brought people together and brought empowerment and transformation to the audience, as only great speeches can do. If you haven't already seen it you can watch the entire speech below.



A disciplined speech delivered by a disciplined man who run a disciplined campaign. But is wasn't only discipline that brought him the presidency. Obama's election campaign was of a high creative and innovative caliber. Creativity and innovation are the key dispositions for the Information age we are living in today, the 21st century. In this day and age, we need innovation to drive our economy, solve world problems, find solutions to medical problems and save our planet. Our children are going to be our future innovation leaders. While creativity and innovation comes naturally to children, it is lost along the road to adulthood. Helicopter parenting style, where parents hover over their children 24/7, managing their time and rescuing them when a difficulty arises, takes away children's resilience, own initiatives and problemsolving skills. These children are growing up without leadership skills, unable to make their own decisions, cope with anxiety, or handle difficult emotions. You can listen to an audio podcast interview here with Hara Estroff Maranoor, author of the book, "A Nation Of Wimps: The High Cost Of Invasive Parenting". I have not read the actual book, which is based on American experiences, and you will have to judge the credits for yourself, but most will agree that in New Zealand too there is an increasing trend of parents who are overprogramming their preschooler and overprotecting their schoolchild and that we have to be careful we are not raising a generation of fragile and burdened children.

Who are going to be our future creative leaders and daring innovators? Our education system, outdated and based on the Industrial age undermines our children creative and innovative thinking. Sir Ken Robinson, a prominent creativity and education expert gave a very interesting TED presentation about this issue in 2006, see link below. British reporter Riz Khan put together a 20 minute interview with Sir Ken last September, you can watch part one and part two below.

part one

part two

Children are the future. As parents and teachers we can help by giving our children more opportunities to explore and cultivate their creative and innovative mind. Children benefit greatly from exploring the natural world. Interactions with nature can be a powerful influence in shaping a young life. Growing up with time for playing outdoors and a personal connection to the natural world contributes to the child's future wellbeing and the contributions they will make to the world as adults.
We can help our children by giving them time and space to wonder, to ponder, to explore, to investigate, to dream, to imagine, to just be. We can provide greenspace, rather then screenspace, we can provide soft sheltered places rather then concrete asphalt jungles. If we can share with them the mysteries of the natural world and instill a sense of wonder, and if we can create environments that nurture multiple intelligences, visual thinking and resourcefulness, then we might raise a generation of innovative and creative thinkers who can be our leaders, ready to take on the challenges of tomorrow's world. And can we? In Obama's words, YES, WE CAN.


Links
• Sir Ken's 2006 TED talk.
• A Nation Of Wimps: The High Cost Of Invasive Parenting by Hara Estroff Marano.