Children are vital to this vision, not only because they are the next
generation, but also because they are the role models of the
Creative Society
Next Generation Forum shares this belief with its founder, the
LEGO Company, who is also committed to take a leading role in
supporting and coordinating the movement
The vision and mission of Next Generation Forum
Objective
The Creative Society is built on the fundamental belief, that human Then one day he had a new teacher. She said: “Today we are
creativity is the vital turning point of any development as well as for going to do drawings and paintings!”. “Great”“ the little boy thought,
human self-esteem. and waited for the teacher to instruct him. But, the teacher said
nothing - she just walked around and talked to the children. She
A shift in attitude is already on its way. We have already seen the asked the little boy: What are you going to paint?” “I don’t know”
information age and the knowledge society enter the stage, but we said the little boy, “what shall I do? “Whatever you like”, said the
can begin to envision a new era. Human resources – our creative teacher - it wouldn’t be much fun if everyone painted the same
potential and ability to learn - are beginning to form the primary thing, would it?”. The little boy chose to paint a flower. It was red
point of attention. with a green stalk.
Children are vital to this transition to the Creative Society, not only
because they are the “Next Generation”, but also because
childhood is naturally one of the most creative periods of our lives.
In many ways children can serve as models for the Creative Society
by helping adults to relearn what it means to be playful and
creative. In the past, it has been important for children to grow up
learning at least one skill – a craft or a trade – so they can survive
as adults. In the future, though, it is already becoming more
important to develop and nourish children’s capacity for being
creative, beyond childhood and long into adulthood.
The following general trends outline the societal background on • Children are front-runners of the digital revolution.
which the vision of the Creative Society is founded: Today’s IT-proficient children acquire their IT skills while
learning basic qualifications such as reading, expressing
• A new “human competence culture”. The upspring of a themselves etc. The digital revolution will in many ways
culture based on human values and competencies makes herald new learning processes, and is sufficiently powerful to
children’s learning and imagination a new linchpin for alter the authority relationships between adults and children.
societal development. There are two reasons for this:
understanding children’s potentials is paramount to • Children lead the path to new methods of learning. The
understand human potential in general; and, increasingly, new information technology moves the learning process out
children need to be regarded as the most important resource of schools and into children’s homes. This poses a
for future growth and advancement in the economical, social tremendous challenge to our understanding of learning and
and cultural sustainability of society. the existing structure of our school systems across the
globe. Some IT “futurologists” claim that demanding children
• Work life is changing. The structures of work life and will change the schools and learning processes from the
labour markets will change profoundly in the decades to inside out. For instance, the number of PCs and Internet
come. The labour market will be characterised by greater links are rapidly increasing in children’s homes, making it
individualisation and flexibility, rendering obsolete concepts possible for them to explore this new media for learning
such as 9 to 5 jobs, workplace, and spare time. In the future, when most schools are still trailing hopelessly behind.
the ability to recruit, retain and develop creative and learning
apt employees will be vital to forming teams and building • The quest for life long learning. We are already seeing the
new competitive capabilities. first generation, where ones skill will not last for a full working
lifetime. Everybody who does not want to see their skills
• The Knowledge economy. Economists point out that the become obsolete, will need to learn throughout their lives.
fastest-growing companies are those which increasingly
place their value on their human resources and intangible In sum, these global trends indicate a move towards an era
assets. But information and knowledge by themselves are of characterised by substantial influence from children and childhood
limited value until they are played with and used creatively. in developing our future societies.
Success in tomorrow’s world will not be based primarily on
What is the Creative Society? In 1965, futurist George Land and his team developed a test for
NASA to select their most creative engineers and scientists for its
The Creative Society will: space program. The test was highly successful.
• Focus on human’s ability to grow and learn In 1968, the test was expanded to pre-school young children aged
five. The test was repeated until they reached adulthood. This is
• Focus on human resources and values, what they found:
.. less on institutions and systems
Age Creativity Potential
• Focus on creativity, playfulness and learning ability, 5 98%
.. less on memorising facts 10 30%
15 12%
• Focus on children as a valuable source of ideas, Adults 2%
.. and not just adults as the sole source of ideas
The conclusion is that children are extremely creative, but once
• Use technology to do totally new things they start schooling, their creativity drops tremendously.
.. instead of using technology to do things a little faster YKK, Quotes to unzip your mind
Creativity
Creativity is about making connections where none existed before – Before starting school children have already learned more than they
pushing the limits of own expertise - and learning in areas that are ever will for the rest of their lives. Already they have learned to
unfamiliar. handle their bodies, interact socially, talk and communicate, come
up with problem-solving ideas and much more - all without any type
“There is no doubt that creativity is the most important human of formal schooling
resource of all. Without creativity, there would be no progress, and
we would be forever repeating the same patterns”.
Edward de Bono “The debt we owe to the play of imagination is incalculable”
Carl Jung
Playfulness
Play is perhaps the most important element of human development.
Play helps us develop a social sense, physical abilities and Young children learn by games; compulsory education cannot
communicative skills. It helps us to make sense of the world. It remain in the soul.
provides a basis for our cultural development - and our civilization. Plato
It teaches us to take on different roles, to relate to our feelings and
to give us the important sense of mastery.
Learning
Some people when they hear the word learning, immediately think
of classrooms, teachers, curriculum and the other components of
schooling. At Next Generation Forum we define the word much
more broadly to mean exploring and making sense of the world and
the ability to do more things in it. In this sense we are all of us,
learning all the time.
When Frederich Froebel created the world's first kindergarten in Research shows that pre-school children spend approximately
1837, he filled it with "gifts" - physical objects such as balls, building seven hours a day playing, very often with toys. Another research
blocks and sticks - for children. The objects were helping children project has shown that children born two months prematurely will
have a higher IQ at the age of two if they have had access to many
explore physical shapes and spark their imaginations through open- different toys in their first six months.
ended play, in which children attached symbolic meaning to their
creations.
What the educational pioneer Maria Montessori realised years ago “New technological tools should be seen as the digital equivalent of
was that children who are allowed to explore regard a toy or tool as Froebel’s set of gifts. Like the gifts the new technological tools
should support children’s efforts to explore and make sense of their
a chance to be active, along the lines of “What can I do with this world.”
toy”. Those children will manipulate the tools to create play, stories Mitchel Resnick, member of Next Generation Roundtable
and subsequently something, which is meaningful to them.
The Creative Society must be built on partnerships. Partnerships At Blue Mountain School in Cottage Cove, Oregon, the children are
which are driven by a common interest for our future societies. We the ruling power. The Head of School Council is a 16 year old boy.
are all dependent on the next generation growing up to become The overall principle of the school is that the children decide what
sound, creative and innovative. they want to do –whether they want to learn or not.
The most important partnership in children’s lives is - of course - the The school stands out from traditional schools in most countries
parents. However, as family situations throughout the world since there is no predefined curriculum, no division of the day into
undergo significant change, others will need to join the group of subjects. There are no teachers either since all the adults are
responsible partners in the development of children’s potential. referred to as “members of staff”. Instead of directing classroom
sessions, the children can call them in as active and inspiring
The construction of partnerships must also involve children partners - when needed.
themselves, who should be viewed as competent partners in the
shaping of their own lives. The goals will only be achieved if adults - Teachers believe that the children learn faster at Blue Mountain
governments, educators and business - will cooperate and School because they decide when and what to learn. In fact, the
involve themselves more actively in the development of the children are extremely eager to learn, and very aware that
Creative Society. knowledge is the key to future success. As a result of the success
of the alternative school in Oregon, the state is about to pass a law
The challenge is to construct partnerships and ways of living that on systematic state support for such schools.
will boost creativity, and increase children’s inborn curiosity and
instinct for seeking information and learning. Projects of this kind
already exist in all corners of the world. We just need to bring these The Japanese Ministry of Education now recognises the need for
forward and to engage ourselves in the quest for a creative world. change toward creativity. Whereas the key slogan ten years ago
was ‘internationalisation’ it is now ‘getting children to be creative’.
Education planners are now recognizing that creativity is a key
element for the future of Japanese society.
One longitudinal study in the USA showed that for every single US
dollar invested in quality day-care the American government made
a long-term profit of seven US dollar due to reduced social costs,
less crime etc.
How to make this dream come through