Unforeseen benefits: Moving to Costa Rica and Creativity

 Creativity now is as important in education as literacy, and we should treat it with the
 same status.” 

- Sir Ken Robinson

Sometimes, it's hard to explain why we are staying on in Costa Rica- what was supposed to be a year to expose the three kids to Spanish has now turned into an indefinite venture. Last week The European School put on its 'Wearable Arts' presentation and in effect, put into practice what Sir Ken Robinson suggests- elevating creativity to the same status as literacy.

I didn't realize until later that it is the biggest event of the year. Each year, a general theme like 'Water' or 'Constellations' is thrown out and the kids' take it from there, with a healthy dose of support from the teachers.



There aren't really words to capture what takes place hence the name, 'Wearable Arts'. It is heavy on creative movement, music, choreography, production and art by way of: painted, constructed, cleaved, and fashioned.

 It is invention, design, execution and expression in its fullest form.

Do you love those fish eyes?!

The kids design and build their costumes.

This year mythology from around the world and through the ages was represented through vignettes that paired a young grade with an older grade. 

 A teacher later recounted how one of her students had declared that he wanted to be a full-on Zeus complete with beard and long hair and lightning bolt. I had been lucky enough to see this cat coming in before the event began and his swagger was delightful.

Here he is looking me straight on, bolt in hand!

 Zeus later went on to have quite the aerial 'war' with a bad lady in black who was tremendous in her role. One of the things that I most love about The European is the lack of self-consciousness amongst the kids. There are a lot of built-in opportunities to create, discover, fail, resurrect and grow.

Trust helps. These two were tottering away on tables but they didn't fall. They didn't hurt themselves. Nor did the gal who did a cartwheel off the stage. . .They did look great however.

2 weeks are set aside to prepare for Wearable Arts. I find it ironic that the test prep that occurs each Spring in the US can add up to 19 days or measured in hours, range from 60-110 says a recent report.

After nearly two years now of no standardized testing I will simply say, it's not missed. What the kids do report however, is sadness that they can't catch up art-wise with their peers. They feel stuck in perma-kindergarten and pretty much resent that they received almost no art and music. 

In these two years here, the kids have performed, created and learned French. I'm posting this from France where the kids have literally blown me away in that they are more than functional in French, locals are asking them how they know it. They've been talking lately about wanting to learn Portuguese. Now that's learning. Learning that they can.

That it's HARD. 

That it takes a ton of effort.

But, when it's worthwhile and even fun, they're happy to do it. 

Can't say that was ever the case with testing. By the time we left, the kids had to take monthly computer   testing to check their progress as well as a high-stakes yearly exam that spread out over days. At least with the French and the Art they get to take what they learn with them. 

Google's top hiring manager recently told Thomas Friedman (who wrote about it in an op-ed) that Google evaluates candidates on:

- leadership
-ownership
- humility
- cognitive

Google takes a hard look at these skills and traits before they delve into a candidate's expertise. 

Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman of Google, takes it further. Schmidt reports that looking at someone's past isn't as important as how they'll deal with things in the future. And how are things done well?  Effective communication. 

Schmidt says:

"It turns out the smartest people sometimes can’t really communicate very well. So we actually select not just for intelligence, but also for the ability to communicate with each other and work as teams. Nobody is a solo actor at Google anymore."

Olivia in the photo below is in 6th grade, she's sheparding a pre-schooler. Nobody was solo during Wearable Arts. Young had to work with old. They had to build with each other. Gigi's classmate choreographed nearly 40 9th graders. This special young woman told me that she was in tears during the last rehearsal but that's how you cut your teeth on project management and artistic direction. There is no other way. 

The teachers' who help them create 'Wearable Arts' each year are remarkable. 

It takes time to teach ownership. It takes autonomy to teach leadership. It takes being vulnerable to learn humility. 

So, I am quietly elated when Gigi tells me that she got choked up at Farewell to Arms' ending or when we see African immigrants hawking souvenirs in France and she rattles of migration patterns and rates of death- for I am certain that she's learning. 

I am loudly elated when I see her dance on stage with 40 classmates in make-up and feathers alongside her male friends who also had to wear skirts because their dance was based on Aztec mythology. They were vulnerable together in front of 100's of people and for that, there's no test. 

After it's all over, the school serves fresh fruits and juice to everyone. I experience one of many moments when I know that the sabbatical turned expat decision is the right one.