Why School Erases Creativity

I know, harsh.

I am talking on behalf of most of my fellow high school students in Greece. This may not occur in other countries.

I recently watched Sir Ken Robinsons ted talk about this topic in his speech about school killing creativity and couldn't agree more.
As I have mentioned in previous posts, this is my final year of High school here in Greece before I go on to study in higher education. It's almost February and feelings of tiredness, stress, anxiety, and pessimism have flooded my classroom and even though we all have our own goals we all share in these feelings.

We started this school year having an idea of what lies ahead- Rigorous studying in hopes of achieving our goal- graduating from school and getting into Uni. Even though all 3rd-grade students know what they're getting into you can never be entirely ready. 3rd grade of Lykeio(highschool/college) consists of specific lessons you have to master in order to get a good grade in the final exams, lots of hours of studying, private lessons and more. Even though I am not taking these exams I have been pulled into this wave of exhaustion my friends are going through and it is affecting me in a different way.

In regards to the title of this blog, this year especially school has just been a place where we go to check our homework, get tested and write exams. Nothing in my day at school involves thinking out of the box or being creative. For me, a positive and creative person, this is rather heartbreaking.

Lessons have been formed in a way that what examiners expect from you is critical thinking- outside of the box- but what they are expecting is a typical neutral answer that you can study in a book and learn of by heart in order to achieve a high score. The education system has changed drastically in order to promote "critical and analytical thinking" but the only thing expected is a parroted paragraph from the specific page of your book.
We have not extra subjects no extra productive work. Is it strange that we haven't been taught music or dance or art or a specific sport since primary school? Even if we were offered the option most of us wouldn't take it as we have so much on our plate as it is...

You may think, "But Tina, you are not doing these exams so why do you feel like this too?"
the answer is simple yet disappointing... this year is solely dedicated to these panhellenic and even if you are not taking them but what a good grade you must study the same way. Even if I didn't want to study the same way I have been pulled into this climate of "thinking perfunctorily" and can not escape. When lessons are dedicated to getting through the curriculum and that alone it's hard to find a crack and add some kind of creativity.

Our teachers try though, they see and understand that we are going through a rough time and even in my case and try to teach lessons in a more innovative way, but there are only so many things they can do differently. Unfortunately, they are entangled in the ropes of this stiff education system and cant bend the rules as it comes at our own expenses.

My question is, why when we are just about to grow up and live in the real world where we need actual critical thinking and to be creative in order to stand out, we are being taught what is right and what is wrong to say just so we can pass some exams that are mandatory if you want to study in higher education? Why can we not have less curriculum and learn less but better?

Why must we pretend and write in a specific way when the systems want to create "critical
thinkers"?
Nobody has the time to do any extra activities out of school because there is no time. 17-year-olds are made to grow up drastically whether they like it or not. Stress, mental health, anxiety, depression are only some of the things that devoted students often go through. Why must we make so many sacrifices so soon in our lives when these are the years we should thrive in?

One of my best friends wants to study fitness but has been told that she mustn't be at the gym for more than 3 hours a week and had to give up competing in her sport because her uni wants a very high grade she can only achieve when studying for 5-6 hours a day, private lessons included.

But why is this still happening today? Is there anything we can do about it?
I want to think there is...

Thank you for reading,
Tina x