As a child, I dreamed of being an astronaut, a rock star, a firefighter. I also dreamed of being an engineer (even though I did not know they were called engineers at that time) to create a flying car that would fly based on magnetism (should I have followed that way?) And, umm, an archaeologist. It made no sense to study archeology in Brazil at that time – since there was only one program in the Northeast of the country, far from home – but I was passionate about the history of early civilizations. I still am, actually. But archeology would not lead me to make money, since the only way to work in this area in Brazil would be to become a teacher. And I definitely did not want this for my life.
Ah, life, you’re a joker… 😂
I ended up moving towards information technology, information systems and, later, management and strategy. And I became a teacher.
(un)Fortunately, this creative flame – which I call my rebellious teenage side – has remained alive and I ended up using a little bit of this flame in my work to this day – and I hope it stays that way.
Given this context, there is a TED Talk that eventually became my favorite one: I introduce you Sir Kenneth Robinson: Do schools kill creativity?
It is obvious that I want my children to go to university, to take those hard sciences diplomas, to be successful professionally and financially. But I also want them to be happy, healthy, to dance – and not to be a robot like their father – and to be creative, imaginative, dreamy.
It is not only a matter of rethinking schools, or teaching, but also it’s a matter of reflecting on what parents, teachers, families, students and society expect from these citizens in training.
To think about…
Also published on Medium.