The Creative Portfolio

Academic achievement in every field should include a portfolio of creative work. From Salman Khan’s, One World Schoolhouse: Education Reimagined:

“This brings me to the idea of the ‘creative portfolio’ as a central part of a student’s transcript. Everyone is beginning to recognize that curiosity and creativity are more important attributes than a mere facility for a particular subject; yet except for narrowly defined art schools, few institutions even consider an applicant’s creative output. This is doubly wrong. First, it implies that only ‘art’ is creative — a view that is provincial and limiting. Science, engineering, and entrepreneurship are equally creative.

Second, if we fail to take a serious look at what students have created on their own, above and beyond the lessons and tests, we miss an opportunity to appreciate what is truly special about them. More than any data, grades, or assessment, someone’s actual creative product is the best testament of his or her ability to create from scratch, to make a solution out of an open ended problem.”

— Salman Khan, One World Schoolhouse: Education Reimagined