In this talk from RSA Animate, Sir Ken Robinson lays out the link between 3 troubling trends: rising drop-out rates, schools’ dwindling stake in the arts, and ADHD. An important, timely talk for parents and teachers.
The RSA YouTube channel
What’s your opinion?
Is our educational system outdated? Is the current system one that doesn’t benefit the majority of the students? Are we stuffing our kids with dangerous ADHD medication for no reason? Is the system killing creative thinking in favor of rationalization?
One thing that really struck me, is the idea that we organize our school classes by age rather than by individual interrests, skills or working patterns. It seems that age is the least important of those traits, so why is that the key factor?
Liked this video?
Ken Robinson did a similar video in 2009 called Do Schools Destroy Creativity where he draws the parallel between schools and prison camps. He’s talking about how kids are tought to fear authority and compete for prestige based on consumerist values.
I agree that the system is broken.
The presentation highlights several big problems with education today – Especially the “there’s only one right answer” is problematic.. It forces our minds to think too linear when trying to solve problems or be creative..
The school systems around the world need to be updated to fit our society and culture, rather than what we experienced when systemized education first began. In essence all that’s changed since then is the curriculum, and the fact that you no longer are allowed to hit the children.
I’m in favor of scrapping the system as a whole, and tailoring a new system which suits our way of life. We could start by arranging kids by their levels, so students who excel at a certain field are not dragged behind by students who lack either the skill and/or dedication. It would allow the students to develop faster and reach their full potential, and allow teachers and schools to devote their full attention to the entire class, rather than the few who are falling behind.
I’m right there with you on the focus on single-minded answers. Everyone’s talking about the value of creativity in business – So why are we only nurturing it in kindergarten? Its harder to measure creative skills in our current grade-based system, of course, but isn’t that just a sign of something wrong in the way kids are graded?
My hope is that the shift to online education will make it possible to offer a broader selection of classes so you have the option of tailoring your education to fit your skill set. It would hopefully enable you to get more value from the time you spend in school. At the very least it would be a nudge in the right direction.
Interesting debate …