Blog Post #12

by Brantley Spillman

Ken Robinson: Changing Education Paradigms

What can we learn from Sir Ken Robinson? Ken Robinson is a speaker, author, and educational advisor for the Arts.  Mr. Robinson petitions in favor of the Arts to non-profit organizations, government departments, and various educational programs throughout the country.

While watching Ken Robinson’s lecture, “Changing Education Paradigms,” my initial assessment of Sir Robinson’s video was, “how cool is that written cartoon that writes key points of his lecture on a white board!?”

Mr. Robinson opens his lecture by stating that everyone agrees that, “there is a problem with our current educational system”.  He further states that, “every culture wants to educate their children so that they have a sense of cultural identity.”  However, Mr. Robinson believes that by taking this approach, we are trying to embrace a future in education that correlates with what our cultures have done in the past not empowering students for what is to come.  He doesn’t explicitly say this approach is wrong but I am assuming he does not agree with this approach.  His argument is that millions of kids are alienated while using this approach. Specifically, modern education is creating survivors. I am not sure Mr. Robinson offers many suggestions to change these approaches; he only offers complaints of the system's limitations. His suggestions, specifically, ask for educators and parents to stop giving difficult/distractable children ADHD drugs, such as Adderall and Ritalin, to gain conformism from the child but to, instead, let these children embrace the Arts. Dispose of grade levels, and have these students work in groups to maintain their attention.  Honestly, his suggestions remind me of communism: it looks great on paper, but does it really work when implemented. I find two problems with this ADHD discussion:

1) What if you are a child who does not respond or learn well using the Arts? Are you tossed aside for me being math-minded? How is this not just swinging the exclusive learning pendulum the other direction? Now only the arts-minded will thrive.

2) I am not sure if he was arguing that ADHD is not real? Is it a figment of exhausted educators' and parents' imagination who just haven’t tapped into that child’s innate need for the Arts? I am not arguing that American culture doesn’t love a good pill to fix something that could be fixed by lifestyle change, but I challenge him to stand in front of a set of parents that have found some relief and normalcy by putting their child on these medications. I believe his argument is idealistic and may be too simplistic.

I did, however, like how he compared the current school layout to that of a factory setting.  I had never realized or even tried to compare a classroom to a factory before this lecture: bells that start/end tasks, task-designated rooms, product-oriented projects. I do agree with Mr. Robinson that our current educational system has issues. There should be some value and freedom to commend a student on their learning process rather than the end point. However, I feel it is easy to point out problems, but very difficult to find solutions.  Correct me if I am wrong, but I did not hear any solutions in his talk. I only heard complaints about the educational system that seems to have gotten him where he is today: a relatively successful lobbyist for the Arts in the educational system. Maybe he should admit that the "broken" system did do something right for him and we can expand on that? 

Overall, I appreciated hearing his argument. I can appreciate the problem with our current educational system in that 'certain students' are never given the opportunity to thrive. Obviously, we, as educators, have the difficult task to reach these students in some way. If technology offers a means to gain these students' attention, then I am all for it. If the Arts program offers a means to gain these students' attention, then, again, I am all for it. 

by Haley Smith

How to escape education's death valley

I really enjoyed watching this video because it focused on the “No Child Left Behind” Act that was put in place in schools all across America. American schools are such a beneficial program because there is more money, smaller class sizes, and the schools are always trying to improve. If that is the case, then why is the dropout rate in America 60%? There are three points that Ken Robinson made that causes American schools to be so unsuccessful. The first reason was that humans are naturally diverse. The example that he gave of this is that if a couple has two children, the two children are completely opposite without ever learning anything. No Child Left Behind is based solely on conformity, not diversity. A child that exceeds in arts, humanities, and physical education isn’t going to get the right attention that a student that exceeds in math and english. The artsy student is going to fail in the eyes of the state because he or she can’t pass the standardized test. Robinson made a point that there is an “epidemic” of American students diagnosed with ADD or ADHD. All “ADD” is is a childhood. Kids aren’t going to sit still especially if they aren’t engaged. Teachers should give students a broad curriculum that focuses on each talent not just a small range of them. The arts are important because it speaks to a part of a child’s mind that is untouched.

The second point is humans are naturally curious. If a teacher sparks curiosity, a student will learn. Children are natural learners. Teachers are the life flow of successful schools. Teaching is a creative profession not a delivery system. You can’t expect to use burp back education. You have to mentor, stimulate, promote, and engage students. Make them want to learn. Teaching and learning must go together. You can be engaged in the task of teaching but if students aren’t learning, then you as a teacher aren’t achieving. The teachers role is to facilitate learning. We must get out of the routine, and we must use our powers of creativity and imagination to do what we have to do.

The final point is that humans are naturally creative. As teachers we must awaken the powers of creativity in our students. Instead of doing that, we have a system of standardization. The issue with that is that tests are only on specific criteria rather than all talents. If someone is having trouble because they aren’t good at math but awesome at soccer, they are defined by their failure at math. In a sense, we “leave him or her behind”. Education isn’t a mechanical system; it is a human system. Every student that drops out has a unique reason for doing so. We need to create  a movement that turns into a revolution in education. 

by Hilary Thames

How Schools Kill Creativity

Creativity is something that I am going to stress on a high level to my students. I believe, just as Mr. Robinson, that it is just as important as any core subject. So when I received the opportunity to watch his video,  How Schools Kill Creativity, of course I jumped right on it! Mr. Robinson spoke on the way that the education system as it is today attempts to corral children into conformity, making the argument that all children are born with creativity but it is “educated” out of them. He says that creativity comes from the absence of fear of being wrong, however, the school systems of today make being wrong the one of the worst things you can do as a student. In my classroom i am going to promote creativity by not discouraging children after a wrong answer, but encouraging them to find the correct answer. 

Mr. Robinson stressed the point that the children in school today will not retire until 2065. He also mentioned that we, as educators, don’t know what is going to come about in the next five years, much less, in the next fifty. This is why I am going to promote creativity in my classroom. We look at University professors as those who have “ won the education game.” However, when we do not know where education is going then how can that be determined. The times are beginning to change more rapidly with each year and we need creative students who are not conformed to the usual restrictions of education to help pioneer this coming change. As Mr. Robinson said, the amount of students to graduate in the next thirty years will be the highest number of students to graduate since the beginning of education making degrees nearly worthless and jobs almost impossible to find. Therefore, I am going to encourage children to come up with new ideas, and not just have them bound by the answers the textbook tells us is correct. New creations come from things that were either not thought of or looked down upon previously. Allowing my students to think outside the box will open their realm of thinking beyond what the school system wants them to know and into the leaders of innovation in the society of tomorrow.