Tuesday, May 27, 2008 23:37
Schools kill creativity
In TOC TV • 351 views • 6 Comments
Why don’t we get the best out of people? Sir Ken Robinson argues that it’s because we’ve been educated to become good workers, rather than creative thinkers.
Students with restless minds and bodies — far from being cultivated for their energy and curiosity — are ignored or even stigmatized, with terrible consequences.
“We are educating people out of their creativity,” Robinson says.
It’s a message with deep resonance. Robinson’s TEDTalk has been distributed widely around the Web since its release in June 2006. The most popular words framing blog posts on his talk? “Everyone should watch this.”
A visionary cultural leader, Sir Ken led the British government’s 1998 advisory committee on creative and cultural education, a massive inquiry into the significance of creativity in the educational system and the economy, and was knighted in 2003 for his achievements.
“Ken’s vision and expertise is sought by public and commercial organizations throughout the world.”
BBC Radio 4
From TED.
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6 Comments
Saint Splattergut
Yea and I am trying to advocate home schooling here in Singapore but no one would listen. People think of institutions as a good place to make their kids ‘normal’. Hahahaa oh well but there are always pros and cons to everything. It is the problem solving that can erase the cons. If I am to hold a seminar for parents, showing this video, they will probably agree but conclude at the same time that the Sir Ken Robinson was presenting his opinions to a Western audience and it does not apply in the Singaporean context.
What rubbish.
Currently Spared
It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education.
– Albert Einstein
Zheng Xi
Mark Twain said it best:
‘I try not to let my schooling get in the way of my education’.
hilary
SIR KEN ROBINSON YOU ARE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT OF GOD. WHICH IS WHY U UNDERSTAND BASIC NATURE, SIR!
Teo Wei Yong
Singaporeans are always quick to blame Western mentality to the negative and always think that we are the ‘Sh*t’. We have been so stifled in our own fears and arrogance to the point we’re running around in delusional circles and always coming up with excuses that always insipidly points towards our “unique identity”, regardless of whether we are even capable of knowing whether it’s bad or good. Another problem is also there are no philosophy subjects in our secondary and junior college curriculums, maybe because the government fears that philosophy opens minds and will cause us to question authority. Yet we promote every single minor achievement in the newspapers like it’s the biggest thing in the world, and ‘every small step is a step’. While that may be true, it can also be a dangerous notion to fall into given our ‘unique’ tendency to give way to any notion that aids and abets our own fears.
I suggest instead of falling back DEPENDENTLY on things like “aiyah, everywhere is the same la” , “everything got pros and cons so we don’t have to do much about it”, “aiyah what to do?”, “actually everywhere got bad things one la so we’re ok” – maybe we should occasionally try the proverbial, not political, “F*ck everything else, let’s SAY something HONEST!”
We can all keep saying “there’s good things about us as well as bad things”, but let’s try “fine, let’s DO something about the bad things”, instead of depending on ‘angle and perspective’ to make ourselves feel better….personally I feel that’s one of the major things holding back human beings in fear….1 person say this and 20 others say “it depends…” it won’t work.
That was beautiful. Thank you.