Another fantastic RSA Animate. Speech on changing education paradigms by expert Sir Ken Robinson…
“Every country on earth at the moment is reforming public education. There are two reasons for it. The first of them is economic. People are trying to work out, how do we educate our children to take their place in the economies of the 21st century. How do we do that? Even though we can’t anticipate what the economy will look like at the end of next week. as the recent turmoil has demonstrated. How do you do that?
The second though is cultural. Every country on earth on earth is trying to figure out how do we educate our children so they have a sense of cultural identity, so that we can pass on the cultural genes of our communities. While being part of the process globalization, how do you square that circle?
The problem is they are trying to meet the future by doing what they did in the past. And on the way they are alienating millions of kids who don’t see any purpose in going to school. When we went to school we were kept there with the story, which is if you worked hard and did well and got a college degree you’d have a job. Our kids don’t believe that, and they are right not to by the way. You are better having a degree than not, but it’s not a guarantee anymore. And particularly not if the route to it marginalises most of the things that you think are important about yourself.
Some people say we have to raise standards if this is a breakthrough. You know…like really. Yes, we should. Why would you lower them? You know…I haven’t come across an argument that persuades me they’ve lowered them. But raising them, of course we should raise them. The problem is that the current system of education was designed and conceived and structured for a different age. It was conceived in the intellectual culture of the Enlightenment, and in the economic circumstances of the Industrial Revolution…”
“..Divergent thinking isn’t a synonym, but it’s an essential capacity for creativity. It’s the ability to see lots of possible answers to a question. Lots of possible ways of interpreting a question.”
-Ken Robinson