Sir Ken Robinson - Changing Paradigms 

"We're getting our children through education by anaesthetizing them, and I think we should be doing the exact opposite. We shouldn't be putting them asleep, we should be waking them up to what they have inside of themselves." That gave me chills. I really couldn't agree with him more. I can relate to so much of what he says here on a deeply personal level, from firsthand experience. Makes my heart ache. I can't help but wonder what will become of my generation.

This man and Penelope Trunk have some fantastic, innovative ideas about education and the end goals of our cultural push for higher education. I've felt this way for years, long before college.

I love how interdisciplinary this is, how it connects so many aspects in the world and in humanity to remind us how important education is and how we really ought to shift our focus. I don't personally have a solution to fixing our educational systems, but I think that if every educator watched and discussed these kinds of videos, we'd already be halfway there.

im glad that someone finally showed me how too say something about the education system. i think everyday that theres something wrong going on here but never came up with the words to say something about it

His innate happiness combined with a native creative intelligence is so invitingly encouraging! I LOVE Sir Ken's humanity;-) Thank you for sharing this!

Such a brilliant educator and orator- really sadly missed 🙏 so glad I can view his great talks in YT 👍

Amazing, inspiring... I'm speachless.... Could never believe I would sit in front of a video lecture for 55 minutes when I have exams to study to! This is the one of the most interesting piece of information I have ever recieved. Thank You!!

This is a food for anyone in deep starvation of educational enlightenment, and not definitely another mundane lecture.

having worked in child care and ed for nearly 20 years, his ideas that arts are being denegrated are absolutely on pointe. There are so many ways to teach history, science and general studies thru music/dance/art which is more accessible to children who not so 'academic' but many children who fall into this 'sphere' can later find themselves able/interested in just those higher academic spheres.. know the life values of your students, and teach them accordingly!!!

This man is always such a pleasure to listen to.

This guys is the saviour of thinking, I heard his lecture last year when he came to UBC, he is amazing. I instinctualy clapped after listening to this

Very inspirational, witty and funny. I like this guy more than most standup comedians. Sir Robinson makes me think of Célestin Freinet and his view on education. This talk shows the true genius of Freinet, who had similar ideas almost 90 years ago.

Just came across this and absolutely first class presentation and really gets you thinking and challanging how things are done. Nice one Sir Ken!

Never thought a 15-year-old kid from the Midwest could actually be interested in this kind of lecture. But, here I am, and inspired to change a few people's minds about education if I ever get the chance.

Sir Ken Robinson has this ability that he describes of divergent thinking, he is able to conceive of effects that the education system has on younger people based on their experiences of the new world without taking it for granted that the only way to succeed is to be better than someone in a linear manner. We are naturally competitive but also naturally infinite, it is ridiculous to reduce ourselves to other peoples' expectations or concepts of brilliance.

Somehow i have to admit you go beyond common comprehension with extreme cuteness. God is with you as you see the enriched human paradigm for what it is

Education is such a wonderful thing, it's probably one of the greatest abilities of humanity! To communicate ideas in order to help each other evolve as individuals, and to see the love of such a thing systematically destroyed in nearly every kid I've met is a fucking tragedy

Blew my mind! Extremely interesting and he is a brilliant presenter! I feel bad for not knowing about him earlier!

Ken Robinson ...once again...great speech...now we all have to MOVE

Awesome. This gives me faith for humanity.

That just blew my fucking mind...

Who thumbs down this talk?!?great insights...

Simply brilliant!

I have no idea, but they let me listen to 1 hour of Ken instead of 18 minutes. :)

Brilliant! I almost agree with almost everything he said, that's as close as it ever gets.

this video is absolutely brilliant. it brings us to a foundation of where we were before and where we are now in our society with education. its sad but true. I gotta thank my English teacher, Ms.Hanson for introducing me to this video

Sir Ken was the keynote speaker at the 2011 AMS Montessori Conference. He is a supporter of that model. Of course, he can not support it exclusively because various students will need specialized interventions and different approaches to meet their needs. Nevertheless, the Montessori model was created to support independence, intelligence, critical thinking skills, and the development of self-discipline, while also celebrating community, culture and creativity. Sir Ken is one of our heroes!

Deeply inspiring talk.

This was amazing.

brilliant response! incidentally, i agree with you!

Excellent, inspirational, informative.

I love this guy. Now if only the people in charge of the public education system would listen to him.

Ken Is amazing!

fantastic, God bless all

@MrFlamingPuppet Exactly so! I have long called schools 'Shut up, sit down and do what you're told institutions.' I home schooled my kids and my youngest boy learned times tables while jumping on a trampoline. They learned arithmetic through grocery shopping. They had wonderful educational and social experiences and were allowed to pursue their interests. They blossomed. It wasn't that hard to do.

Briliant... Great public speeking skills

This is so true. I enjoyed and used to sketch a lot as a kid. As I progressed through school, it was a recurring theme that logical skills were dominant and I slowly lost my artistic side. The thing I loved and did well was thrown in the bin. What am I doing now? A computer degree that I'm struggling with.

why isnt this more popular!?!

I wanna hear the discussion afterwards...

wow thats energising

I would love to attend a presentation by him.

At the grade school level many schools now apply what is called alternative assessment. Children are not graded at all: they put together portfolios of their best work for parent/teacher conferences; teachers write narratives about each students learning experience and check off lists of strengths. They never received a letter grade at all. Conservatives complain the purpose of this is avoid damaging children's self-esteem. The real purpose is to focus children on learning rather than grades.

Awesome!

Great!

I wasn't speaking about grade school but beyond. However, the example you use helps to support my point. Abraham Lincoln took complete responsibility for his own education. He was self-educated. Living long before mass education, he had only about a year of formal education from several itinerant teachers. But he read anything he could get his hands on and, obviously, became extremely educated. Also, eleven is rather late. Even I woke up by then and started being responsible in school.

And anyone who wants to suggest I lack understand about the complex exterior economic and social forces that shape our destinies, they obviously haven't read any of my posts on the subject, so I'm posting a copy of one above. However, it still doesn't negate my point that love of learning must come from within.

universities share the same problem. and i don't know how all this stuff works in other countries, but in spanish ones you just have to study before the exams, spit your knowledge and then forget it after the exams and continue with your life.

Another great talk. If you've not seen his TED talk you should check it out. Someone said it's on RU-vid already, but I just discovered the TED app for iPhone (it's free) and its awesome. Download the talks for later viewing, or stream online.

A great talk, and he's from Liverpool too , What a bonus

When education treated as a business, reliance on commerce majority of institutions ensure student debt, graduating into the dole office.

This is wonderful and so so true! What can we do to help bring about this kind of change?

my desire to ensure our youth's future brought me here

love the argument about the money for the prison system vs education system

i love this guy. this kind of thing is exactly the sort of thing i thought we should be doing in school. (i'm going into gr.12 this year btw)

I hope someday in the future people will be able to learn what they want to learn and in an effective manner with other people of similar interests which give rise to people who are self-incentivized to perform certain actions and things without having to succumb to society's judgement of economic utility of such actions, knowledge and skills. Most people, my peers, I see could not give a care in the world for what is taught and structured in school and would rather be doing something else.

Excellent lecture on how the present system of education actually destroys learning and creativity. By indoctrinating children to a program where they are conditioned to think along the lines of a jealously guarded system, their individual creativity is often destroyed. Ken Robinson's lectures should be required for all educational administrators and teachers particularly in the public school system.

Standardized testing - taking teachers and students out of the most effective relationship dynamic for several days of the term, and using the results of those few days to determine if the most effective relationship dynamic is effective. In Canadian teaching programs, there just isn't the same worry about funding and job security based on Standardized Testing achievement. I feel for you US teaching professionals. Really, I do.

Excellent :)

being an architect to be brought me here.... although architecture has nothing to do with painting, which i actually love.

The apparent “decline” of creativity might not be just due to the education system itself but might be a natural result of children growing up and the way that their understanding of their external environment means they know what limitations and natural rules are and therefore what is and what is not possible.

@strife93 Roosterteeth is a company that do online stuff such as videos, they also have community forums. Monty does motion capture for the company, he posted this link in his blog

Y a pas photo! Punaise que c'est difficile de changer de points de vues... Bravo Sir!

Thanks for this Sir Robinson. I liked it when Pink Floyd said it too.

Actually, there is something called 'La Educación Prohibida' - a project about education and its alternatives, problems... It originated in Latin America (not exactly 'first world'), and I highly recommend you check it out - their video is in Spanish with subtitles.

@SciFiHero I'm curious, are you talking about Victoria Comp? I went there, and it was the same situation: a completely arts-focused school, but then the old principal retired, and an academics-focused one came in. I don't know about the principal(s) that came after because I graduated in '02. IB was always around--it was mandatory when I was in junior high there, but it was optional in high school. I was very glad I took some IB classes (art, history), but full IB would have driven me bonkers.

this was a good video

fascinating. if only more 'educators' (and i use that term loosely :p) would see this lecture. some incredible ideas in there

@joeybenn Originality doesnt necessarily have to do with not studying previous masters. Ofcourse, studying previous masters allows you to know many things: The way to compose, the progression of it, the mood or meaning it conveys and a whole lot of things. One then can be original in creating a new composition. Sure it takes time, effort and dedication. The question is how many schoold would allow such "waste" of time.

@GreyLabyrinthine thanks , that really helped :)

Great

@BenAlldridge On januari 25 my University has some talks of some people. One of them is Richard Gerver, a friend of Ken. And he will talk about changing this paradigm, so maybe there will be some change. I surely hope so, cause what we do now is just killing our potential!

what an Ambassador for the arts! Love this man!

RIP Sir.

wow!!

Are you immovable, moveable or moving? If you spend an hour passively watching today, make sure it's early and make sure it's watching this. Then make sure you spend two hours spreading the word!

Even though a baby-boomer, I haven't worn a watch in years, for all the reasons given here. But I miss having an analog watch. The hands move as time appears to move, as represented by shadows moving across the ground, floor or wall as the day progresses. They move with the earth, which doesn't hold still for a whole minute and then blip forward, as digital representations of time do. An analog watch or clock also lets one "see" time past and future when one looks at it. If the hands say three o'clock, one can picture the minute hand sweeping around over the next half hour while trying to prioritize thirty minutes' worth of activities. So if boomers won't stop wearing watches, it may be because they are sensitive to what is lost when they come off our wrists.

well I just spent an hour watchin this vid when im susposed to do a paper by tomorrow. Think i'll use this vid as a jumping point for it.

I never really did art for a long time since primary school. High school was just constant drugging of logical subjects, the idea that I needed logical skills to succeed further alienated myself from art. I chose to do a computer degree because of my interest in technology, however I somehow feel that I'm not the right "material" for it.

@Wh33lz777 No I mean FFXIII. There're Paradigms in that too.

@hakki368 yan ba yung malapit sa UPLB? grabe ang ganda dun! nakakainggit!

What a legend!

Anyone can help to listen to the title of the book where he talked about divergent thinking? I can't figure out what he said. To be specific, it's at 48:00.

Watching this 7 years late. What are they waiting for, Jeremy Corbyn? Can't wait for that change, we need to revolutionize education ourselves right now. Hey teachers, leave your kids alone. Give them freedom to learn.

He should have got the "Pale Blue Dot" picture.

@MrZihaoLee Breakpoint and Beyond: Mastering the Future Today [Paperback] George Land (Author), Beth Jarman (Author)

In “Inheriting an Abundant Earth” a simple rule tweak on inheritance ends up changing the direction and purpose of modern human life! It's something specific we can demand. Are we really just this close to having it work right? Oh yeah, it's a Ski movie! Watch “Inheriting an Abundant Earth” on RU-vid (“Occupying Chairlifts” 5.0) then sign the petition, and share it!!

I want those books...

I believe you missed the entire message of the talk. It is not a way for him to build a platform to sell a novel, in fact the novel is only mentioned the one time. There is a reason this man has gone to multiple places like this to deliver speeches, and it is not to say, "don't worry about failing math, you'll be fine" but rather, "in spite of doing poorly at any given subject, there is so much more for you to do well in that you haven't been allowed to experience for the sake of it".

How can we reference this?

@Nautilus1972 He's an immigrant to the United States; Just because they are household terms here doesn't mean they are around the world. Off hand, without Google-ing it, do you know what I refer to when I say Tunguska (Might not be the best example, but...)? He's a Ph.D which technically means he's a Doctor of Philosophy, which I think fits pretty well considering his lecture.

@MrFlamingPuppet I have to tell you that as one who loves Ken Robinson's presentation, and as one who works in the public school system too, it's just not very easy to assist with creative divergent thinking in students or give them individual chances for success when you have 26 of them in a classroom. I can do wonderful things with 12! With 20... it gets harder. 26? HARD. 30? no way. How do we improve public education if society isn't willing to hire more (good) teachers?

i was thinking that too about the subjects, cause here we choose our subjects in year 11, 12 and 13 but then english maths and science is compulsory in year 11 and english is compulsory in year 12 and i was wondering why THEY had to be compulsory and not something else!

As a teacher, I pay attention to the kids I teach as people and I really don't pay too much attention to the system (curriculum + formal assessment). From what I have seen, this 'system' is trying to measure our kids and failing and then somehow confusing that failure with the kids' performance as learners. This is the quickest way to stifle their potential..

wow

Seems that two people don't want the person disliking the video to be in hell alone. ;)

@Rockwell436 I agree somewhat though many in my personal opinion teach the word of christ wrong, *example, Some say (some) Christ was the only one when he says you can do this and grander things to? He says ask to receive.. If you think it your guilty of it, will thy kingdom to come. This means to ask to be trained as chirst was, to use emotions and actions with spirtuality to attract things with your heart thought process. Those who sat in darkness saw the light (meditation). Hope this helps?

what was the quote he said at 51:25 ?

art revolution is coming

Thinking about this somewhat, perhaps it is not entirely the educational system's fault but the act of learning previous humans/generations' works? Say someone decides to learn piano, but that person only restricts themselves to learning to play other people's works. Now ask that person to create there own piece. How original is that work they just created? How do we define originality?

@uuuuuuuuu7 I really don't find aspect/subject of Mr. Robinson's lecture that one could argue about. There is a profound truth in this talk. The debate isn't up to him, but up to the society that he admonishes. He doesn't need to debate, and he calls for us to make the choices. He only asks that world leaders and and masses of our society make the right choice; that is the choice that cultivates and fosters creativity.