Summary by James R. Martin, Ph.D., CMA
Professor Emeritus, University of South Florida
Behavioral Issues Main Page |
Education Main Page
This is a very interesting and amusing presentation by Ken Robinson. I made a few notes to indicate what it's all about.
Robinson argues that being wrong is not the same thing as being creative, but if you are not prepared to be wrong, you will never come up with anything original. And although all children have potential and are not afraid to take a chance, we squander that potential by creating a fear of being wrong. Our education system's view of mistakes changes us, so that by the time we become adults we have developed a built in fear of being wrong. The result is that we are educating people out of their creative capacity. We don't grow into creativity, we are educated out of it. We educate children from the waist up and then focus on their heads and ignore everything else. We are educating our children for the future, but we have no idea what the future will be.
According to Robinson, "Creativity is the process of having original ideas that have value". To develop creative people, we have to rethink the fundamental principles underlying the way we educate our children. Our task is to educate the whole being so they can face the future and make something of it.
My note does not do justice to the video, so take a look. I think you will enjoy it.
TedTalks YouTube Video: Youtube
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Related summaries:
Coutu, D. L. 2002. The anxiety of learning. Harvard Business Review (March): 100-107. (Summary).
Dawkins, R. 2008. The God Delusion. A Mariner Book, Houghton Mifflin Company. (Dawkins criticizes education from a different persepctive. Summary).
Eastman, D. R. 2002. What higher education is for. St. Petersburg Times (September 14): 19A. (Note).