In this notable Ted Talk video "Do schools kill creativity?", Sir Ken Robinson discusses how public education systems demolish creativity because they believe it is essential to the academic growth and success of students. Robinson created a broad arrange of arguments to persuade the viewers to take action on this highly ignored issue, and he primarily focuses on how important creativity is. There are classes within schools that help utilize creativity, but they are not taken seriously by adults in society. Therefore, the value of creative knowledge decreases. Robinson uses an unusual combination of pathos and ethos to make an enjoyable dispute for implementing an education system that nurtures rather than eats away at creativity.
On February
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2006, Sir Ken Robinson made an argument that creativity is just as important as education and that it should be treated as it is the same level of importance as education within schools. His point is that children are born with great talents, but they are wasted by the school system. While children were not always afraid of being wrong, schools everywhere and the ecological system has completely shattered the ability to accept this point of view. Robinson firmly believes that making mistakes is the only way to develop new ideas, although being successful in life means making no mistakes. People, especially children, should have more leniency and space when it comes to being wrong, especially if it is for the possibilities of creating something new. The level of importance is the same at all schools: first comes math and languages, followed by humanities and concluded by the arts. Music and art fall dead last, after that drama and dance. The students who have priority for a scientific career are following the right order, but the people of the future who want to succeed a more creative way is not following the order by which they should succeed. Gifted students do not get the same sense of achievement, because things they are good at is not valued in the eyes of the school. They are taught that their high creative potentials are a waste. Intelligence is broadly based on tonal, visual, dynamic, kinesthetic and abstract control because of different punitive ways of seeing things. This is also why the full body has to be educated to use the entire spectrum of human capacity. Fundamental principles of the education system need to be changed to confidently send future generations into more promising futures. Throughout his speech, Sir Robinson try's to convince the audience through his use of humor and his discussion of experiences personal to him, to prove the importance of creativity. He uses his humor to retell a story of the way back when-when he was a professor at a university and what he had observed concerning creativity through the duration of his career. When he was teaching at the University, he noticed that most of the professor he worked with were only one-sided because they would only focus on one perspective of a subject and refuse to look at it in any other way. Robinson evidently calls out, It is very amusing to become aware that most professors do metaphorically “live in their heads,” but it demonstrates how the public education system is more than likely to be one-sided when it comes to forming a standard curriculum. Students who greatly excel with their creative abilities more than others do will not have the opportunity to be recognized because of professors and teachers who fear altering the system will damage their students' academic success. This is the reason Robinson finds it amusing how unconcerned these individuals are. Through his use of emotions, he proves to the audience how absurd professionals act when it comes to exploring the idea of implementation of creativity within public schools. Robinson does not only used humor when trying to connect with his audience, but he also shows his audience he is a credible source and he is worth listening to.
By using the topic of public school systems disregarding creativity he can persuade the viewers to want to take action. In the middle of his speech, he points out how every education system in the entire world is based on a ranking of subjects. When Robinson talked about the rankings of classes he had two main topics that he made sure to talk about. One being, the ranking is based on the most useful subjects are at the top of the list. He brought up how children have driven away from certain activities that they enjoyed because were raised to believe that those businesses will not create a successful job in the future. For example, if a child were gifted at playing the guitar and liked it, he or she would be guided away from the activity because there is no promise to have a successful career as a musician. This point was followed up by talking about how the entire rankings are based on one's academic ability. The school knowledge has come to take over our view of what intelligence is because universities are designed with just one image in mind. He makes this clear when he says Because of this child who are gifted and talented are being turned away by multiple colleges because the only thing they excelled at in school, did not matter. This leads to the audience to believe in all of the aggravating points Sir Ken
Robinson makes, and he alters their judgment when it comes to the public education system as a whole. Robinson is promoting a new technique to rethink what intelligence means in the public education school system. Through inferences over time, he talks about how intelligence Consists of only three different pieces. Robinson states, these different pieces of knowledge demonstrates a strong parallel relationship between intelligence and creativity. If the emphasis is not placed on creativity in public schools, then data will not fully display dynamic, distinct, and diverse characteristics. Robinson is a part of a community of ex-professors that believe in implementing positive changes to the education system by reinstalling creativity throughout the entire educational process. Robinson and his fellow ex-professors have had debates on this topic inside of universities. They all want to find a way to show outsiders how important it is to be creative and how important it is to keep creativity involved with schools. The primary goal is to get children educated with creativity. In conclusion, Robinson's performance provided the viewers with evidence that the education systems are the cause for killing creativity. He starts out by using pathos to get the attention of the viewers through entertainment that also happens to relate through his personal experiences. He continues to persuade the viewers to become aware of this issue by the way he professionally styles his speech, which shows an ethos appeal. It is essential to have creative abilities, not only for ones interested in art or music but also those interested in engineering and science because they as well have to fix problems in this world that may surpass their intellectual abilities. It is never too late to change the future of young adults and put creativity back on the track for success.
In the article “Clive Thompson on the New Literacy,” writer Clive Thompson argues that the widespread use of technology and social media does not make kids illiterate and unable to form coherent sentences, but instead, keeps them actively writing and learning. Thompson’s article is based off of a study done by Andrea Lunsford, a writing professor at Stanford University. Thompson agrees with Lunsford that the use of social media and the Internet allow students to be creative and get better at writing. In his article, Thompson quotes John Sutherland, an English professor at University College of London, to inform the audience of the opposite side of the argument. He states, “Facebook encourages narcissistic blabbering, video and PowerPoint have
The purpose of Rebecca Solnit’s “Abolish High School” is to criticize the present high school system along with the emotional and academic strain it puts on developing minds. Solnit’s intended audience is any educated person with the opportunity to voice their opinions on the current approach to schooling.
As American’s we place a high level of importance on attending school and receiving a certain level of education. Across the world, the recommendations for attending school vastly differ based on the culture of the society. In America, we require our children to attend school until they are almost of legal age, push high school graduates to attend college and we constantly emphasize structured learning. Many children in today’s world lack many skills that would allow them to “teach” themselves outside of school leading to an increased interest in televisions, computers, and phones. Technology has taken away society’s attention away from independent learning such as reading, writing, and outside experiences. John Taylor Gatto’s emotional voice in his writing “Against School” has allowed me reveal my psychological voice regarding the educational system.
Imagine a society where education isn’t entirely dependent upon the merits of one’s personal knowledge. Where the learning environment is utilized for personal development and growth rather than competition and separation. A sanctuary composed of unity and equity among peers. A place where college isn’t the only goal, but rather personal identity and initiative are established along the way. Such a society, fully embodies Baldwin’s ideology regarding education, and the prejudices therein. In his speech, “A Talk to Teachers” Baldwin delivers a compelling argument, in which he criticizes the problems and prejudices within the educational system in his day. However, through his sagacious philosophies and eye-opening opinions, Baldwin manifests the cruel, unspoken truth within his speech, that the hindrances and prejudices experienced in his day are still existent in 2016.
He had created a monster. He started off with a class to help citizens in that lived in poverty a new start and for ones who didn’t make it a chance to get a higher education. Marsh didn’t think the project would solve the world’s problems. The class of graduates made it the entire year was just a small portion of adults in the poverty area that took the step to get chance to get a higher education. Most had no set plans on what they would do with this education. Most people had the same thinking as the cameraman that if they people living below the poverty level received education poverty would go away. Marsh felt that he failed and got students hopes up. One does not blame the camera man for thinking that education could fix the world’s problems especially because the problem is poverty and inequality. The cameraman and his wife did have good faith and reason to think that education was a cure. Just a couple of months before graduation day President George W. Bush surprised journalist and other listeners by speaking of the growing economic inequality in the United States. ‘The fact that inequality is real,’ Bush told an audience of Wall Street Executives. ‘It’s been rising for more than twenty five years.’ The problem in our economy is that it is increasingly rewarding education and skills because of education. The Washington Post noted in the coverage of the speech ‘Bush’s remarks were an unremarkable statement of what many
He reminds us that creativity is how we use our imaginations to come up with great ideas, and then he introduces the concept of divergent thinking, which is a way to use creativity to come up with several solutions to a single problem. Robinson tells us about a recent study that involved divergent thinking. Fifteen hundred people were involved in this study, and asked: “How many uses can you think of for a paper clip?” Someone who could list ten to fifteen things was considered average, but a list of 200 things was genius. In class, we attempted to tackle this question in groups, and my group came up with thirteen. Now, at this point in the speech, Robinson asks his audience to guesstimate how many of the 1,500 people ranked a genius level. Only after the guesses, did he reveal that the test subjects were all actually kindergarteners. That test showed that 98% of those little kids each scored a genius level, because of divergent thinking. Children were curious to know if the paper clip could be a different size and made of something else. Furthermore, this was a longitudinal study, meaning that the same group of children was tested five, and then ten years after that first test date. I am under the impression that these children tested as a group and not individually, so, I think it was a powerful example, because it shows what we are capable of, and what we become as time goes on. Robinson also mentioned that when a group gets together in school to compare answers, it might be perceived as cheating; yet, in a job setting where groups get together, that is collaborating. I feel that there is great value in learning by discussing some things with our peers. When finished, the study overall revealed that as the children got older, and more educated, fewer and fewer were able to reach genius score. This
Most people just want to jump to the conclusion that Shakespeare couldn’t have written the plays. All because he didn’t go to a good school like “Oxford” (“Shakespeare really Talented”). This is evidence that shows he couldn’t have written the plays, because it shows that he really did not have the right education to have come up with the wonderful pieces of art work still used today. A good school will help improve your creative abilities. No one can force education at an actual school, but it helps oneself to widen the horizon of their ability. Also, creativity can not be weighed or judged on the education a person receives, but because it comes from within the person. This is a style that can not be taught, but very well can be enhanced with education. This is the way art work can be taken to a higher level by having the creativity within oneself.
I believe that the purpose of education is to produce the next generation of leaders who are intelligent and have great character. This idea is supported in the article “The Purpose of Education” by Martin Luther King. Martin Luther King Jr. was a civil rights activist who fought for black and white people to have equal rights in America. He writes about the true purpose, and meaning of education in the article by saying, “Education must enable one to sift and weigh evidence, to discern the true from the false, the real from the unreal, and the facts from the fiction (MLK1).” This quote from the article explains that being academically educated is very important. It will help people stand up, be a leader, and take charge to make the world a better place for everyone. That gallant leader will argue against the fallacy, lies,
With the scheduling of their parents, they have no opportunity to let their minds wander without guidelines. Moreover, the structure put in place has taken away the opportunity for children to develop their own interests outside of what others tell them. Furthermore, they are given countless opportunities to develop their knowledge without room for creativity, and hence become a shallow adult. She argues that creativity leads to the great artists, authors, and composers. Consequently, Quindlen’s argument is that scheduling has stunted children’s creative
The American system of education is considered to be one of the most progressive in the world. One of the surveys on attitudes toward teaching around the world found that the United States is unique in its strong emphasis on "good teaching." My experience at State College has helped me to understand better how this system works, and what methods and techniques American teachers use to motivate their students for creative and active learning. However, I can also see that this system doesn’t work perfectly in every classroom. Reading Ernest Boyer’s article “Creativity in the Classroom” helped me with my understanding of the main problem that nowadays exists with the American college education system. According to the author, the problem is that teachers and students don’t see each other as one team doing the same business; therefore, in most classrooms the process of learning becomes a boring procedure instead of being mind-blowing. Moreover, reading this article, I could analyze the reasons of this problem that the author identifies through my own experiences at State College.
In the video Robinson states, “I believe that we have a system of education that is modeled on the interest of industrialism and in the image of it”. Even though many things have changed since the 18th century, the current American educational system is still the same as it was back then. Robinson states that schools are still organized like factories. “ Schools are still pretty much organized on factory lines ringing bells, separate facilities, specialized into separate subjects. We still educate children by batches, you know, we put them through the system by age group.” All of this leads to limiting the students with their learning, by forcing them to work faster or slower than the pace they learn. Not all students work the same way as others do, some do better in groups while others work just as well alone. This all leads to many thinking that there are only two types of people, smart or non smart people. “They have twin pillars, economic and intellectual and my view is that this model has caused chaos”. The chaos Robinson is talking about is the ADHD “epidemic” that the U.S is facing because of how different the 20th century is from the 18th century. “Our children are living in the most intensive stimulating period in the history of the earth. They are being besieged with information and coerced for attention from every platform: computers, from iphones… And were penalizing them now for getting distracted. From what? Boring stuff.” The thing is that there is no progress with adapting the educational system to our way of life, the only thing changing is the amount of standardized test American students take and the medicines they are taking in order to focus in class. Robinson pointed out how “ADHD has risen in parallel with the growth of standardised testing” and the only thing that parents and doctors are doing is
In conclusion to some up this essay the term ‘creativity’ will always cause a debate in the educational system as. There will always be difficulty defining it as many use the term too loosely to have a definitive meaning. It requires risk taking, it is difficult to portray creativity when schools are so obsessed with right or wrong answers for ways of doing things. Society teaches us the risks are bad because the government and its policies interfere with our own choices and decisions.
NACCCE (1999) All Our Futures: Creativity, Culture and Education, London: Department for Education and Employment
Vincent, B., 2013. Top Reasons Why Schools Kill Creativity In Students - All Voices. [Online]
TED Talks (Producer). (2006, February). Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity [video file]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html