Sir Ken Robinson suggests that education needs to be reformed and offers a new metaphor to help guide the change process. He taps into many of the things that educators have been noticing and “feeling” about schooling. As he often does, he clearly articulates these ideas and offers strategies for moving forward.
Take a listen to Sir Ken’s message (6 minutes) and share your reactions in the comments section.
I have to say that what he says rings true for me. The current focus on tests results, education’s bottom line, is destroying the culture, or fun, in school. The difference in the experiences of my oldest and youngest child, who are seven years apart, was very clear to me. The “fun” learning was cut out. My youngest still enjoyed school but she missed out on so much. I could even tell that the TCAP had been watered down by comparing the test results of my oldest and youngest.
I agree with Sir Ken Robinson that the paradigm of education must change. Goodness knows I am not sure where to start. One big problem that we have here in America is that corporate America has gotten its grubby fingers in the bowl of education money and testing is key to its education vision. How do we change that? I am all about the need for more/better STEM but not at the expense of the arts. The one thing that I have learned with my middle child is that not everyone is suited to attend college or to major in STEM or to major in history, for that matter. It would be a very dull place indeed if everyone was an engineer or scientist. Diversity makes the world go around, and the economy!