Wednesday
Aug252010
Sir Ken Robinson Video
David Matthews | Wednesday, August 25, 2010 at 12:19PM | Print Article | Email Article | Share Article Watch the following videos as part of your work today in studio. Be prepared to discuss the topics covered in the videos with the instructors.
Every student should make a comment in the comment area in the this blog by the end of studio. I will counting your entry as part of attendance today.
Reader Comments (16)
This video put everything that we are trying to accomplish with the design of our schools into perspective. I realize how important it is that we educate our children in a holistic way, as they are the future of our world. Culture is not segmented, it is a combination of many different things, or else it wouldn't be culture. It is so important for us to know how to create environments that are conducive to this type of learning. This is a great video to inspire us all to design what is best for the children of Helsinki, Finland, and maybe even to go on to design more schools like it. It also helps us to form an opinion about how we want to raise our own children and what type of school we want to send them to.
I completely agree that creativity should is as important as literacy in schools. I have never understood the current "hierarchy of subjects" in most schools. In my elementary education experience, I was lucky enough not to be subjected to the idea that the arts were any less important that science and math- so you can imagine the complete 180 I experienced when I entered Catholic High School. Being forced to EITHER take Choir OR Art?!?
I loved the quote from Picasso about all children being born artists and how they are educated out of their creativity. As a child, if you don't have your creativity nurtured at school it must be done in other ways- inside of the home, or in extra-curricular classes or workshops. What happens when the children educated now grow up to be parents and they don't have the ability- or the understanding of the importance of artistic expression. We will have a generation of children who (as Mr. Holland said) don't have anything to read or write about.
This man's speech was very interesting and relevant in today's society. Creativity is very limited in public schools across the world today. The Art and Music departments are the areas that are always forced to take the first budget cuts or be cut from schools completely. The heiarchy he described with language/math at the top followed by humanity and then the arts is how almost every school is set up and the statement he said about how schools train students to be college professors is also true when you sit back and think about it. Growing up, i loved music and dance but was never allowed to express myself through these forms of education and was instead made to learn the same things as everyone else, math, writing, and history. After the speech, it makes me wonder what could have been different in my life if i had been allowed more space to explore my interests. The story he told about Jillian Lynn was a great example to get his point across. If she would have been put on medication and forced to return to a regular school, look at the cultural expereinces we would have been deprived of because she wouldn't be there to choreograph masterpieces like Cats and The Phantom of the Opera. Especially as technology continues to thrive, it will grow even more important for people to explore creativity and accept the fact that success can follow creativity. Hopefully in the furture people will be able to take his advice, learn from the mstakes that have already been made, and create learning environments that will allow students the freedom to learn about the subjects that they are passionate about.
This video of Sir Ken Robinson really opened my perspective of the education system in our society. He was really dead on many issues. One of the topics that really caught my attention was the idea that people are "educated out of their creative capacities." I strongly agree with this statement because the way we rank educational institutions is by test scores and number data. Students are often just a number and a rank in their class. They are not seen for their individual characteristics and skills. Its really to actually acknowledge this but it is true.
Another topic that I thought was interesting was the statement about how as children we are not scared to be wrong and to speak our opinions. But as we grow to be adults we are condoned as a society to limit our opinions because we are afraid to be wrong. Mistakes and failure have been perceived as to be negative. When in actuality, it allows us to experiment and be more creative. We learn from our mistakes and turn them into memorable experiences.
All in all, this video was a great eye opener about really made me think about how my education as i was younger affected the way I learned. Great Video!
I think he makes a really good point. I can remember growing up and being asked what I wanted to do when I was older and I responded to be an artist. I was immediately told that was not a job that was a hobby. I think a lot more emphasis should be placed on the arts in our school systems. I think childhood is an extremely creative time and treating art and music like mathematics could be a very successful change.
I completely agree with this video. I think there are many people in this world that are too smart for their own good, or for our countries own good. We are quick to medicate someone or tell them to sit down behave and stop doodling. Obviously there needs to be creative people in the world, how else would others be entertained by art, dance, tv, ect.
The worst thing I think that can be done is for the school system to eliminate art and band and PE. Seriously kids need to move not be forced to sit still and do math for hours on end, this makes kids go crazy and get in trouble.
The world has become so technologically advanced by the simple education people where receiving many years ago, we are not walking around dragging out knuckles along the ground; we have survived and people before us. I think education should revert back to the way it was several years ago!!!
I hope this video inspired everyone else as much as it did me. Sir Ken Robinson got it right when he stated, "Creativity is as important as literacy and we should treat it with the same status." All kids have talent and it is now our job to design a school where each kid will be able to express themselves and become passionate about what they truly love. Kids shouldn't be educated out of their creativity and that happens way too often in todays society. The kids in todays schools need more time to get up and be active, be more hands on. These kids are the future of our world and we need to accomplish the best designs possible in order to treat creativity with the same status as literacy.
This video puts into words everything I felt when I was going through grade school. Nothing seemed to apply to me, or the way that I felt I should be learning. Until I came to college and actual found an out lit for creativity I had no idea what I was going to do with my life.
Sir Ken Robinson's view of education is determinately the future! Ever child is born with a nature ability and gift for something and it is our responsibility as adults, educators, parents, designers, and as a society so let them grow into what they are meant to be. Not to shape them into what WE want them to be.
What really caught my attention is when Sir Ken Robinson said "If you are not prepared to be wrong you will never come up with anything original." I never really thought about that until now, but it makes a lot of sense. People are so scared to do things because of what people (society) may think of them, that they are hiding and not accepting what may be a brilliantly creative idea.
Another point that he made was that children are born with creativity. If you really think about it, children are born with a blank slate. This is the most critical time in their lives. They can be what ever they want to be, but then going through school and being around people shapes them how their society is. If society didn't have this hierarchy of education, then more kids could be artists and a lot more creative. They wouldn't necessarily want to be doctors, lawyers, business moguls. More kids would of had dreams to be artists, musicians, performers. Even as an interior design student, the average person sees it lower on the hierarchy scale. They view us as decorators and artists because its not considered a mathematical or scientific field. I really agree with him that the education hierarchy needs to change. It is really limiting creativity within our society.
I luckily had parents who didn't discourage me away from the arts. I performed all my life doing gymnastics and was encouraged to pursue a life in it after high school if i wanted to. Same with art, my mom always took me to community art classes outside of school and was upset when my elementary's art program was cut. Therefore in high school she was constantly telling me to take art classes instead of extra math since art was what i enjoyed, not math or chemistry.
This really helps me to see how we can change the way education is taught just by designing a space to fit all needs of children. Let them express their creativity and really engage in activities, not just sit in lectures all day.
I think parents should also be encouraged to learn different ways to educate children, so that when preparing for tests or when completing assignments, the parents are reinforcing the methods from school. I know when I was in High School, a History teacher encouraged my mom to have me use the textbook's website and online line quizzes and crosswords. Those really helped me when studying for a test, but they were not always available for my other classes, or they were not as effective in my learning. Not every method is effective for every topic and I think that needs to be addressed in schools and in the home.
I still to this day have yet to find an effective way for me to take notes, study, etc because these options are not made public and available in the classroom. I can understand the broad topic in class, but usually when it comes to the details and dates I get lost. There must be a way to educate parents, teachers, and students on new methods for learning so that if there is not a constructivist school in the area, the students are still able to learn in a more effective way for them. People are constantly learning and need to know how to apply these skills in everyday life and in their jobs. Even if someone taught me how to learn better the day before Graduation I would still be thrilled!