Blog Post #10

BRING ON THE LEARNING BY SIR KEN ROBINSON

In this intriguing video, Mr. Robinson talked about education in a new light. He began the video in reference to Al Gore and his talk on human resources and used that to redirect the audience to his point, not on the crisis of natural resources, but on human resources. He said that we as a society made a poor use of talents, and went on to separate the types of people that we have around today. He said one type of person is one that enjoys life, and the other type is the one that endures life. Mr. Robinson talked about how with the people who enjoyed life, it was not something that they could change, because in the real sense, it was an integral part of their identity, and not just another thing they did. He went on to follow his thought on human resources, and correlated them back to the natural resources.

He said that they were alike in the sense that in order to find them, you have to dig deep in order to bring them toward the surface. I agree with this because many a times, people have so much hidden deep within themselves, that needs the activation from an outside source to bring that specific talent to the surface. Our mind and body work using a survival of the fittest mentality, in that, when we are faced with an issue, we think of ways to combat that issue and find balance. In that attempt to find balance, sometimes new parts or talents that we possess come to light. With the main issue being the crisis of human resources, Mr. Robinson formulated a solution to it. He said that to bring about a reform would be of no use, because all that would do, would be to improve a broken model. He said that what was needed was not an EVOLUTION, but a REVOLUTION, in order to bring about a transformation.

Mr. Robinson made a personal reference to his daughter after he did an impromptu survey of the audience. He asked how many of them were under 25 years of age. No one raised their hand. Then he asked how many of them wore wrist watches, and most of the auditorium raised their hands. He explained that the reason most of them still wore a wrist watch was out of habit, and due to the fact that they grew up in a time where the time was only accessible if on the wrist. Now, we have so much technology, that a wrist watch to anyone under 25, is practically unheard of. His daughter had said that she did not have a wrist watch because it was a single function device. In our day and time, our cell phones, and pretty much everywhere we look, has the time somehow accessible for us. On the computer, in class, at the stop light, there are visual signs telling you information, while providing the time.

Mr. Robinson referred to education as a linear approach in our society today. That we are so concerned with college and getting kids there. He said that college is not for everyone, and some do not need to go in right after high school. He made a reference to a man who wanted to be a firefighter from grade school. This boy was ridiculed by a teacher that told him that he was wasting his life wanting to spend his life doing that. That same boy, ended up saving the life of that teacher, along with his wife, when they had a car wreck, and that just shows the irony of life. He stated that communities depend on the diversity of talent, which in turn reconstitutes the sense of ability and intelligence. Mr. Robinson went on to compare fast food to education. He said that they were both standardized, and depleting to us a whole. In order to move forward, Mr. Robinson was proposing, instead of an industrial model of education centered on linearity and conformity, an agricultural model of education, which is not mechanical, but rather unpredictable. He said creating an educational system in that sense would force educators to create the right conditions in order for growth, to better equip the organic natural way of things. He said that life is organic, and we create it as we go on. The last statement is what struck me most from this video. He said that we should tread safely on the dreams of children. I totally understand that, because we as educators can sometimes make or break the hopes and dreams of the students that we come across over the years. This video was very informative and I hope to someday inspire the students that I come across.