Ken Robinson thinks that the current educational system is killing creativity in students. Find out how he would change this…. This should be of special interest to PSYC 414 students.
Click on the link in the right hand column to access the movie. Please remember to include your course number in your comments.
I liked Robinson. He was witty, but very insightful. I thought it was interesting that he pointed out that we don’t grow into creativity, but that we grow out of it. It is so true! Even in our small community of Chico, programs and classes that aren’t deemed “important” or “educational” are being cut out of our school system. And this viewpoint of math and language being the most important makes sense when Robinson decribes the history of the public school system. I agree with his desire to recreate and reformat a public school system that fosters and promotes a new era for our children. An era that encourages art and music…and even dancing. I would also like to mention, that the part where he talked about women having more connections in the corpus callosum and being able to multitask better, I have also found to be true. Does that mean women are smarter? Just kidding.
By: Reidun Gilbert on October 27, 2008
at 8:19 pm
I really enjoyed Robinson’s speech and thought he was very funny as well. I thought it was very interesting when he pointed out how the purpose of education is to help prepare children for the future, when in reality, we don’t even know what the future holds in the next five years, and so it seems urealistic that students will really be prepared for the future by the time they are finished with school. After listening to this comment, it really made me think about how schools need to focus more on the creative aspect of education, instead of always being taught the same core subjects or being taught to the tests. In today’s education system, I can already see both the teacher’s creativity of being a teacher and the student’s creativity as being a student is being taken away from them with the No child left behind act. Schools need to focus more on creativity, whether it means implementing more classes, such as art or drama, for students to express their creative sides, as well as allowing teachers to be creative with their own lesson plans and teaching so that students are given an education where they are allowed to think “outside the box” to help them better prepare for the future.
By: Kristi Schroder on October 27, 2008
at 9:00 pm
Wow. That was refreshing and entertaining. I completely agree with Robinson. I couldn’t help but think about my brother as I watched this. He went from barely graduating high school to graduating from Butte Fire Academy as the top ranked cadet. He is now 23 years old, a fire fighter, a paramedic, and a homeowner. It is unfortunate that education systems only focus on educating from the waste up. I liked when Robinson said that we know three things intelligence: it is diverse, dynamic, and distinct. It must be very frustrating as a teacher to see students with unique abilities, like dance or drawing for example, and not be able to cater to them. I, like Reidun, found it interesting and slightly amusing that women have more connections in their corpus callosum.
By: Cassie Alcocer on October 28, 2008
at 1:59 am
Although I agree with Sir Kenneth Robinson’s view about current state of the Western education system, I was disapointed because he did not offer a solution the way other speakers did. Robinson only provides anecdotes about a few lucky people and explains that the current paradigm of education is shifting towards one that includes a more creative outlet for students. Unfortunately there are other factors that influence the focus of education. He pointed out that the public school system was devised in order sustain industrialism. I think Robinson has a great message but I only wished that he could have provided more of a possible solution or a more serious direction of where education should be.
By: michael garcia on October 28, 2008
at 3:35 am
Kids’ creativity really needs to be encouraged. They are so imaginative, playful, and innovative with their ideas, because they haven’t had all the limits imposed on their thinking that we feel we need to impose in order to promote “rational higher thinking.” I used to work with preschoolers and they said some of the most insightful things that adults are afraid to think or put forth for fear of being seen as too far-fetched or unrealistic. This creativity is what we really need for being able to deal with whatever new novel situations come our way in the future. We really need to honor and support and encourage all different types of intelligence, the diversity, and recognize that we need all types of people and perspectives and we need to give all kids the opportunity to develop what they do best and find their strengths even if it doesn’t fit into out limited idea of “intelligence” which is narrowly defined as math and language academic smarts. It makes me think of the dangers of planting a monocrop (one kind of corn only), because if a certain bug or disease comes along it will wipe out all of it, but if there is diversity in the crop, many plants will have different creative ways to deal with the danger. Same with diversity in human intelligence, we will have a variety and a depth to deal with any new problem that comes along rather than all having the same kind of education and intelligence. We really need to educate the whole person and value creativity and encourage risk taking, it’s the only way new discoveries are made, if you risk being wrong. psy 362
By: Emma Schutz Fort on October 28, 2008
at 4:53 am
Dude is funny, but really to me this seems like a no brainer, of course everyone is different and we all have talents and duh a lot talents are suppressed in the school. I’m just glad someone with a voice was able to articulate so well the issue, hopefully some will listen.
By: Trevor Hill on October 28, 2008
at 1:42 pm
I agree with Robinson when he says that creativity should be fostered at the same extent of literacy. However, with all the standardized testing there is little room to pursue it because as he said it continues to be at the “bottom of the hierarchy.” I think it is our job as future teachers to “reevaluate” the purpose of public education, so all children attending it succeed not only in academics, but also to live a joyful life.
By: Juana Barcenas 414 on October 28, 2008
at 3:49 pm
Ken Robinson displayed much passion and humor in his presentation. His humor mainly, is what caught my attention through the film. His thought about a childs creativity was impressive. Overall, I really enjoyed watching this film. Not only was it interesting, but informative as well.
By: Jaime McComas on October 28, 2008
at 5:13 pm
I also thought that Robinson’s speech was funny. I agree that today’s schools do not facilitate creativity in children and even diminish it in many ways. a quote that I really focused on was “If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you will never come up with anything original.” I do think that we as a society emphasize getting the “right answer” and make students afraid to be wrong. I really admire the ability of young children to take chances and do or say whatever is on their mind. I wish that we could all lose that fear of being wrong.
PSYC 414
By: Brittany Tom on October 28, 2008
at 5:22 pm
I agree with a lot of what Ken Robinson spoke about in this talk. The part of his talk that really kind of upset me, but after thinking about it seems really true, is that a college diploma really doesn’t mean anything anymore except a piece of paper and will not guarantee you a job like it would have 10-20 years ago. The story about the girl with the ADHD symptoms but really just wanted to express her(self) in a different way was very interesting to me. So many kids today are given medicine so quickly instead of finding ways for them to express themselves. I don’t understand why education is trying to make us all the same instead of finding are differences and exploring new areas of learning. I agree that our education system needs a make-over, but it will take the whole country in order to make a difference starting with government! We only test students in math, English, and science…why are those the only subjects that really matter??
PSYCH 362
By: Carolyn Toillion on October 28, 2008
at 6:29 pm
I thought Ken Robinson was an amazing speaker. I loved his sense of humor throughout the video, that is what kept my attention. His humorous jokes were both funny and very true. I thought his ideas on child creativity were something that I think many of us, as adult neglect when thinking about our children. We are so concerned on making them educated that we forget that their creativity is something that has educational value. We do not think that creativity is something that can be used to teach our children, but in fact I think it is a huge way for children to learn. They can take a concept and use their creativity to fully understand that concept as a whole. We need to allow our children to think freely and expression themselves for the person they are.
PSYC 414
By: Ashley Hamilton on October 28, 2008
at 8:32 pm
Ken Robinson is a funny guy. I really enjoyed listening to what he had to say. I loved the short story at the end about his friend who was a famous dancer and how they thought she had a learning disorder but really she just needed to move to think and now look at her today. I think it stinks how the education is with only certain subjects that are taught in school. Students have other talents that need to be acknowledge.
By: Megan Webster - psyc 414 on October 28, 2008
at 8:34 pm
Wow! Thank you Lori for asking us to watch this most inspiring video. I agree with Ken Robinson in that the better part of our education system does indeed stifle so many peoples creative abilities. There has been some progress over the past years and this needs to continue. I really appreciated Ken’s wonderful sense of humor and contagious enthusiasm; what a brilliant man!
By: paul hubbard on October 28, 2008
at 9:25 pm
PSYC 362
By: paul hubbard on October 28, 2008
at 9:26 pm
This was a very inspiring video. Ken Robinson reall has a great presence and he kept me entertained with his jokes. I think it’s so great that he’s advocating the creativity in in children. If they aren’t intelligent in the academinc world it doesn’t mean they aren’t intelligent. Intelligence comes in many forms. I loved the example he used of Gillian Lynne. She couldn’t stay still or focus as a child until her mom and teacher figures out she was meant to be a dancer where sh ecould actually flourish. This was her intelligence. She went on to have a great solo career and then wnet on to produce some of the biggest theartricals shows. Now, she’s a multimillionaire. Robinson states that the arts have always been at the bottom of the hierarchy and that they shouldn’t be. I completuly agree with him. Acadmics in th traditional sense, math and english, isn’t everyone’s intelligence. I really liked this video.
By: Cinthia Orozco (psyc 362) on October 28, 2008
at 10:22 pm
I agree with Robinson when he says that creativity should be fostered at the same extent of literacy. However, with all the standardized testing there is little room to pursue it because as he said it continues to be at the “bottom of the hierarchy.” I think it is our job as future teachers to “reevaluate” the purpose of public education, so all children attending it succeed not only in academics, but also to live a joyful life. I think we shouldn’t put anyone down just because he/she doesn’t fit into the prototype student that the public education system is more likely to value.
By: Juana Barcenas 414 on October 29, 2008
at 12:42 am
I really, really enjoyed this video. I thought Ken Robinson was an excellent public speaker. He was very entertaining and made me laugh a lot. I thought what he said about creativity being important was very true. I think what he said about people growing out of creativity because they are frightened of being wrong is acurat. The story about Gillian Lynne is just one of the many examples he could have used to prove his point, but it was still a great example.
By: ashley moyer (362) on October 29, 2008
at 2:39 am
Robinson has been one of the best speakers yet, he has fun with the audience and is comfortable making jokes. What he has to say about creativity in the schools is true, it is last on the priority list. I think that creativity should be respected more and used more in the class room. Kids need to grow in all aspects of cognitive thinking and like his example of the little girl painting god, many kids find their way of expression and learning through creativity. I know there has been many findings that children with disabilities use art, for example, for expressive therapy. These disabled children are able to express and grow and create, imagine what a general education student can achieve if let to create and express more in the class room.
By: Katie Roberts PSYC 414 on October 29, 2008
at 4:58 pm
Ken Robinson was very entertaining to listen to and he had some strong and true opinions about creativity in schools, however I don’t see how he contributed to turning that around. I agree that creativity should be seen as just as important as literacy and should be treated that way. The story about Gillian the dancer could very well describe the situation for many children who aren’t lucky enough to have an adult advocate for them. Although Ken Robinson presented the idea of the importance of creativity in education, I expected him to tell of an innovative and inspiring way that he had implemented his ideas. Maybe his talk will inspire others to pick up where he left off and take the right actions to input importance on creativity within the public school system
By: Megan Pendleton on October 29, 2008
at 10:35 pm
I think it is interesting I have been participating in the subject heirarchy for about twenty years and never onced noticed the different emphasis put on different subjects. If i would have never seen this video I still would not have a clue that the subjects that are emphasized the most are those that best fit into the industrial world. I wonder why since society has noticed this why we dont change schools so they fit the society we currently reside in.
By: jason amarena psyc 362 on October 29, 2008
at 10:53 pm
I thought that Ken Robinson was pretty funny!! It was wierd because it seemed like he was nervous to be there and talk, but you don’t think of teachers as being nervous. Anyway, I liked his story at the end about the dancer. We try to cure anything with medications now and days and it’s pretty ridiculous. I enjoyed all of his stories actually especially about the little 6 year old girl drawing God and she said “they’ll know in a minute.” He brought up a good point about children’s creativity being diminished. It’s hard to find something that you love that you can get a high enough qualified job in. He put a lot of interesting facts out there and I enjoyed listening to what he had to say.
PSYC 362
By: Jena Wagner on October 30, 2008
at 1:56 am
PSYC 414
I agree with Ken Robinson when he states, in education creativity is as important as literacy. It is sad that the arts are usually last on the education priority list. I thought it was very interesting when he discussed that children are often scared to be wrong, which chips away at their creativity. It is obvious in any classroom; children are willing to share if they know the answer. I especially liked his story about the little girl who they thought had a learning disability, but really just needed to release her creativity. It makes me wonder how many children are wrongly diagnosed with attention disorders.
By: shaza nassar PSYC 414 on October 30, 2008
at 2:32 am
In a counseling program, professors talked abbout labeling a lot. We discussed how labeling would affect a human being and how DSM was being added with more mental disorders. For me, some mental disorders don’t make sense because in my opinion there are just some personal differences. Some people are acting the way they are because that is who they are and it doesn’t mean thay are “wrong”.
By: SHIH YA HUANG PSYCH 362 on October 30, 2008
at 4:22 am
I agree with him. I think that the arts are over looked in school and that too often we are medicating people who don’t need to be medicated. I really liked what he had to say. I believe that things need to change.
By: Ashley McGinty (414) on October 30, 2008
at 5:46 am
I really enjoyed this video! Kin Robinson was one of the most entertaining speakers I have seen thus far! He was funny and totally engaging! And I completely agreed with most of what he had to say! Creativity is so important in the development of a well rounded happy child. They really need the opportunity to express themselves without fear of embarrassment. Education is very important, but I agree that creativity must not be stifled in the process! One thing that did kind of bother me about this talk was that there was no closure or completion at the end. I was expecting that he would offer up some ideas on what can be done to improve thing, but I was kind of left hanging! All in all though I liked it!
By: Liz Simmons on October 30, 2008
at 7:30 am
i really loved ken. i thought he was an amazing speaker and i felt that he made some very strong points. i thought it very interesting what he said about the future and how we dont know what is donethe road in five years timebut we need to educate our children for 65 years time. how do we accomplish this if we dont know what the world will be like? the other point that stuck out to me was what he said about children vs. adults and their phil.on being wrong. children will always gfive you an answer, but adults are scared to be wrong. Ken was right: if your so scared of being wrong, you will never come up with anything origional.
By: Krista Winkler on October 30, 2008
at 3:16 pm
Sir Robinson was very articulate and funny and I thoroughly enjoyed his talk on education. I believe he is correct in his discussion of the downfalls of today’s education system. There is too much emphasis on being right, and not enough emphasis on being creative or unique. Teachers tend to only accept work that fits into their own personal ideologies, without a great deal of leniency for students who may have done great work, but did not stay within the strict bounds set by the teacher. The comment Robinson made about the little girl who said that people would know what God looked like when she was finished with her drawing really struck a chord with me. Too many times we, as a society and in our education system, tell children that their ideas are wrong, that they will not work. When in reality, one of the only reasons we tend to say those things is because we have never thought of it that way and are afraid to move outside of our comfort zone. As Robinson said, we may never see the outcome that a fundamental change in our view of education would produce, but our children, and their children will, and shouldn’t that be a priority.
By: Jason Gilbert on October 30, 2008
at 6:40 pm
-psyc 401
Great talk, I liked the speakers sense of humor and it really came across that he was passionate about what he was talking about. I agree with him on almost all that he said. Students are conditioned to perform in an academic environment at the expense of natural creativity. From the second grade on, I feel that the structure of most schools does block creativity. All students don’t learn the same way, and creating a curriculum that caters to some students can be at the detriment of others. I think there should be more done to encourage creativity, like creative writing assignments, or pondering questions that don’t just have one specific answer.
By: Jack Coplen on October 30, 2008
at 10:44 pm
I loved Ken Robinson! Not only does he have a great sense of humor but I agreed with everything he had to say about creativity and education. As psychologists I feel its important to not judge children right away if they are not learning. His example of the dancer was amazing to me. We all have our own ways of thinking for we are all unique. Just because a student doesn’t seem to be thinking or learning doesn’t mean they are “sick”, it just says we need to try a different technique. Everyone is capable of learning, just not the same way.
Psyc 401
By: Desiree Ribolin on October 30, 2008
at 11:01 pm
I enjoyed this speaker alot and agree with everything he had to say. I think that schools these days are pretty cynical and chew up and spit out kids at an alarming and inpersonal rate. I’ve worked with children enough to realize that they have different interests and talents, and to squander those talents is a travesty. Parents and teachers trying to make every child a cookie cutter mold is wrong, and the whole education system does just that. I’ve had many friends with different areas of intelligence, these kids did not fail school or education, the education system failed them.
By: Robert Plante on October 30, 2008
at 11:42 pm
“If your not prepared to be wrong you will never come up with anything original”
Thats is so true people, children are not afraid to make mistakes but once you get older making mistakes is the worst thing you can do.
“We dont grow into creativity we grow out of it”
I loved it when he said this because again it is true children arent afraid to be creative, to make mistakes, but once you get older mistakes, or being creative, are seen as abnormal.
When children are creative we try to stop it.
I love what he said at the end, the examples he gave about the dancer, and how if all insects disappeared wed all die in 50 years but If all humans disappeared the world would flourish.
By: Daniella Galaviz (psy 362) on October 31, 2008
at 2:28 am