Gurus: Sir Ken Robinson

SubtitlesAssociated Teachers TV programmeGurus: Sir Ken Robinson0001 10:00:09:21 10:00:13:05(narrator) Sir Ken Robinson is a former professor of education0002 10:00:13:05 10:00:15:05 at Warwick University.0003 10:00:15:05 10:00:18:11In 1998, he led a major government inquiry0004 10:00:18:11 10:00:21:21 on creativity, education and the economy.0005 10:00:21:21 10:00:26:20He is now a senior adviser to the J Paul Getty Trust in California.0006 10:00:26:20 10:00:29:21Speaking in a debate on creativity versus the curriculum0007 10:00:29:21 10:00:31:06 at the Education Show,0008 10:00:31:06 10:00:35:06 he laid out why he believes education must change.0009 10:00:36:20 10:00:39:16 Every education system on earth is being reformed,0010 10:00:39:16 10:00:41:06 without exception,0011 10:00:41:06 10:00:45:05 and in my opinion, the mistake most countries are making0012 10:00:45:05 10:00:49:22 is to believe that we can face the future in education0013 10:00:49:22 10:00:53:02 by doing better what we did in the past.0014 10:00:53:02 10:00:57:14We just have to do more of it and raise standards.0015 10:00:57:14 10:01:00:11But the issue is, which standards are we talking about?0016 10:01:00:11 10:01:03:23Standards of what? In the interests of what?0017 10:01:03:23 10:01:08:16And I find it rather exasperating when people - policymakers -0018 10:01:08:16 10:01:12:14 acquire this benign expression and talk about "back to basics".0019 10:01:12:14 10:01:17:09Well, what is basic now? That's, I think, what I want to put to you.0020 10:01:17:09 10:01:20:18I do not know of an education system on earth -0021 10:01:20:18 10:01:23:20 a public school-system, I mean, not an individual school -0022 10:01:23:20 10:01:26:05I mean a public school-system0023 10:01:26:05 10:01:31:05 which gives the same status to dance as it does to mathematics.0024 10:01:31:05 10:01:33:19What interests me is most people are OK with that.0025 10:01:33:19 10:01:36:19They say, "Why would you teach people to dance every day?"0026 10:01:36:19 10:01:38:19Well, why wouldn't you?0027 10:01:38:19 10:01:41:19Seriously, why wouldn't you? Why do we abandon dance?0028 10:01:41:19 10:01:44:05 Children and adults dance when they can.0029 10:01:44:05 10:01:46:07It's a feature of every culture ever,0030 10:01:46:07 10:01:48:24 so why don't we teach it in schools every day?0031 10:01:48:24 10:01:52:19We all have bodies, don't we?0032 10:01:52:19 10:01:55:23- Did I miss a meeting? - (laughter)0033 10:01:55:23 10:01:57:05I think we have them.0034 10:01:57:05 10:01:59:08There is a hierarchy of subjects.0035 10:01:59:08 10:02:02:13They don't all call them "core" or "foundation" subjects,0036 10:02:02:13 10:02:05:02 but they call them something like that.0037 10:02:05:02 10:02:07:21But it's the same configuration.0038 10:02:07:21 10:02:09:10 And this is the hierarchy:0039 10:02:09:10 10:02:13:03 at the top of the hierarchy are languages,0040 10:02:13:03 10:02:16:06 mathematics and science,0041 10:02:16:06 10:02:20:24 and then the humanities, and a bit further down are the arts.0042 10:02:20:24 10:02:25:03And in most school systems, there's another hierarchy within the arts.0043 10:02:25:03 10:02:28:08Art and music are normally given higher priority0044 10:02:28:08 10:02:30:15 than drama and dance.0045 10:02:30:15 10:02:32:23Isn't this the case?0046 10:02:32:23 10:02:34:23What happens in our education system0047 10:02:34:23 10:02:39:20 is that we progressively educate our children from the knees upwards.0048 10:02:39:20 10:02:42:16 We progress towards their head at a pretty fast rate,0049 10:02:42:16 10:02:46:09 and by secondary school, we are preoccupied with their head.0050 10:02:46:09 10:02:50:02We focus on their head and educate them to one side of it, slightly.0051 10:02:50:02 10:02:51:17Pretty much.0052 10:02:51:17 10:02:55:18In fact, it's no exaggeration to say that education, increasingly,0053 10:02:55:18 10:02:59:24 from kindergarten on, is a sustained process of university entrance.0054 10:02:59:24 10:03:02:23That's how we judge success - do you get to college or not?0055 10:03:02:23 10:03:06:24Colleges are run by professors, so we expect they're the top people.0056 10:03:06:24 10:03:10:05Well, I used to be a university professor.0057 10:03:10:05 10:03:12:05- So there! - (laughter) 0058 10:03:12:05 10:03:15:01No, I'm saying this not to present my credentials,0059 10:03:15:01 10:03:18:12 but to say I'm not speaking about something of which I know nothing.0060 10:03:18:12 10:03:20:22Nor am I speaking in criticism of professors.0061 10:03:20:22 10:03:22:19I think most of them are lovely.0062 10:03:22:19 10:03:26:13I hang out with them socially and they have a lot to recommend them,0063 10:03:26:13 10:03:31:06 but they are a particular form of life, you know,0064 10:03:31:06 10:03:32:22 and just one among many.0065 10:03:32:22 10:03:35:21But that form of life has come to dominate our conception0066 10:03:35:21 10:03:37:21 of what it is to be an educated person.0067 10:03:37:21 10:03:41:07 The reason we have this hierarchy of subjects in schools is this:0068 10:03:41:07 10:03:44:12 we introduced the education system in this country0069 10:03:44:12 10:03:49:01 initially to meet the growing demands of the industrial economy,0070 10:03:49:01 10:03:52:23 and the education system was partly shaped in its image.0071 10:03:52:23 10:03:56:08One of the reasons why there's a hierarchy of subjects in schools0072 10:03:56:08 10:04:00:23 is because they're embedded on some conception of utility.0073 10:04:00:23 10:04:03:11Which subjects will be useful for getting a job?0074 10:04:03:11 10:04:06:12But there's another reason, because people do not say:0075 10:04:06:12 10:04:10:07"Don't do maths. You're not going to be a mathematician."0076 10:04:10:07 10:04:15:01And that's because we are in a culture which has embedded in it0077 10:04:15:01 10:04:18:13 a particular view of the status of different ways of knowing,0078 10:04:18:13 10:04:20:16 different sorts of knowledge.0079 10:04:20:16 10:04:24:06This is, in part, connected to the fact that public education grew up0080 10:04:24:06 10:04:27:19 in the interests of the industrial economy,0081 10:04:27:19 10:04:32:19 but shaped in the intellectual interests of the universities.0082 10:04:32:19 10:04:38:23And the universities grew up in that great flowering of human endeavour0083 10:04:38:23 10:04:42:21 that came from the Enlightenment, and then romanticism.0084 10:04:42:21 10:04:46:11One of the legacies of that is this bifurcation we have in our minds0085 10:04:46:11 10:04:49:02 between, for example, the arts and the sciences, 0086 10:04:49:02 10:04:51:18 that real knowledge was about rational thinking,0087 10:04:51:18 10:04:54:20 logico-deductive reasoning, propositional knowledge.0088 10:04:54:20 10:04:58:23That's what science was about, that's what academic work was about.0089 10:04:58:23 10:05:01:13The arts were important for various reasons.0090 10:05:01:13 10:05:04:20They were to do with leisure, to do with being cultivated,0091 10:05:04:20 10:05:08:09 but not really seriously to compete with the hard-edged realities0092 10:05:08:09 10:05:10:10 of science and technology.0093 10:05:10:10 10:05:14:08So there are historical reasons for why the system is the way it is,0094 10:05:14:08 10:05:17:03 and I think there are powerful reasons to rethink it.0095 10:05:17:03 10:05:19:06 I was born in 1950.0096 10:05:19:06 10:05:21:09Now, I know you don't believe this,0097 10:05:21:09 10:05:25:05 but I live in Los Angeles and I've had work done. That's all I can say.0098 10:05:25:05 10:05:30:17In 1950, people were born into large families. I'm one of seven children,0099 10:05:30:17 10:05:34:02 my dad was one of six, my mum was one of seven.0100 10:05:34:02 10:05:37:01People in Britain certainly didn't have cars in 1950.0101 10:05:37:01 10:05:41:12We didn't have telephones. We didn't have televisions,0102 10:05:41:12 10:05:44:11 fridges, electricity.0103 10:05:44:11 10:05:47:10- Food, you know. - (laughter)0104 10:05:47:10 10:05:50:13Roofs. We didn't have stuff like that.0105 10:05:50:13 10:05:52:13 It was hard.0106 10:05:53:14 10:05:57:02But also, women stayed at home and worked, for the most part.0107 10:05:57:02 10:05:58:20Men went out to work.0108 10:05:58:20 10:06:03:04We were told a story at school that was true.0109 10:06:03:04 10:06:05:10The story was, if we worked hard,0110 10:06:05:10 10:06:09:08 and especially if we passed the eleven-plus0111 10:06:09:08 10:06:12:02 and if we went to a grammar school - especially that -0112 10:06:12:02 10:06:15:19 and if we went to university and got a degree,0113 10:06:15:19 10:06:18:21 we were completely guaranteed a job.0114 10:06:18:21 10:06:21:10I don't think anybody questioned that story.0115 10:06:21:10 10:06:23:10 There was no reason to. It was true.0116 10:06:23:10 10:06:26:14But it's not true now that if you leave college with a degree,0117 10:06:26:14 10:06:28:05 you're guaranteed a job.0118 10:06:28:05 10:06:31:15It just isn't. There are major differences between then and now.0119 10:06:31:15 10:06:32:23Here's the thing.0120 10:06:32:23 10:06:39:16Children starting school this year will be retiring in 2065.0121 10:06:40:15 10:06:42:14Maybe 2070.0122 10:06:43:14 10:06:47:16Do you have any conception what the world may look like in 2065?0123 10:06:47:16 10:06:51:04If you do, write a book because nobody else does.0124 10:06:51:04 10:06:55:15Technology is moving faster than most people really understand. 0125 10:06:55:15 10:06:58:05Nobody knows what the world will look like in 2065,0126 10:06:58:05 10:07:01:07 or, frankly, whether there will be a 2065.0127 10:07:01:07 10:07:03:19It's an open question currently.0128 10:07:03:19 10:07:07:18To face this future, I believe passionately we have to rethink0129 10:07:07:18 10:07:12:11 some of our basic conceptions of human intelligence and ability.0130 10:07:12:11 10:07:14:20To do that, we need to behave differently.0131 10:07:14:20 10:07:18:10We have to have different strategies in education.0132 10:07:18:10 10:07:21:24I think we have three priorities, three things we should do.0133 10:07:21:24 10:07:25:02One of them is personal.0134 10:07:25:02 10:07:28:08What I mean is our job is to focus on each child0135 10:07:28:08 10:07:29:20 and help them do two things.0136 10:07:29:20 10:07:33:17One is to discover their own natural capabilities,0137 10:07:33:17 10:07:35:20 because we're all different.0138 10:07:35:20 10:07:38:10And secondly, to give them the confidence0139 10:07:38:10 10:07:41:17 to move into the world feeling they have a contribution to make0140 10:07:41:17 10:07:43:23 and a life that will add up to something.0141 10:07:43:23 10:07:48:04The second major challenge we have for education is cultural.0142 10:07:48:04 10:07:50:16Education has to educate people0143 10:07:50:16 10:07:53:21 to understand the world they are born into,0144 10:07:53:21 10:07:58:18 their local cultural circumstances, so identity is a big piece of this,0145 10:07:58:18 10:08:01:02 but we have to develop forms of education0146 10:08:01:02 10:08:04:09 which promote mutual cultural understanding and tolerance.0147 10:08:04:09 10:08:08:14There is no alternative to this. If you look at the spread of conflict,0148 10:08:08:14 10:08:13:09 assisted by technology, our only hope here is education0149 10:08:13:09 10:08:17:15 and enlightening people about other people's cultural values.0150 10:08:17:15 10:08:20:02And the third, of course, is economic.0151 10:08:20:02 10:08:24:03We all want education to contribute to economic growth and development.0152 10:08:24:03 10:08:27:15It's a false dichotomy when people say it's not about the economy.0153 10:08:27:15 10:08:32:07It is about the economy, at two levels. We need an education system0154 10:08:32:07 10:08:35:21 which will contribute to the growth of economic success0155 10:08:35:21 10:08:38:02 because we depend on it,0156 10:08:38:02 10:08:41:12 but we also want forms of economic growth which are sustainable.0157 10:08:41:12 10:08:45:06We can't literally afford economic growth at any price. We just can't.0158 10:08:45:06 10:08:48:07Now, creativity plays into it. Let me define creativity.0159 10:08:48:07 10:08:53:08Creativity is the process of having original ideas that have value.0160 10:08:53:08 10:08:55:14I think of it as applied imagination.0161 10:08:55:14 10:08:58:24Imagination is the capacity we have to bring to mind0162 10:08:58:24 10:09:01:14 things that are not present to our senses. 0163 10:09:01:14 10:09:03:19But everything comes from this0164 10:09:03:19 10:09:07:22 because from the capacity to bring to mind things that aren't present0165 10:09:07:22 10:09:11:17 grows the capacity to bring to mind things that have never been present,0166 10:09:11:17 10:09:14:22 to hypothesise, to say, "What if?",0167 10:09:14:22 10:09:18:03 to consider possibilities and to conjecture.0168 10:09:18:03 10:09:22:00And from that, every feature of human culture is developed.0169 10:09:22:00 10:09:24:02Without exception.0170 10:09:24:02 10:09:26:12Now, creativity, to me, is a step on.0171 10:09:26:12 10:09:30:17It's bedded in imagination, but it is the application of imagination.0172 10:09:30:17 10:09:34:23It's using that capacity to address a problem, 0173 10:09:34:23 10:09:38:00 or to conceive of an alternative way of thinking of things,0174 10:09:38:00 10:09:41:11 or to produce something which is a response to a problem we have.0175 10:09:41:11 10:09:43:11But it's the application of it.0176 10:09:43:11 10:09:46:17The thing about it is that you can be creative at anything,0177 10:09:46:17 10:09:49:13 but being creative is different for different people0178 10:09:49:13 10:09:52:02 because to be doing something,0179 10:09:52:02 10:09:54:19 which is what creativity is, a practical process,0180 10:09:54:19 10:09:56:19 you have to be working in a medium.0181 10:09:56:19 10:09:59:01Creativity's a function of intelligence.0182 10:09:59:01 10:10:02:11The problem is we have too limited a conception of intelligence.0183 10:10:02:11 10:10:04:21Our education system is dominated by the view0184 10:10:04:21 10:10:07:07 that academic ability in particular0185 10:10:07:07 10:10:11:07 is the same thing as intelligence in general. It isn't.0186 10:10:11:07 10:10:14:04I prefer to think that intelligence is multifaceted.0187 10:10:14:04 10:10:17:01We think about the world in the ways we experience it.0188 10:10:17:01 10:10:19:19There are three things about intelligence we know.0189 10:10:19:19 10:10:22:07One is that intelligence is diverse.0190 10:10:22:07 10:10:24:20We think in all the ways we experience the world.0191 10:10:24:20 10:10:27:20We think in sound, in movement, kinaesthetically,0192 10:10:27:20 10:10:29:21 we think in abstract terms.0193 10:10:29:21 10:10:34:06Secondly, intelligence is dynamic - inherently dynamic.0194 10:10:34:06 10:10:36:17If you look at the patterns of brain activity0195 10:10:36:17 10:10:39:01 under magnetic resonance imaging systems,0196 10:10:39:01 10:10:43:14 the brain is constantly lighting up, there's a matrix of energy.0197 10:10:43:14 10:10:45:14I mean, there are bits of the brain0198 10:10:45:14 10:10:49:18 where certain activities are focused and have a central point,0199 10:10:49:18 10:10:51:18 but none of it works independently.0200 10:10:51:18 10:10:54:16When people speak, their brains light up in many places.0201 10:10:54:16 10:10:57:12The third thing we know about intelligence is it's distinct. 0202 10:10:57:12 10:10:59:12Everybody's mind is different.0203 10:10:59:12 10:11:01:14It's a combination of your experience,0204 10:11:01:14 10:11:03:23 your genetic inheritance and your life.0205 10:11:03:23 10:11:05:07Your biography.0206 10:11:05:07 10:11:08:20Nature and nurture meeting head-on and merging in some unique way.0207 10:11:08:20 10:11:11:18You are a unique moment in history.0208 10:11:11:18 10:11:17:04Well, when you say, "How do you operationalise this stuff?"0209 10:11:17:04 10:11:20:14I'll conclude with this. I think the implications run like this.0210 10:11:20:14 10:11:23:08The first is that, for the future,0211 10:11:23:08 10:11:27:09 we have to promote people's natural capacities for fresh thinking 0212 10:11:27:09 10:11:28:23 for their own wellbeing,0213 10:11:28:23 10:11:31:12 so they can meet the rapid rate of change head-on0214 10:11:31:12 10:11:34:04 and participate and not feel alienated by it.0215 10:11:34:04 10:11:37:03So they're flexible, and can contribute positively0216 10:11:37:03 10:11:40:10 to economic, personal and cultural development.0217 10:11:40:10 10:11:44:02It's absolutely essential.0218 10:11:44:02 10:11:47:23To do that, we have to rebalance the school curriculum.0219 10:11:47:23 10:11:52:00This hierarchy has got to go. We need a curriculum that represents0220 10:11:52:00 10:11:54:11 the multiplicity of our ways of thinking.0221 10:11:54:11 10:11:57:10For some people it will be music, for some, dance, drama,0222 10:11:57:10 10:11:59:12 for some it will be maths, algebra.0223 10:11:59:12 10:12:02:21In the primary school, I think we need to give children exposure0224 10:12:02:21 10:12:05:20 to all these different disciplines and ways of thinking0225 10:12:05:20 10:12:08:02 so that they can discover their strengths.0226 10:12:08:02 10:12:12:02For me, in the upper secondary school we can begin to specialise.0227 10:12:12:02 10:12:14:04But the hierarchy has to go.0228 10:12:14:04 10:12:16:08We have to rethink that basis.0229 10:12:16:08 10:12:19:15Secondly, I think we should get rid of the idea of subjects.0230 10:12:19:15 10:12:21:19We build schools around subjects,0231 10:12:21:19 10:12:23:24 and then we employ people to teach them.0232 10:12:23:24 10:12:26:23People should be passionate about the thing they teach.0233 10:12:26:23 10:12:31:03The problem can be hiring teachers to teach subjects, not children.0234 10:12:31:03 10:12:35:01And we are there to teach children through the expertise that we have.0235 10:12:35:01 10:12:37:09And finally, it should be distinct.0236 10:12:37:09 10:12:39:23We should be fashioning our curricula0237 10:12:39:23 10:12:43:01 to identify the different ways that children really learn0238 10:12:43:01 10:12:45:24 and which appeal to their particular circumstances.0239 10:12:45:24 10:12:49:14Call that learning styles or what you will, but the skill of teaching0240 10:12:49:14 10:12:53:11 is to connect the passion you have for your own field 0241 10:12:53:11 10:12:56:10 with the interests of the child. That's what it is.0242 10:12:56:10 10:12:58:12But we need to reconstitute education0243 10:12:58:12 10:13:02:22 around a different conception of economic requirements,0244 10:13:02:22 10:13:05:12 but rooted in a different conception of ability -0245 10:13:05:12 10:13:07:13 that we all have creative capacities.0246 10:13:07:13 10:13:11:21It's cultivating them through knowledge and discipline.0247 10:13:11:21 10:13:15:06It's a kind of dance, I think, between knowledge and hypothesis.0248 10:13:15:06 10:13:18:03Teaching for creativity is a very skilled process.0249 10:13:18:03 10:13:20:03It's not just slipping the leash.0250 10:13:20:03 10:13:23:23 Our job is to educate people for a future that we don't comprehend.0251 10:13:23:23 10:13:26:00We cannot educate people for the future0252 10:13:26:00 10:13:29:02 by thinking all we have to do is get back to what we did in 19500253 10:13:29:02 10:13:31:14 and it'll all sort itself out. It simply won't.0254 10:13:31:14 10:13:33:18Not economically and not culturally.0255 10:13:33:18 10:13:35:24But education is the way forward.0256 10:13:35:24 10:13:38:21Truthfully, we can't see this future for our children0257 10:13:38:21 10:13:41:03 and we may not be there to share it with them.0258 10:13:41:03 10:13:45:04Our job is to enable them to embrace it and to make it what it could be.0259 10:13:45:04 10:13:48:22I think, if we understand creativity in the right way, we can help them. 0260 10:13:48:22 10:13:52:04And I think that's why we got into education in the first place.0261 10:13:54:12 10:13:57:12Visiontext Subtitles: Jo Clarke0262 10:13:57:12 10:13:59:12 www.visiontext.co.uk

Gurus: Sir Ken Robinson

Details

Download

Copyright

We respect the copyrights and intellectual property rights of all users. All uploaded documents are either original works of the uploader or authorized works of the rightful owners.

Support