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Aug 27, 2020

#139



The outpouring of love and respect for Sir Ken Robinson, who passed away at the weekend, is evident in numerous posts on social media. Many of the posts referenced him as an inspiration, a change-maker, and much more.

Chris Anderson of TED Talks made mention of “an indelible impact on so many lives.” and - with regard to Sir Ken’s legacy - Kath Murdoch and Chris Anderson stated respectively, “I will continue to teach for creativity, beauty & the right for all learners to be in their element” and “His wisdom and inspiration live on.”

I have, over the years, watched a number of his interviews/lectures and have always been struck by the fact that his presentations seem to be the perfect balance of content and delivery and it often feels as if you are the only person to whom he is speaking.


Often cited as the most viewed TED Talk, his 2006 presentation, Do schools kill creativity? (19 minutes), has humanity, humility and humour in equal measure [Sarah Lloyd-Hughes provides an insightful analysis in Anatomy of an Inspiring Speaker: Ken Robinson - "Do schools kill creativity?"]. In The TED Interview’s 2018, Sir Ken Robinson (still) wants an education revolution (55 minutes), Sir Ken and Chris Anderson return and further discuss some of the key issues raised twelve years prior. A few of the stand out phrases from the 2006 TED Talk and revisited in The TED Interview are:

“I believe this passionately, that we don't grow into creativity, we grow out of it; or rather, we get educated out of it”. “Truthfully, what happens is, as children grow up, we start to educate them progressively from the waist up. And then we focus on their heads. And slightly to one side.”

“So I want to talk about education, and I want to talk about creativity. My contention is that creativity now is as important in education as literacy, and we should treat it with the same status.”


In the 2017 Aljazeera article, Why schools are getting education all wrong, Sir Ken Robinson reiterates the importance of moving away from the factory model of education and the need for education to change accordingly. He comments that “All children are born with immense talents … and education must identify and cultivate natural abilities.” In the short embedded animation, Sir Ken Robinson’s Education Revolution, he asks, "What sort of education do our children need to flourish in this world?” Much of what is said in the article and in the animation is not entirely new to us. Rather, Sir Ken has the ability to encapsulate what many of us see and think.



This one minute clip, Do you know this about Paul McCartney´s music talent?, is a masterclass, albeit a brief one, with regards to effective pausing and pacing.



As one of those rare individuals who somehow manages to reflect our thinking and move us forwards, he also - in equal measure - entertained and educated. There is much to learn from Sir Ken as we continue - when designing school, planning curriculum etc., - to ask ourselves,"What sort of education do our children need to flourish in this world?"


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