Analysis of Ken Robinson's talk

Please view the talk at http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html Embed it in a new blog post on your blog, and review and analyze his position, and how it may manifest itself in your future classroom. After posting to your blog, please submit the link to your main blog (not just the post itself) to the Blog wiki in your Moodle section.

One of the initial points that struck me was when Ken Robinson made a reference to the fact that we do not even know what our world will be like in two years, yet we have to teach these students for the future. I had never really considered the impact of this before now. With the significant changes in technology occurring in shorter time intervals, who knows what will be going on in the world in a few years. This makes education so vital for these children. Even more importantly, teachers need to keep up with the increasing technology to make sure these students are as well-informed and using the most up-to-date technology as possible to feed their brains.

Next point that I thought was very interesting was when he referenced that kids are not frightened of being wrong. Through babysitting, teaching swim lessons, and tutoring, I have definitely learned that this is a true statement. When kids are young, they believe that everything they do is right. It is his toy, regardless of whose it really is, and therefore, he can take it from his playmate. She can run down the center isle of a wedding because that is what she wants to do. Kids believe that what they do is correct until they are told they are wrong. Thus begins the process of second-guessing themselves. This becomes an issue in schools, especially when it comes to discipline. If a teacher is too strict, does she keep a child from being himself? Does she hold back his creative mind? Yet if she is too lenient, does she allow the child to adopt the feeling that he is above and beyond the rules of a common society? All of this should be going through a teacher's mind when he or she is cultivating the philosophy for which to teach by. To be successful, this philosophy shall be ever-changing to include experiences of what methods work and those that do not work regarding encounters with children of different personalities and learning styles.

As children grow up, they begin to "grow out of creativity" or "be educated out of it." This is a fearful thought. Are we educating these students to follow a streamline mentality as opposed to exploring and creating who they wish to be as a person? Children should embrace their differences and learn to follow their dreams, not be cultivated into a narrow-focused future of right versus wrong.

I believe that incorporating technology can be both positive and negative in the future of education. If students use the technology to its fullest extent, they can create elaborate projects, expand their knowledge of the subject matter, or even develop new or different programs to increase their learning. Some technology, however, actually makes it easier for a child to not have to actually perform any work. For instance, I tutored at in a seventh grade math class at Jefferson Middle School. During a practice exam for their ISAT exams, the students were asked to calculate fractions. These students were typing in simple fractions, such as 2/3, into the calculator to find the decimal. Students should be able to calculate these simple fractions on their own, without a calculator, but they did not seem to have the confidence or knowledge to do so. This astonished me!

I feel that as a teacher, you have to be constantly aware of the amount of emphasis you put on the "right versus wrong" mentality. Especially in the field of mathematics, a student should be able to calculate a problem in his or her own way to achieve the answer. Some students may use graphs, while others may work the problem out by hand. Either way should be allowed to embrace each child's creativity.