0:00:01.520,0:00:05.960
[marker squeaking on board]

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(Ken Robinson) Every country[br]on Earth, at the moment,

0:00:17.080,0:00:19.400
is reforming public education.

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There are two reasons for it.

0:00:21.170,0:00:22.800
The first of them is economic.

0:00:22.800,0:00:24.640
People are trying to work out

0:00:24.640,0:00:28.360
how do we educate our children[br]to take their place

0:00:28.360,0:00:30.280
in the economies[br]of the 21st century?

0:00:30.280,0:00:31.800
How do we do that?

0:00:31.800,0:00:33.680
Even though we can't anticipate

0:00:33.680,0:00:37.120
what the economy will look like [br]at the end of next week,

0:00:37.120,0:00:40.560
as the recent turmoil[br]is demonstrating.

0:00:40.560,0:00:42.200
How do we do that?

0:00:42.200,0:00:43.680
The second, though, is cultural.

0:00:43.680,0:00:46.090
Every country on Earth,[br]on earth is trying to figure out

0:00:46.090,0:00:48.680
how do we educate our children

0:00:48.680,0:00:50.560
so they have a sense[br]of cultural identity,

0:00:50.560,0:00:54.720
and so that we can pass on the[br]cultural genes of our communities,

0:00:54.720,0:00:57.080
while being part of the[br]process of globalization?

0:00:57.080,0:01:00.040
How do we square that circle?

0:01:00.040,0:01:03.320
The problem is they're[br]trying to meet the future

0:01:03.320,0:01:05.600
by doing what[br]they did in the past.

0:01:05.600,0:01:08.200
And on the way, they're[br]alienating millions of kids

0:01:08.200,0:01:10.960
who don't see any purpose[br]in going to school.

0:01:10.960,0:01:12.640
When we went to school,

0:01:12.640,0:01:13.960
we were kept there with a story,

0:01:13.960,0:01:16.120
which is, if you worked hard[br]and did well,

0:01:16.120,0:01:18.440
and got a college degree, [br]you would have a job.

0:01:18.440,0:01:20.190
Our kids don't believe that.

0:01:20.190,0:01:21.600
And they're right not to,[br]by the way.

0:01:21.600,0:01:23.560
You're better having[br]a degree than not,

0:01:23.560,0:01:25.480
but it's not a guarantee anymore.

0:01:25.480,0:01:27.810
And particularly not[br]if the route to it

0:01:27.810,0:01:29.440
marginalizes[br]most of the things

0:01:29.440,0:01:31.280
that you think are[br]important about yourself.

0:01:31.280,0:01:32.840
Some people say we[br]have to raise standards,

0:01:32.840,0:01:34.400
as if this is a breakthrough.

0:01:34.400,0:01:38.000
You know, like, really,[br]yes we should.

0:01:38.000,0:01:39.240
Why would you lower them?

0:01:39.240,0:01:40.730
[laughter]

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I haven't come[br]across an argument

0:01:42.120,0:01:44.000
that persuades me[br]of lowering them.

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But raising them,[br]of course we should raise them.

0:01:46.410,0:01:47.640
The problem is

0:01:47.640,0:01:49.400
that the current[br]system of education

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was designed and conceived

0:01:52.680,0:01:56.040
and structured for a different age.

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It was conceived in the intellectual[br]culture of the Enlightenment.

0:02:02.160,0:02:06.240
And in the economic circumstances[br]of the Industrial Revolution.

0:02:06.240,0:02:07.960
Before the middle [br]of the 19th century,

0:02:07.960,0:02:10.370
there were no systems[br]of public education.

0:02:10.370,0:02:11.240
Not really.

0:02:11.240,0:02:12.920
I mean, you could get[br]educated by Jesuits,

0:02:12.920,0:02:14.720
you know, if you had the money,

0:02:14.720,0:02:17.880
but public education, [br]paid for from taxation,

0:02:17.880,0:02:20.440
compulsory to everybody and[br]free at the point of delivery,

0:02:20.440,0:02:22.720
that was a revolutionary idea.

0:02:22.720,0:02:24.720
And many people objected to it.

0:02:24.720,0:02:28.520
They said it's not possible[br]for many street kids,

0:02:28.520,0:02:31.040
working class children,[br]to benefit from public education.

0:02:31.040,0:02:32.760
They're incapable of[br]learning to read and write,

0:02:32.760,0:02:35.080
and why are we spending[br]time on this?

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So, there's also built into it[br]a whole series of assumptions

0:02:38.360,0:02:40.800
about social structure and capacity.

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It was driven by an economic[br]imperative of the time,

0:02:43.960,0:02:46.440
but running right through it

0:02:46.440,0:02:50.480
was an intellectual model[br]of the mind.

0:02:50.480,0:02:53.000
Which was essentially the[br]Enlightenment view of intelligence.

0:02:53.000,0:02:55.160
That real intelligence consists[br]in this capacity

0:02:55.160,0:02:57.240
for a certain type of[br]deductive reasoning,

0:02:57.240,0:02:59.760
and the knowledge[br]of the classics, originally.

0:02:59.760,0:03:02.880
What we've come to think[br]of as academic ability.

0:03:02.880,0:03:05.760
And this is deep in the gene[br]pool of public education,

0:03:05.760,0:03:07.320
that there are really[br]two types of people:

0:03:07.320,0:03:09.160
academic and non-academic;

0:03:09.160,0:03:11.360
smart people and non-smart people.

0:03:11.360,0:03:12.700
And the consequence of that

0:03:12.700,0:03:15.960
is that many brilliant people[br]think they're not,

0:03:15.960,0:03:19.760
because they've been judged against[br]this particular view of the mind.

0:03:19.760,0:03:23.400
So, we have twin pillars,[br]economic and intellectual.

0:03:23.400,0:03:25.200
And my view is

0:03:25.200,0:03:29.190
that this model has caused chaos[br]in many people's lives.

0:03:29.190,0:03:30.800
It's been great for some.

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There have been people that[br]have benefited wonderfully from it.

0:03:33.040,0:03:35.920
But most people have not.

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Instead they suffer this.

0:03:37.650,0:03:39.160
This is the modern epidemic,

0:03:39.160,0:03:40.760
and it's as misplaced,

0:03:40.760,0:03:42.720
and it's as fictitious.

0:03:42.720,0:03:46.800
This is the plague of ADHD.

0:03:46.800,0:03:50.840
Now, this is a map of the[br]instance of ADHD in America,

0:03:50.840,0:03:54.040
or prescriptions for ADHD.

0:03:54.040,0:03:54.880
Don't mistake me,

0:03:54.880,0:03:57.920
I don't mean to say[br]there is no such thing

0:03:57.920,0:03:59.920
as Attention Deficit Disorder.

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I'm not qualified to say[br]if there is such a thing.

0:04:02.240,0:04:04.320
I know that a great majority[br]of psychologists,

0:04:04.320,0:04:07.160
and pediatricians think[br]there is such a thing.

0:04:07.160,0:04:11.280
But it's still a matter of debate.

0:04:11.280,0:04:13.280
What I do know, for a fact,

0:04:13.280,0:04:15.440
is it's not an epidemic.

0:04:15.440,0:04:18.240
These kids are being medicated

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as routinely as we had[br]our tonsils taken out.

0:04:20.959,0:04:23.400
And on the same whimsical basis,

0:04:23.400,0:04:27.040
and for the same reason -[br]medical fashion.

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Our children are living in the most[br]intensely stimulating period

0:04:30.640,0:04:33.760
in the history of the earth.

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They're being besieged[br]with information,

0:04:36.160,0:04:40.360
and force their attention[br]from every platform, computers,

0:04:40.360,0:04:41.560
from iPhones,

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from advertising holdings,

0:04:42.560,0:04:45.000
from hundreds of television channels.

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And we're penalizing them now[br]for getting distracted.

0:04:48.760,0:04:52.040
From what? Boring stuff,

0:04:52.040,0:04:54.600
at school, for the most part.

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It seems to me it's not[br]a coincidence, totally,

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that the instance of ADHD[br]has risen in parallel

0:04:58.880,0:05:01.520
with the growth of[br]standardized testing.

0:05:01.520,0:05:04.160
Now, these kids are being[br]given Ritalin and Adderall,

0:05:04.160,0:05:05.360
and all manner of things,

0:05:05.360,0:05:07.360
often quite dangerous drugs,

0:05:07.360,0:05:10.360
to get them focused[br]and calm them down.

0:05:10.360,0:05:11.480
But according to this,

0:05:11.480,0:05:13.480
Attention Deficit Disorder increases

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as you travel east[br]across the country.

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People start losing interest[br]in Oklahoma

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[laughter].

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They can hardly think[br]straight in Arkansas

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[laughter].

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And by the time[br]they get to Washington,

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they have lost it completely.

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And there are separate[br]reasons for that, I believe

0:05:33.320,0:05:36.040
[laughter].

0:05:36.040,0:05:38.720
It's a fictitious epidemic.

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If you think of it, the arts,

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and I don't say this[br]exclusively of the arts.

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I think it's also true[br]of science and of maths.

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But let me, I say about[br]the arts particularly

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because they are the victims

0:05:48.960,0:05:52.640
of this mentality currently,[br]particularly.

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The arts especially address the[br]idea of aesthetic experience.

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And aesthetic experience

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is one in which your senses[br]are operating at their peak.

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When you are present[br]in the current moment.

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When you're resonating with[br]the excitement of this thing

0:06:08.440,0:06:10.080
that you're experiencing.

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When you are fully alive.

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And anesthetic is when[br]you shut your senses off

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and deaden yourself[br]to what's happening.

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And a lot of these drugs are that.

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We're getting our children through[br]education by anesthetizing them.

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And I think we should be[br]doing the exact opposite.

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We shouldn't be[br]putting them asleep,

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we should be waking them up

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to what they have[br]inside of themselves.

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But the model we have is this,

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it's, I believe, we have[br]a system of education

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that is modeled on the[br]interests of industrialism,

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and in the image of it.

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I'll give you a couple of examples.

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Schools are still pretty much[br]organized on factory lines -

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ringing bells, separate facilities,

0:06:51.280,0:06:54.360
specialized into separate subjects.

0:06:54.360,0:06:57.280
We still educate children by batches.

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You know, we put them[br]through the system by age group.

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Why do we do that?

0:07:01.640,0:07:03.680
You know, why is there[br]this assumption

0:07:03.680,0:07:05.600
that the most important thing[br]kids have in common

0:07:05.600,0:07:07.760
is how old they are?

0:07:07.760,0:07:09.240
You know, it's like the most[br]important thing about them

0:07:09.240,0:07:12.160
is their date of manufacture.

0:07:12.160,0:07:14.040
Well, I know kids who are[br]much better than other kids

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at the same age in different[br]disciplines, you know,

0:07:16.560,0:07:18.560
or at different times of the day,

0:07:18.560,0:07:20.520
or better in smaller groups[br]then in large groups,

0:07:20.520,0:07:22.400
or sometimes they[br]want to be on their own.

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If you're interested in[br]the model of learning,

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you don't start from this[br]production line mentality.

0:07:26.440,0:07:28.440
These are, it's essentially[br]about conformity.

0:07:28.440,0:07:29.640
And increasingly it's about[br]that

0:07:29.640,0:07:31.200
as you look at the growth [br]of standardized testing

0:07:31.200,0:07:33.600
and standardized curricula.

0:07:33.600,0:07:35.720
And it's about standardization.

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I believe we've got to go in[br]the exact opposite direction.

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That's what I mean about[br]changing the paradigm.

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There was a great study done[br]recently of divergent thinking,

0:07:44.600,0:07:45.880
published a couple of years ago.

0:07:45.880,0:07:49.520
Divergent thinking isn't[br]the same thing as creativity.

0:07:49.520,0:07:51.240
I define creativity as the process

0:07:51.240,0:07:54.640
of having original ideas [br]that have value.

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Divergent thinking[br]isn't a synonym.

0:07:57.320,0:08:02.120
But it's an essential[br]capacity for creativity.

0:08:02.120,0:08:06.120
It's the ability to see lots of[br]possible answers to a question,

0:08:06.120,0:08:09.000
lots of possible ways of[br]interpreting a question.

0:08:09.000,0:08:12.600
To think, what Edward de Bono[br]would probably call laterally.

0:08:12.600,0:08:17.280
To think, not just in linear[br]or convergent ways.

0:08:17.280,0:08:19.760
To see multiple answers, not one.

0:08:19.760,0:08:20.760
So, I mean, there are tests for this.

0:08:20.760,0:08:22.480
I mean, one kind of[br]cod example would be,

0:08:22.480,0:08:24.080
people might be asked to say

0:08:24.080,0:08:28.280
how many uses can you[br]think of for a paper clip.

0:08:28.280,0:08:29.520
Those routine questions.

0:08:29.520,0:08:31.880
Most people might[br]come with 10 or 15.

0:08:31.880,0:08:34.720
People who are good at[br]this might come up with 200.

0:08:34.720,0:08:35.520
And they do that by saying,

0:08:35.520,0:08:37.640
well, could the paper clip be turned,[br]and a foot tall,

0:08:37.640,0:08:39.320
and be made out[br]of foam rubber.

0:08:39.320,0:08:43.320
You know, like, does it have to[br]be a paper clip as we know it, Jim.

0:08:43.320,0:08:44.080
Now, there are tests for this.

0:08:44.080,0:08:46.120
And they gave them to 1,500 people.

0:08:46.120,0:08:49.120
It's in a book called[br]Break Point and Beyond.

0:08:49.120,0:08:50.400
And on the protocol of the test,

0:08:50.400,0:08:53.160
if you scored [br]above a certain level,

0:08:53.160,0:08:56.480
you'd be considered to be a[br]genius at divergent thinking.

0:08:56.480,0:08:57.360
Okay?

0:08:57.360,0:08:58.760
So, my question to you is,

0:08:58.760,0:09:01.800
what percentage of[br]the people tested,

0:09:01.800,0:09:03.400
of the 1500,

0:09:03.400,0:09:06.200
scored at genius level[br]for divergent thinking?

0:09:06.200,0:09:08.400
You need to know one[br]more thing about them.

0:09:08.400,0:09:11.000
These were kindergarten children.

0:09:11.000,0:09:11.920
So, what you think?

0:09:11.920,0:09:13.960
What percentage at genius level?

0:09:13.960,0:09:15.080
(Audience member) 80.

0:09:15.080,0:09:17.400
(Ken Robinson) You think 80, okay.

0:09:17.400,0:09:18.440
98%.

0:09:18.440,0:09:21.600
Now, the thing about this was,[br]it was a longitudinal study.

0:09:21.600,0:09:25.880
So, they retested the same[br]children five years later.

0:09:25.880,0:09:26.840
Age of eight to ten.

0:09:26.840,0:09:28.400
What do you think?

0:09:28.400,0:09:29.640
50?

0:09:29.640,0:09:31.560
They retested them again,

0:09:31.560,0:09:35.480
five years later, [br]ages 13 to 15.

0:09:35.480,0:09:36.960
You can see a trend here,[br]can't you

0:09:36.960,0:09:39.480
[laughter]

0:09:39.480,0:09:43.360
Now, this tells an interesting story.

0:09:43.360,0:09:45.440
Because you could have[br]imagined it going the other way,

0:09:45.440,0:09:46.960
couldn't you.

0:09:46.960,0:09:48.320
You start off not being very good,

0:09:48.320,0:09:50.000
but you get better [br]as you get older.

0:09:50.000,0:09:51.080
But this shows two things.

0:09:51.080,0:09:54.640
One is, we all have this capacity.

0:09:54.640,0:09:57.200
And two, it mostly deteriorates.

0:09:57.200,0:09:58.720
Now, a lot of things have[br]happened to these kids

0:09:58.720,0:10:01.080
as they've grown up, a lot.

0:10:01.080,0:10:02.800
But one of the most important[br]things that happened to them,

0:10:02.800,0:10:04.320
I am convinced,[br]is that by now,

0:10:04.320,0:10:06.600
they've become educated.

0:10:06.600,0:10:09.200
They know, they spent 10 years at[br]school being told there's one answer.

0:10:09.200,0:10:13.280
It's at the back and don't look.

0:10:13.280,0:10:14.640
And don't copy,

0:10:14.640,0:10:16.320
because that's cheating.

0:10:16.320,0:10:18.840
I mean, outside schools that's[br]called collaboration, you know.

0:10:18.840,0:10:21.200
But inside schools...

0:10:21.200,0:10:23.360
And this isn't[br]because teachers want it this way,

0:10:23.360,0:10:26.680
it's just because it happens that way.

0:10:26.680,0:10:29.880
It's because it's in the gene[br]pool of education.

0:10:29.880,0:10:32.600
We have to think differently[br]about human capacity.

0:10:32.600,0:10:37.400
We have to get over this old conception[br]of academic, non-academic,

0:10:37.400,0:10:40.640
abstract, theoretical, vocational,

0:10:40.640,0:10:44.030
and see it for what it is: a myth.

0:10:44.030,0:10:45.660
Secondly, we have to recognize

0:10:45.660,0:10:47.880
that most great learning[br]happens in groups.

0:10:47.880,0:10:50.920
That collaboration[br]is the stuff of growth.

0:10:50.920,0:10:54.360
If we atomize people and separate[br]them and judge them separately,

0:10:54.360,0:10:58.040
we form a kind of disjunction[br]between them

0:10:58.040,0:11:00.160
and their natural learning environment.

0:11:00.160,0:11:03.720
And thirdly, it's crucially about[br]the culture of our institutions,

0:11:03.720,0:11:05.440
the habits of the institution,

0:11:05.440,0:11:08.040
and the habitats that they occupy.