0:00:00.120,0:00:01.469 [marker squeaks] 0:00:01.470,0:00:16.070 [marker squeaks] 0:00:16.070,0:00:17.070 (Sir Ken Robinson) Every country on Earth at the moment 0:00:17.070,0:00:19.229 is reforming public education. 0:00:19.230,0:00:21.389 There are two reasons for it. 0:00:21.390,0:00:22.679 The first of them is economic. 0:00:22.680,0:00:24.569 People are trying to work out, 0:00:24.570,0:00:27.689 how do we educate our children 0:00:27.690,0:00:30.299 to take their place in the economies of the 21st century? 0:00:30.300,0:00:33.809 How do we do that, given that we can't anticipate 0:00:33.810,0:00:36.989 what the economy will look like at the end of next week, 0:00:36.990,0:00:40.319 as the recent turmoil is demonstrating? 0:00:40.320,0:00:42.149 How do we do that? 0:00:42.150,0:00:43.709 The second, though, is cultural. 0:00:43.710,0:00:47.759 Every country on Earth is trying to figure out how do we 0:00:47.760,0:00:50.519 educate our children, so they have a sense of cultural identity 0:00:50.520,0:00:52.709 and so that we can pass on the cultural genes 0:00:52.710,0:00:54.599 of our communities, 0:00:54.600,0:00:57.029 while being part of the process of globalization? 0:00:57.030,0:00:59.909 How do you square that circle? 0:00:59.910,0:01:03.149 The problem is, they're trying to meet the future 0:01:03.150,0:01:05.488 by doing what they did in the past. 0:01:05.489,0:01:08.129 And on the way they're alienating millions of kids 0:01:08.130,0:01:10.949 who don't see any purpose in going to school. 0:01:10.950,0:01:12.509 When we went to school, 0:01:12.510,0:01:13.949 we were kept there with a story: 0:01:13.950,0:01:15.959 which is if you worked hard, and did well, 0:01:15.960,0:01:18.359 and got a college degree, you would have a job. 0:01:18.360,0:01:20.129 Our kids don't believe that. 0:01:20.130,0:01:21.509 And they're right not to, by the way. 0:01:21.510,0:01:23.429 You're better having a degree than not, 0:01:23.430,0:01:25.409 but it's not a guarantee anymore. 0:01:25.410,0:01:27.419 And particularly not if the route 0:01:27.420,0:01:29.399 to it marginalizes most of the things 0:01:29.400,0:01:31.319 that you think are important about yourself. 0:01:31.320,0:01:32.009 And some people say, 0:01:32.010,0:01:34.319 "We have to raise standards," as if this is a breakthrough. 0:01:34.320,0:01:37.889 You know, like, really? Yes, we should. 0:01:37.890,0:01:39.119 Why would you lower them? [audience chuckles] 0:01:39.120,0:01:42.089 You know, I haven't come across an argument 0:01:42.090,0:01:43.919 that persuades me of lowering them. 0:01:43.920,0:01:46.499 But raising them, of course, we should raise them. 0:01:46.500,0:01:49.289 The problem is that the current system of education 0:01:49.290,0:01:52.619 was designed, and conceived, 0:01:52.620,0:01:55.949 and structured for a different age. 0:01:55.950,0:01:57.839 It was conceived 0:01:57.840,0:02:02.099 in the intellectual culture of the Enlightenment, 0:02:02.100,0:02:06.269 and in the economic circumstances of the Industrial Revolution. 0:02:06.270,0:02:07.889 Before the middle of the 19th century, 0:02:07.890,0:02:11.189 there were no systems of public education, not really. 0:02:11.190,0:02:12.809 I mean, you could get educated by Jesuits, 0:02:12.810,0:02:14.639 you know, if you had the money. 0:02:14.640,0:02:17.729 But public education, paid for from taxation, 0:02:17.730,0:02:20.429 compulsory to everybody, and free at the point of delivery. 0:02:20.430,0:02:22.619 That was a revolutionary idea. 0:02:22.620,0:02:24.659 And many people objected to it. 0:02:24.660,0:02:27.239 They said it's not possible 0:02:27.240,0:02:29.399 for many street kids, working class children 0:02:29.400,0:02:31.229 to benefit from public education. 0:02:31.230,0:02:32.789 They're incapable of learning to read and write, 0:02:32.790,0:02:34.949 and why are we spending time on this? 0:02:34.950,0:02:38.399 So, there's also built into it a whole series of assumptions 0:02:38.400,0:02:40.709 about social structure and capacity. 0:02:40.710,0:02:43.799 It was driven by an economic imperative of the time. 0:02:43.800,0:02:46.589 But running right through it 0:02:46.590,0:02:50.369 was an intellectual model of the mind, 0:02:50.370,0:02:52.919 which was essentially the Enlightenment view of intelligence, 0:02:52.920,0:02:55.019 that real intelligence consists in this capacity 0:02:55.020,0:02:57.179 for a certain type of deductive reasoning, 0:02:57.180,0:02:59.609 and a knowledge of the classics, originally. 0:02:59.610,0:03:02.789 What we come to think of as academic ability. 0:03:02.790,0:03:05.699 And this is deep in the gene pool of public education 0:03:05.700,0:03:07.319 that there are really two types of people: 0:03:07.320,0:03:09.029 academic and non academic, 0:03:09.030,0:03:11.309 smart people and non-smart people. 0:03:11.310,0:03:12.509 And the consequence of that is 0:03:12.510,0:03:15.809 that many brilliant people think they're not 0:03:15.810,0:03:18.029 because they've been judged against this particular 0:03:18.030,0:03:19.649 view of the mind. 0:03:19.650,0:03:23.369 So, we have twin pillars, economic and intellectual. 0:03:23.370,0:03:25.049 And my view is 0:03:25.050,0:03:29.429 that this model has caused chaos in many people's lives. 0:03:29.430,0:03:30.659 It's been great for some; 0:03:30.660,0:03:32.909 there have been people who've benefited wonderfully from it, 0:03:32.910,0:03:35.849 but most people have not. 0:03:35.850,0:03:37.679 Instead, they suffered this. 0:03:37.680,0:03:39.149 This is the modern epidemic, 0:03:39.150,0:03:42.599 and it's as misplaced and it's as fictitious. 0:03:42.600,0:03:46.679 This is the plague of ADHD. [crowd murmurs] 0:03:46.680,0:03:50.789 Now, this is a map of the incidence of ADHD in America, 0:03:50.790,0:03:53.939 or prescriptions for ADHD. 0:03:53.940,0:03:57.779 Don't mistake me, I don't mean to say there is no such thing 0:03:57.780,0:03:59.819 as Attention Deficit Disorder. 0:03:59.820,0:04:02.189 I'm not qualified to say if there is such a thing. 0:04:02.190,0:04:04.289 I know that a great majority of psychologists 0:04:04.290,0:04:07.079 and pediatrician think there is such a thing. 0:04:07.080,0:04:11.099 But it's still a matter of debate. 0:04:11.100,0:04:15.299 What I do know for a fact is it's not an epidemic. 0:04:15.300,0:04:18.088 These kids are being medicated 0:04:18.089,0:04:20.909 as routinely as we had our tonsils taken out, 0:04:20.910,0:04:23.339 and on the same whimsical basis, 0:04:23.340,0:04:26.939 and for the same reason, medical fashion. 0:04:26.940,0:04:30.539 Our children are living in the most intensely stimulating period 0:04:30.540,0:04:33.659 in the history of the Earth. 0:04:33.660,0:04:36.089 They're being besieged with information, 0:04:36.090,0:04:38.939 and caught their attention from every platform: 0:04:38.940,0:04:42.629 computers, from iPhones, from advertising hoardings, 0:04:42.630,0:04:44.939 from hundreds of television channels. 0:04:44.940,0:04:46.469 And we're penalizing them now 0:04:46.470,0:04:48.659 for getting distracted. 0:04:48.660,0:04:51.989 From what? You know, boring stuff. 0:04:51.990,0:04:54.509 At school for the most part. 0:04:54.510,0:04:56.549 It seems to me it's not a coincidence, totally, 0:04:56.550,0:04:57.659 that the incidence of ADHD 0:04:57.660,0:05:01.409 has written in parallel with the growth of standardized testing. 0:05:01.410,0:05:04.018 These kids are being given Ritalin, and Adderall, 0:05:04.019,0:05:07.159 and all manner of things-- often quite dangerous drugs-- 0:05:07.160,0:05:10.229 to get them focused and calm them down. 0:05:10.230,0:05:12.869 But according to this, Attention Deficit Disorder 0:05:12.870,0:05:15.929 increases as you travel east across the country. 0:05:15.930,0:05:24.749 People start losing interest in Oklahoma. [audience erupts in laughter] 0:05:24.750,0:05:27.899 They can hardly think straight in Arkansas. 0:05:27.900,0:05:29.129 And by the time they get to Washington, 0:05:29.130,0:05:31.469 they've lost it completely. 0:05:31.470,0:05:35.909 And there are separate reasons for that, I believe. [laughs] 0:05:35.910,0:05:38.579 It's a fictitious epidemic. 0:05:38.580,0:05:41.129 If you think of it, the arts. 0:05:41.130,0:05:42.989 And I don't say this exclusively the arts, 0:05:42.990,0:05:45.179 I think it's also true of science and of maths. 0:05:45.180,0:05:47.279 But let me-- I say about the arts, particularly, 0:05:47.280,0:05:50.609 because they are the victims of this mentality currently, 0:05:50.610,0:05:52.499 particularly. 0:05:52.500,0:05:56.429 The arts, especially address the idea of 0:05:56.430,0:05:59.069 aesthetic experience. 0:05:59.070,0:06:01.649 An aesthetic experience is one in which your senses 0:06:01.650,0:06:03.509 are operating at their peak, 0:06:03.510,0:06:05.639 when you're present in the current moment, 0:06:05.640,0:06:08.309 when you're resonating with the excitement of this thing 0:06:08.310,0:06:09.989 that you're experiencing, 0:06:09.990,0:06:12.449 when you are fully alive. 0:06:12.450,0:06:16.319 An anaesthetic is when you shut your senses off, 0:06:16.320,0:06:19.259 and deaden yourself to what's happening. 0:06:19.260,0:06:22.109 And a lot of these drugs are that. 0:06:22.110,0:06:26.159 We're getting our children through education by anaesthetizing them. 0:06:26.160,0:06:27.599 And I think we should be doing the exact opposite. 0:06:27.600,0:06:30.269 We shouldn't be putting them asleep, we should be waking them up 0:06:30.270,0:06:32.439 to what they have inside of themselves. 0:06:32.440,0:06:34.079 But the model we have is this. 0:06:34.080,0:06:36.369 It's, I believe, we have a system of education 0:06:36.370,0:06:39.039 that is modeled on 0:06:39.040,0:06:41.769 the interests of industrialism 0:06:41.770,0:06:43.509 and in the image of it. 0:06:43.510,0:06:45.609 I'll give you a couple of examples. 0:06:45.610,0:06:48.369 Schools are still pretty much organized on factory lines: 0:06:48.370,0:06:51.069 ringing bells, separate facilities, 0:06:51.070,0:06:54.219 specialized into separate subjects. 0:06:54.220,0:06:57.129 We still educate children by batches. 0:06:57.130,0:07:00.109 You know, we put them through the system by age group. 0:07:00.110,0:07:03.589 Why do we do that? You know, why is there this assumption 0:07:03.590,0:07:05.509 that the most important thing kids have in common 0:07:05.510,0:07:07.609 is how old they are? 0:07:07.610,0:07:09.079 You know, it's like the most important thing about them 0:07:09.080,0:07:12.039 is their date of manufacture. 0:07:12.040,0:07:14.019 Well, I know kids who are much better than other kids 0:07:14.020,0:07:16.509 at the same age in different disciplines, 0:07:16.510,0:07:18.459 or at different times of the day, 0:07:18.460,0:07:20.439 or better in smaller groups than in large groups. 0:07:20.440,0:07:22.329 Or sometimes they want to be on their own. 0:07:22.330,0:07:23.769 If you're interested in a model of learning, 0:07:23.770,0:07:26.379 you don't start from this production line mentality. 0:07:26.380,0:07:28.419 These-- it's essentially about conformity, 0:07:28.420,0:07:30.279 and increasingly it's about that as you look at the growth 0:07:30.280,0:07:33.489 of standardized testing and standardized curricula. 0:07:33.490,0:07:35.469 And it's about standardization. 0:07:35.470,0:07:37.809 I believe we've got to go in the exact opposite direction. 0:07:37.810,0:07:40.239 That's what I mean about changing the paradigm. 0:07:40.240,0:07:41.709 There was a great study done recently 0:07:41.710,0:07:45.639 of divergent thinking, published a couple of years ago. 0:07:45.640,0:07:49.389 Divergent thinking isn't the same thing as creativity. 0:07:49.390,0:07:52.659 I define creativity as the process of having original ideas 0:07:52.660,0:07:54.519 that have value. 0:07:54.520,0:07:57.219 Divergent thinking isn't a synonym, 0:07:57.220,0:08:02.079 but it's an essential capacity for creativity. 0:08:02.080,0:08:06.039 It's the ability to see lots of possible answers to a question; 0:08:06.040,0:08:08.919 lots of possible ways of interpreting a question; 0:08:08.920,0:08:12.459 to think, whatever De Bono would probably call, laterally; 0:08:12.460,0:08:17.169 to think not just in linear or convergent ways; 0:08:17.170,0:08:19.599 to see multiple answers, not one. 0:08:19.600,0:08:20.709 So, I mean, there's tests for this. 0:08:20.710,0:08:22.419 I mean, one kind of common example would be, 0:08:22.420,0:08:23.959 people might be asked to say, 0:08:23.960,0:08:28.159 how many uses can you think of for a paperclip? 0:08:28.160,0:08:29.419 All those routine questions, 0:08:29.420,0:08:31.729 most people might come up with 10 or 15. 0:08:31.730,0:08:34.609 People who are good at this might come up with 200. 0:08:34.610,0:08:36.049 And they do that by saying, well, 0:08:36.050,0:08:37.579 could the paperclip be 200 foot tall 0:08:37.580,0:08:39.199 and be made out of foam and rubber? 0:08:39.200,0:08:40.999 You know, like does it have to be a paperclip as we know it, Jim? 0:08:41.000,0:08:43.219 You know. 0:08:43.220,0:08:46.309 Now, there are tests for this, and they gave them to 1500 people 0:08:46.310,0:08:49.069 in a book called "Breakpoint and Beyond". 0:08:49.070,0:08:50.329 And on the protocol of the test, 0:08:50.330,0:08:53.029 if you scored above a certain level, 0:08:53.030,0:08:56.359 you'd be considered to be a genius at divergent thinking. 0:08:56.360,0:08:58.639 Okay, so my question to you is 0:08:58.640,0:09:01.669 what percentage of the people tested 0:09:01.670,0:09:03.229 of the 1500 0:09:03.230,0:09:06.259 scored at genius level for divergent thinking? 0:09:06.260,0:09:08.299 Now, you need to know one more thing about them. 0:09:08.300,0:09:08.999 These were kindergarten children. 0:09:09.000,0:09:14.399 So, what do you think, what percentage at genius level? 0:09:14.400,0:09:15.029 -(audience member) 80%. 0:09:15.030,0:09:17.249 -(Ken) 80? You think 80, okay. 0:09:17.250,0:09:21.509 98% Now, the thing about this was it was a longitudinal study. 0:09:21.510,0:09:24.089 So, they retested the same children 0:09:24.090,0:09:26.699 five years later, age of 8 to 10. 0:09:26.700,0:09:29.519 What do you think? 50? 0:09:29.520,0:09:32.369 They retested them again, five years later, 0:09:32.370,0:09:35.369 ages 13 to 15. 0:09:35.370,0:09:39.299 You can see a trend here, can't you? 0:09:39.300,0:09:43.199 Now, this tells an interesting story 0:09:43.200,0:09:44.219 because you could have imagined it 0:09:44.220,0:09:46.829 going the other way, could you? 0:09:46.830,0:09:48.269 You start off not being very good, 0:09:48.270,0:09:49.889 but you get better as you get older. 0:09:49.890,0:09:50.999 But this shows two things: 0:09:51.000,0:09:54.539 one is we all have this capacity, 0:09:54.540,0:09:57.209 and two, it mostly deteriorates. 0:09:57.210,0:09:58.649 Now, a lot of things have happened to these kids 0:09:58.650,0:10:01.229 as they've grown up, a lot. 0:10:01.230,0:10:02.789 But one of the most important things that happend to them, 0:10:02.790,0:10:06.479 I am convinced, is the by now they have become educated. 0:10:06.480,0:10:09.179 They've spent 10 years at school being told there's one answer, 0:10:09.180,0:10:10.769 it's at the back 0:10:10.770,0:10:13.139 and don't look 0:10:13.140,0:10:16.229 and don't copy because that's cheating. 0:10:16.230,0:10:18.809 When outside schools, that's called collaboration. [audience chuckles] 0:10:18.810,0:10:21.029 Not inside schools. 0:10:21.030,0:10:23.279 This isn't because teachers want it this way, 0:10:23.280,0:10:26.549 it's just because it happens that way. 0:10:26.550,0:10:29.969 It's because it's in the gene pool of education. 0:10:29.970,0:10:32.459 We have to think differently about human capacity, 0:10:32.460,0:10:34.679 we have to get over this old conception 0:10:34.680,0:10:37.259 of academic, non-academic, 0:10:37.260,0:10:40.379 abstract, theoretical, vocational, 0:10:40.380,0:10:42.869 and see it for what it is 0:10:42.870,0:10:44.579 a myth. 0:10:44.580,0:10:46.709 Secondly, we have to recognize that most great learning 0:10:46.710,0:10:50.749 happens in groups, that collaboration is the stuff of growth. 0:10:50.750,0:10:52.639 If we atomized people, and separate them, 0:10:52.640,0:10:54.199 and judge them separately, 0:10:54.200,0:10:58.069 we form a kind of disjunction between them 0:10:58.070,0:11:00.019 and their natural learning environment. 0:11:00.020,0:11:02.779 And thirdly, it's crucially about the culture 0:11:02.780,0:11:05.419 of our institutions, the habits of institution 0:11:05.420,0:11:07.340 and the habitats that they occupy.