http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html
This talk was given at a conference by Sir Ken Robinson. He is extremely enjoyable to listen to, and funny. He is speaking about the need to change how we educate our children. I am sure he means "within our school systems", but that isn't really the focus of his talk.
I will not go into the possibility or non-possibility of our school systems ever being reformed, but trust me when I say this made me think about how I educate my children at home.
Some of my thoughts:
- Why does homemaking get dropped down to last place? Why is that something I have to work so hard to fit in?
- Where have the arts been in our homeschool?
- I must be prayerful about what to focus on....not just follow the models given to me by society.
- Even within the arts, the focus might should follow each child's lead...rather than what I think is important. Again, prayerful.
- I am suddenly reminded of how far behind Sweetheart fell while in public school. I remember the meeting when it was suggested we might want to "test her further" in a few months. I've given those talks--I know what was being suggested.
- I am suddenly amazed by how well she is doing in homeschool. And how much art plays a part of her learning. If she can draw it, she can learn it. They don't allow that in public school so much. Unless it is "art time."
- How many other children could be saved?
- And how perfectly horrifying it is to think of strip mining. I've seen strip mining. Is that really what is happening to our kiddos?
If you do get a chance to watch this, please come back and let me know your thoughts.
Looking forward to watching the video. And I really appreciate your homeschooling isights, Brenda. More than you will probably ever know.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you do for a child that isn't into art? All this stuff sounds good on the surface, but schooling needs to be individulized for EACH child, not even what we think is the best will work for every child.
ReplyDeleteNo, that's the point Mrs. W. And I was talking about Sweetheart when I said art, but he talked more about "the arts" which encompasses much, much more. Creativty, really, was his focus.
ReplyDeleteI've watched this before--very good food for thought. I think I'll watch again later tonight. :)
ReplyDeleteBrenda,
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh, gosh, gosh! There was so much about this that spoke to me. One of the big ones was (and yes, I was taking notes!):
In school you are taught the most useful sibjects for work. If you're good at art or dance...you're told that you'll never get a job doing thatI remember being in an AP english class when I was 15 years old and in 10th grade. I could write an "A" paper on the way to school on the bus. My teacher (one of the best I ever had in all my years of school) would go on and on about my diction, phrasing and how I used alliteration. "A gifted writer" she would say. She really encouraged me. Everyone else said "You'll never get a job doing that". "Dreams are great, but they won't pay the bills". So I let it go, majored in business, failed intro accounting and was on academic probation by the end of the first semester.
Other parts I enjoyed:
~ADHD hadn't been invented yet~How schools educate us out of creativity~The dancer who, thanks to the wise doctor, was introduced through dance to people like herself: who had to move to think. (How many kids who need to move to think are suffering through our one size fits all approach to education?)
~If you're not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything original.
Heads up: I will probably and most certainly link to this video in the near future. I'll give you a hat tip, of course.
Thanks for linking to this Brenda.
Okay, my above comment, when previewed, looked much different, more coherent and organized. Not quite sure what went wrong when I clicked publish.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad to hear you took notes. I should have! I might watch it again and do just that b/c there was so much going on in my head!
ReplyDelete