In this video Sir Ken Robinson gives a speech about our current education system and how it can be improved to better our children and allow them to grow and prosper in a digital age. In his speech he makes the comparison of our current "Fast food" model to an "agricultural" model that he believes would work best. He sates that our current model is made for mass production and effentiancy much like fast food. He states that education should be more of an "agricultural" model. What he means by "agricultural" is a model that provides an environment where students can grow and flourish and the teacher can feed this flourishing much like a farmer growing crops. Sir Ken Robinson also talks about how there is too much enfaces on going to college. He states that not all students need to college right away or at all. In his speech he tells us a story about a man who as a child wanted to be a fireman. When he was in school his teacher told him in front of the class that if thats all he wanted to be than he was throwing his life away and that he should go to college and become a professional person. Sir Ken Robinson later explains that the man who was now a fireman had recently saved the life of the teacher and his wife. The point of this story is that as teachers we should allow our students dreams to flourish and never suppress them.
There is a lot we can learn from what Sir Ken Robinson states in his speech. I think that the most powerful message in his speech is that we as teachers and parents should try to move towards a more individual form of education. We should create an "agricultural" model of education. an environment where students and children can have their own dreams but allow teachers to plant seeds of knowledge that can help them grow and learn new ideas that can shape their dreams but not suppress them. I like the quote that Sir Ken Robinson uses in his speech. "A 3 year old is not half of a 6 year old". We shouldn't force children to become what we see as the right thing to be. We should allow them to be themselves and to be educated individuals that can pursue their own dreams.
If you would like to see Sir Ken Robinson's speech you can go to
Sir Ken Robinson on Youtube.
Great post! I like what you said about not forcing children to become what we see. I agree that we should allow children to pursue their own dreams but also guide them into that direction. Many kids have many dreams at a young age. For the most part, if one ask a kid what he or she wants to be, one may get a different answer every other time. Because of this, children need to be guided, trained, helped, and exposed. For example, my son wants to be an astronaut; he is 5 years-old. Because of this, I frequently expose him to cosmology. As a case in point, we traveled to Houston to visit the Space Center, we watch movies about cosmology, and we watch informational series and educational videos on cosmology. In addition, I read and teach him things about cosmology. As a result, he is becoming more knowledgeable in something that he has a desire to be when he becomes an adult.
ReplyDelete"...production and effentiancy much like fast food. " efficiency, not effentiancy
ReplyDeleteCovered most key points.
I enjoyed reading your post. It is so important to encourage and support kids in their dreams. As a kid, I always dreamed of dancing for Disney. My parents always supported me and did all that they could to help me be able to reach my dream. This March I auditioned in Atlanta. This past Tuesday I was notified that I have been selected to be a character performer in the Fall! Over 3,000 people auditioned and I was chosen. What a dream come true! I'm so grateful for all the support I have received throughout the years. I would not have made it this far without it!
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