sir ken robinson

hour long interview (conversations from penn state) on creativity and innovation



life is not linear.
your own true north - not a well-known path - but you know the direction you're going in.
most people don't know their real talents. and most doubt they have any.
as many people say they are not creative as much as people say they're not good at math.
the element - the journey people have taken to find their talents and what difference it made in their lives.
it's different for everybody.
the book is about encouraging people to take that journey.
find what your children/students are naturally drawn to.

why are the arts at the bottom in ed:
mass ed was a function of mass industrialism - very linear, about conformity
so while arts have been on the back burner, math & science in the front, math & science have also lost out on this - because it's crowding everyone into a field that is an art itself

the problem is not the teachers or the people, it's the system - the obsession with standardized testing.
there's a diff between children and cars. people can tell if they are part of conformity - they turn off.
Jillian isn't sick, she's a dancer.
a lot of kids are being pathologized because they are being kids.
just sit still and stop it.

Singapore wants to be the hub of creativity. we are falling behind.
more free time, less supervision, more clubs, societies, ...
now - tight, competitive pressure.
even on stem disciplines, americans are falling further down. funny - because america has been built on the creative spirit, can-do mentality, sense of innovation and possibility. this generation is the one we will depend on and they are the ones drowning in activity that is stripping creativity.
pop of earth double in past 30 years.

singapore is like comparing us to a city.
in america the best we're doing is nclb which is an irony because it's leaving many behind.
in many places math and science scores are up, some because they are working the system to raise scores... doesn't matter, either way stifling kids.
kids do better when they are engaged.

this is stripping teachers as well. turning them into machines.
usually what you remember about school is the teachers.


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