They Don't

Changing Education Paradigms - Animated | Oct. 14, 2010

An animated depiction of a TED talk by Sir Kenneth Robinson, British author and thinker, in which he discusses how schools are too rigid for the majority of learners. The popular phrase that has become associated with this talk is: "Do schools kill creativity?"

There are a couple problems here. Blaming schools for what ails people/society is a popular and crowd-pleasing tactic. But, blaming schools takes the responsibility off the individual, off the student. In reality, as a result of opinions such as Sir Kenneth's, and such a huge emphasis on differentiated instruction, schools are bending over backwards to have everyone succeed. If the student can't step up and meet the school system halfway, there's nothing more the school can do about it.

So often a young man, alienated, angry, unemployed (I'm met many) will blame the school for never giving him a chance, for never working for a kid like him. In reality though, that young man would have been given chance, after chance, after chance, with teachers year after year trying to help him succeed. He blew every one of those chances, and opinions such as Sir Robinson's allow him to legitimize his blame.

The second major problem is that a speaker can say whatever they want at a TED talk, romanticize a perfect solution, wow millions, and never have to put anything concrete into action. Talk is cheap.