This animate was adapted from a talk given at the RSA by Sir Ken Robinson, world-renowned education and creativity expert and recipient of the RSA’s Benjamin Franklin award. RSA is the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce.
Watch the video and respond with your thoughts...
11 comments:
I agree with Ms. Canella, with how the board of education thinks that it is less expensive to continue with the same old routine than to revamp the entire system. We are still following the same system from the industrial period of history and yet we expect our students to perform exceeding well for the jobs of our future. This is impossible! I don't believe there is a wrong or right solution because there are school districts that are spending large amounts of money on new programs annually and the students academic performance are still not improving. How are we suppose to determine if a program or a specific curriculum is actually working, when every year teachers have to change their entire curriculum and are being trained to implement new programs?
I really enjoyed this and agree with many of the concepts and ideas portrayed and discussed. All too often I hear the phrase "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" when people are referring to education. What they fail to see is that it is in fact broken. We are producing graduates who are not on an appropriate level to succeed in today’s world. The time this model was invented was before the technological advances and therefore can no longer be as practical. The teacher did not have to compete with such things as an iPhone or other such gadgets. The teacher was the center of attention because they really were the most interesting thing in the room. We are in fact treating the student as if they are being put through a factory. Not every person can succeed using the same techniques. Therefore a production line mentality or model is bound to fail some. Also I liked his mention of "date of manufacture". I never really considered it before but there is truth to it. I have seen multiple examples of students at the same age level but definitely at different cognitive levels. Like the speaker mentioned I also am not qualified to say whether a child should or should not be medicated. However, I do feel that the decision to prescribe medications is one that should be weight more heavily upon. It is not a quick fix for a child who is too full of energy in someone’s opinion. This unfortunately is the answer to some because it’s the easiest and least time consuming.
First I would like to say how much I liked the medium it was presented in. It combined well with the speakers opinion about today being the most stimulating period on earth.
Sir Ken Robinson's opinion on ADHD is very similar to my own. I do not believe that it does not exist only that it is diagnosed to more than is required. This goes along with an observation I make every day. I am consistently around parents and there children, while the children interact with technology. The parents will always make the comment that their kids are better with technology because they have grown up with it and it is their era. If this is true and almost every parent believes this, why is this interest not pushed in schools and used to motivate. Why do we believe because they can't pay attention to material provided in a boring manor? We continue to teach to the same stimulation for those who did not have telephones. I also find it interesting that he put science and math with the arts on subjects that are being ruined by this mentality. As a mathematics major there are so many interesting ideas in mathematics that are pushed into equations to be memorized and examples with specific steps that I was a victim of myself.
Another point of interest was the "one answer in the back of the book, don't look". I believe the most difficult time I will have as a mathematics teacher is to try and produce more ideas from students than the one answer. As a potential middle school or high school teacher I am already looking at my students scoring 10% on the divergent thinking exam.
This in mind I wonder how close we could ever get to Sir Ken Robinson's vision of a school. The idea that students can not be pushed through education at the same rate learning the same thing at the same time in the same way. An open school would be difficult in America based on the sole idea of competition. To create a good member of the society through education we have to learn how not to discriminate based on how quickly or how well someone does in education.
I thought this video was very intriguing in the way it was put together. The information in the video could have possibly been portrayed in a boring powerpoint presentation, where all the same writing would have been represented but in bulleted form with arrows. The images, animation, and humor of the actual presentation kept my attention. As far as the details given, I found the A.D.H.D. section of the video VERY important. I recently read an article in which a doctor admitted to giving kids Adderall (medicine that treats A.D.H.D.) even if they don't have this disorder. The doctor's reasoning is that they are scoring low in school, so if they give them the medicine, they will perform better academically. How will kids be able to think and concentrate on their own if they are just being fed medication?
The article is here online:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/09/health/attention-disorder-or-not-children-prescribed-pills-to-help-in-school.html?_r=0
Also, the video talked about getting a college degree and how that doesn't mean you are guaranteed a job. This is very true and frustrating for me and other people my age.
Leonell D. Santos
Dr. Smith
Managing Inclusive Environment
Video: Changing Education Paradigms
When I was in Connecticut, I met a friend that have a child that is hyperactive (by the way he is very smart kid), he can’t be quite for a moment, what the school system is doing with him is giving pills to control his hyperactivity and “Focus”.
The first thing that came to my mind is Wow, very interesting and illustrative video. The first two reasons that are present in this video is economic reasons (how do we educate our children to take place in the economic system) and second reason is cultural (how do we educate our children to have cultural identity) in the process of globalization.
This video is presenting a sad reality in our school system today. Most of the schools are focusing in different things that are not helping our students in the learning process. Maybe personal interest like I want my school to success in the standardized test (and that’s good) economics interest like we don’t have the money to do that or buy certain things for the benefit of the students. Sometimes the pressures don’t let teachers and school system in general focus in the need of the students. We are living in a society where we need more creative and critical thinking people no robot.
In my personal opinion what I could see in the school system in general is that teachers are under a great pressure for the standardized test, that doesn't let them flow with creativity. They just focus on what “really matter” to success at the moment to look good. This is causing a great damage in the student minds. The school system in this case is creating robots no humans with feelings or creativity that can think by they own.
The video make mention that education in our century it was designed for a different age for example the industrialization era, that there was a lot of economic issues in education. This is a different generation, with different needs; we need stop for a moment and reflect, what are the things that will help our students to have a better performance in school? , how to create an environment of critical thinking and at the same time make a balance to prepare them for standardized test?
As teacher we are also humans, we have to be leaders and not boss, the leader said let’s do it together. We have to implement a sense of humanity between students and teacher and always let the creativity flow to a hundred percent (no time and room to be a robot).
Thank you for your comments and thoughts. As I read your thoughts the global, systemic change that you all wrote about kept resonating in my mind. I have had the experience, however, to see that some of the best reform is happening in individual classrooms of fantastic teachers. You will all have that opportunity at some point... The expression "think globally and act locally comes to mind." Start thinking about what you can do in your classroom to make change. Rick Lavoie gives you a good start in looking at the students who will sit before you and how to reach them. Looking forward to our discussion on Friday!
This is a great presentation! I loved how he used this different animated type presentational style. It was so intriguing to see all the artwork drawn on the white board to match and further explain every concept, thought and idea the presenter speaks of during the entire presentation. I enjoyed the humor twist he adds to it as well. He is speaking realistically regarding the public school education reform. It is to the point and maps out public education, as it really is, flaws, problems and all. There are some really great points discussed that I agree with. Why is it that the public education system has not changed over time? From the beginning of the public school system, school was designed for that particular time many years ago. As the world is ever changing, the school system needs to change as well. As pointed out, it has not been done. Children are different, the world and life is different. They live and grow up in this new emerging world. Money and funding always seems to be a factor. Education is always being cut somewhere and kids are being affected the most. It is interesting to hear him speak of children’s thoughts on education today and its purpose, how they are right on if you go to college it does not guarantee getting a good job. I agree that we do have to raise the standards. We have to change many aspects of the education system for the changing times, and not just keep it the same because it is easier? I agree we have to go in the opposite direction of standardization and where we have been within education.
I liked how he discusses controversy regarding ADHD. This is a real issue. I do believe kids are medicated way to fast to create a quick fix to calm them down so they are able to focus on work and testing. The speaker has a great point of how we are getting our children through education by anaesthetizing them? Yes, we should be waking them up and motivating them to focus, not just drugging them.
Educators, teachers, and aspiring teachers I hope will have the chance to change the education system for the better, use their creativity to motivate students and be able reach every child.
This presentation definitely sparked my interest, kept my attention and was pleased to hear more. I look forward to always learning new ways to motivate and captivate my students and future students, especially using all I have learned (and know more of now) from this course & also reading the Lavoie book. I will definitely use these amazing teaching strategies and techniques I read about in this book. He has great insight on what motivates students and such fascinating, interesting material I will use in my future classes.
Before even discussing the content of the video, I would like to commend the way the information was presented. The white board white was extremely stimulating and a very accurate depiction of what was being spoken. I believe this is sort of what the video was talking about: divergent thinking and creativity. Who says the information had to be spoken in a plain lecture? I love that the speaker was extremely interesting with great inflection, but the artwork just sent the message home.
I believe this video sums up everything I have learned in my Master's program for sure. Every class I've taken is all about moving away from the old methods of teaching: teaching by lecture, in which only one kind of student can succeed. We, as teachers, need to understand that there are multiple types of learners, and the educational paradigm is just not working anymore. As stated by Sir Ken Robinson, many brilliant people think they are not smart because they didn't do well in school, but in actuality, the education system failed them. We need to realize that not all students will learn the same way, so we need to teach in different ways, to ensure that we are reaching everyone with our content.
The piece about the ADHD "epidemic" is completely true. I think parents, teachers, doctors, are just looking for a quick fix: altering the student. But maybe there is a bigger reason why a student cannot "focus" in class. Looking at the increase in ADHD prescriptions over the years, its easy to see the correlation: increase in electronic media, decrease in attention in school. But as Robinson stated, it's no wonder students can't pay attention! Everything around them is stimulating, except when they get to school. I think trying to find the "quick fix" can only cover up the major problem for so long. I think the real issue is no one wants to acknowledge the real problem: no one wants to change their ways, or put in extra time, effort and money. But it is simple: the students have changed yet the way we teach them hasn't! Obviously there is going to be a disconnect. I think we need to totally throw out our education system as is, and start fresh. Telling teachers of 30 years to add inquiry to their lessons isn't really always going to happen. We need to change the curriculum and make it student-centered, not teacher-centered, as it is now, for the most part.
I actually watched this speech that sir ken robinson gave a month or tow ago and I loved it! I enjoyed watching it again in this animated format.
First, The points that sir ken robinson makes regarding the quick fix of ADHD is right on. We are medicating children way, way too fast and too easily with heavy medications that a lot of them I am sure do not need. We medicate them for all kinds of reasons but the fact that they cannot sit still and pay attention to a lesson that it boring them to death, does not indicate that a child has adhd. A lot of teachers, parents and physicians feel that if they calm the kid down, by drugging them it will be easier for them to pay attention to the task at hand. God forbid our teachers get to know their students and find out what motivates them, what their interests are or how they prefer to learn at the beginning of the school year...no they go along with having the kid medicated.
When my grandparents came here college was not even a thought for them, for my parents generation if you went to college you were guarenteed a great job and the salary to follow it. Now as I finish graduate school, I will be considered extremely lucky to get a job in the economy and devalued society we live in. Recieving a 4 year college degree has become equivalent to a highschool diploma, with a masters being required and the ticket to success being a phd. It is a sad case. The fact of the matter is, is that the world needs everyone, the garbage men, the builders, the handymen, the automechanics, dancers, performers...etc.
Why we are still talking about and not acting on changing the format of the schooling system which is without a doubt very factory like is beyond me. Schools take the creativity out of our children so that by the time they graduate highschool they are masters at memorization. TERRIBLE!
This was a great video. I really think the point he made about the amount of overstimulation that kids get is a problem. Schools are going to need to address the fact that either more technology is needed in school or they need to come up with a new system of reaching the students. I HATE standerdized testing and all of the wasted school hours that go into getting ready for one test. The video really showed a lot of flaws with the state of education, I wish that this could be solved in my kids life time as students. As a side note my kids watched this video with me and they loved the format and presentation.
Post a Comment