Sir Ken Robinson-TED Talk #1

Through this video, I believe Sir Ken Robinson wishes to convey the message that schools need a more diverse and creative environment in able to allow students to grow as either logical or creative thinkers, and be encouraged to pursue whatever future where their interests lie. He wishes to promote creative classes in schools such as dance and art and not discourage students who may wish to use their imagination more than others. He wants the world to be full of artists, musicians, and others who wish to pursue a creative career. He tells the audience that today's society is in a revolution. Colleges no longer seclude grades as their only expectations, but rather extracurriculars and other activities that may not include the traditional form of intelligence. Robinson makes his ideas clear that the world needs to be accepting of all learners and futures. Throughout Sir Ken Robinson's speech, he constantly told jokes which made his TED talk a lot more enjoyable and interesting to watch, which actually supported his ideas of creativity and imagination. He also told many stories to support his ideas which I think was useful in keeping the audience intrigued and entertained. Another prominent technique he used was hand gestures, which he used to explain and convey his ideas. His presentation style was very laid back and casual, making it interesting to listen to. He was able to joke and respond to the audience's reactions, rather than just following a script, which I believe made Robinson much more relatable and down to earth compared to some one who is robotic and lacks charm. I believe the message Sir Ken Robinson wished to share to the world is very relevant to modern day's society. He was able to make it noticed that as a society we need to encourage all types of careers and learning, not only the subjects that will lead to "stable" and presumably "white collared" jobs, which our society views as the successful future, that all children must aim for. His words support those of Daniel Pink from A Whole New Mind, in which he describes the need for more right-directed brains and jobs in our world; this new goal would make for a more diverse and successful future. Both Robinson and Pink describe how our world declares artistic work to be 'childish' and not acceptable for a mature and successful citizen, whereas what we should be doing is encouraging this type of behavior. Personally, I agree with Robinson's views. Modern day's technology provides more opportunities for the right-brains of our world to strive for excellence and grow. As a child, I grew up thinking that as I graduated from each grade I had to mature and be less of a child, which included drawing and using one's imagination. Instead we were and still are instructed to follow a format for optimal writing skills, and taught to be efficient in our math classes. These type of teaching skills do mainly pertain to the left-directed thinkers, rather than the more creative, right-directed thinkers. With this new revolution in education, I believe that it would benefit our society, as Robinson stated. Overall, I believe that Robinson's ideas should be taken in serious consideration in order for progress to be made in modern day's society.