Robinson Video

Link: http://www.sirkenrobinson.com/

Robinson's main topic for this video was creativity and its role, or lack there of, in modern day education. He starts out by saying that all children are born with a lot of creativity and, due to society and the way the education systems around the world are built, grow out of it over time. Robinson says that around the world school systems concentrate mainly on the 'non-creative' subjects such as: math, science, history, etc... and all arts, such as: dance, theatre, music, etc... are seen as secondary skills. Robinson proposes that the "secondary" skills should be given just as much attention as the "primary" skills, and that all children should be educated in them as well.

He goes on to say that the reason the system was built the way it is was to facilitate the Industrial revolution, to get literate people able to do tasks to further Industry. But now working for a big company (or industry) is not the only choice for career opportunities, people can be whatever they want to be, but the way they were educated makes them afraid to do so. One of the more interesting points he made about education and its apparent goals (to an outsider who has no idea what the education system is for) is that public education seems to exist to produce university proffessors; they seem to be the highest goal to attain in the education system.

Finally Robinson closes with a case of modern day creativity crushing. He talks about a women who is very successful at being a dancer and coriagrapher, and how she first found out that she wanted to dance. When she was a little girl she couldn't sit still and pay attention to anything so her mom took her to a doctor who deduced that she was a natural born dancer. Now a days if the same scenario had occured the doctor would put her on medication and, as Robinson put it, "tell her to calm down". So, who knows how many creative geniuses are being told to "calm down" instead of doing what they want to do.