Blog Post #10

What can we learn from Sir Ken Robinson?

This week we watched a video called Bring on the learning revolution with Sir Ken Robinson. In this video Ken talked about how there is a crisis based on the fact that people are not making use of their talents. He goes on to say that at a young age our dreams and ambitions are shut down by teachers and we are instead steered toward achieving a more realistic passion or ambition. Mr. Robinson's example for this was the story he told about a fireman he once met. He said that the fireman told him that at a young age he had a teacher who asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up, so the fireman said he wanted to be a fireman. The teacher then told him that he should choose a different career path because that one was not an ideal one. He did not let that deter him from pursuing his dream to become a fireman. He then grew up and became a fireman and told Mr. Robinson that just a few months ago he ended up saving that same teacher and his wife after they both got in a car accident. Obviously that teacher was glad that the student he discouraged had in fact grown up to be a fireman, considering he saved his life! I thought this was a very interesting story because I feel that some teachers do in fact discourage certain students from being different and wanting to pursue dreams that most people do not normally choose to pursue. They want students to conform and have similar mind sets instead of breaking the mold. Overall, Ken's whole point behind his lecture is that we need to have an education revolution and start encouraging children in what they want to pursue especially if they are really talented in that area. He ended his lecture by saying that children pour their dreams and ambitions onto the floor and it is our job as educators or parents to tread lightly so as to not crush their dreams.