"It's not reform we need, its revolution," Sir Ken Robinson boldly conveys this message through his TED talk concerning his labeling of the "climate crisis" found in today's system of education. As I watched and listened to his opinions and suggestions for an educational revolution I was torn in two directions, dreams and reality.
Robinson first pinpoints the linearity found in education today, the idea that all students must follow similar guidelines, passing similar tests and gaining similar objectives in order to be successful. He offers that this system hinders the creative process and suppresses talents of students. In order for this to change Robinson suggests personalized education for each student, that in order to appeal and truly cultivate the next generation of passionate leaders education must be filled with building up the talents of the students. Passion is what "feeds the spirit" and Robinson feels that the educational track of today lacks that sense of "nutrition" that each student needs to flourish.Another major component of Robinson's talk was his idea of the transforming the industrial education system to a more agricultural one. This idea of change echoes the previous ideas of "feeding one's spirit" through this transformation Robinson believes that students will more easily develop passions and elaborate upon their own talents because they will be cultivated in the correct way.
In an ideal world, Robinson's ideas sound great. I believe it should be the priority of a teacher to help grow young minds to find their passions and enhance their talents, but this type of "agricultural" education is extremely ideal. Personalized education would be the most beneficial to all students, yet the money, work and effort that it would cost to our society, students and teachers is not a realistic expectation. Education cannot be conformed to every individual, with millions of students in the education system in the United States, personalized plans create an equal balance of pro's and con's. So though Robinson's ideas are pleasing to the ears of almost all individuals in favor of bettering our education system, they seem to be almost unattainable.
Yet, it is the job of teachers and students to make the education system we have available the best it can be. Teachers must help students in any way possible to reach their goals and students must reciprocate by providing solid effort in order to reach or exceed those expectations. Education is not doomed, it just takes some serious passion and hard work to attempt in creating positive experiences for all those involved with such a vital system in today's world.
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