Ken+Robinson+video

Ken is correct with everything he mentions in the video. I thought it was very surprising that most of our teaching today is based off of what people created during the enlightenment era and how they ran schooling. Good grades don't at all determine how successful a person will be and Ken is completely correct on that point. Many people, including Albert Einstein struggled through school. Memorization is a way people get good grades and they do that without even learning the material which leads them to face consequences in the future if that's how they get past high school. It was very interesting that now parents are almost using ADHD medicine as an excuse for reasons a kid is suffering in school, kids are being drugged by parents because they are so pressured. In the real world, businessmen get together to create the most successful ideas, however, in high school, as students, we are supposed to work alone and rely only on our own memory.
 * Christopher, Zach**

I completely agree with all of Ken Robinson's points. It really caught my attention that 98% of kindergarteners scored on the genius level of divergent thinking, but when they were tested as teenagers that number dropped dramatically. I find it crazy that people think that good grades determine how successful a person will do later in life. People can get good grades by memorizing material and then forgetting it immediately after the unit, ending up with that person not knowing anything. Therefore, someone can have a great GPA without actually knowing anything. In that case, not all people who have good grades in high school end up doing well in the job market. I also found it interesting that parents have turned to ADHD medicine to get their kids more focused on their schoolwork believing in the fact that good grades determine success later in life. The last point that really interested me was when Robinson pointed out that collaboration is one of the most useful things in a job, while in education that is considered cheating. Creativity has lost it's place in education while cramming has become the best way of doing well in school.
 * DiBartolo, They call me**

I think that this video was fascinating, and based on my experiences so far in the private and public education system, I completely agree with all the points expressed in this video. Our educational system does seem to be stuck in the past, while it’s trying to prepare us for the future. The state of the global economy being so unstable makes it difficult for our schools to prepare us. At the same time our creativity is being taken away from us because the curriculums are designed as “one size fits all”. Children are being judged by their test scores and not their actual talents, capabilities or creativity. This leads to a lowered self-esteem and a vicious cycle of feeling smart when you get an A and stupid when you don’t. I myself over the years have noticed a rise in my peers being diagnosed with ADHD and I do believe many of them are just bored in school. It’s unfortunate that the educational system is forcing kids to learn in ways that are not natural for them. I agree with the author of this video that they are being anaesthetized. Drugging kids to be able to fit into the standard “student mold” is not the answer to a productive learning environment.
 * Godnik, Olivia**

I agree with what Robinson saidhim his video -especially the educational aspect. Our educational system lacks important aspects with is failing students to do well after the educational field. Also with the economy being in a downward slump, it makes it even harder on students andfamilies to receive a better education. Another bad aspect regarding education is te ide that there is only one way to test students which is beneficial to only a select group of people. Other children do not test well and they should be given the equal chance to prove their knowledge in a different way. Also, a rise in ADHD is predictable because school is not entertaining. Teachers do not pay enough attention on how to teach their kids in an effiecent manner. Also on another note, there are many students who are outstanding "test takers" and excel in memorizing material. However, my question is, do those students really understand the story behind each problem? Are they just memorizing how to do the problem? Memorization often does not reflect how well a student knows certain information because many students memorize material so fast that they forget the information just as fast. Going back to the discussion in class, these outstanding students who have high grades might actually do poorly in future occupations due to the fact that they probably won't remember all those flashcards they made during grade schools and I hope in the future education will be able change.
 * Han, Harriet**

I agree with what Robinson said in his video and after learning about the Enlightenment and Industrial Revolution it is amazing that our educational system has remained relatively the same. I also agree with him that the pressures of school and trying to work towards a job are abused and it is not even guaranteed that you will get an amazing job in the future, if one at all, just because of your grades and tests from school. His view on standardized testing is completely accurate and I am sure many of us would agree with him. Robinson's point regarding the push for ADHD medicine and treatment directly relates to the push in school and our focus on kids doing well in school. I believe these parents that insist their child has ADHD are more focused on the performance of their child rather than their well-being. Robinson's push for varied forms of education was most significant to me. As referenced in the most recent Torch, all kids learn differently and there is not one way to teach. As we discussed in class, powerpoints are not for everyone, hands-on learning is not for everyone but there is no way to meet the needs of all kids. While the only solution to this is individual learning, we are not capable of supplying that large of a faculty and therefore, our educational system needs to find other ways to cater towards the various needs of the students.
 * Hirshman, Rachel**

I have actually seen this video before, but I seemed to have noticed many more things the second time around. But before starting my mini rant, I just wanted to say that I agree completely with Robinson on most points. One part that caught my eye the most was that we seem to lose creativity as we grow older. It was amazing seeing that 98% of younger kids scored 'genius' level on the divergent thinking test, but as we grow older that percentage deteriorates. I also liked the part where different people learn best in different learning environments such as in small groups, big groups, in different times of the day, etc. But because we don't get that choice, our chances of doing the best that we can greatly lowers. Even so, they still expect us to do well and meet the twisted expectations that in the end would supposedly decide our futures. There are too many things wrong with this. First, what we think is intelligence is just memorization and good scores on standardized tests. We completely forget about things like creativity and seeing many different possible solutions to one question, unlike in schools where there is only one answer and that's that. Also, the fact that the only way to succeed in life is to get good grades is outrageous. Why must standardized tests and grades decide our futures and jobs. Those scores do not reflect on our intelligence, just our memorization skills. We are pushed to the point where many kids are diagnosed with ADHD and become educated by being anesthetized, when in fact, it is the education programs that needs to be looked over. Basically, like Robinson said, our education is like a factory line which I wish would change because, although some people may benefit from an education like this, most people, including me, will receive the short end of the stick.
 * Kim, Yery**

I thought that this video was really interesting because what he was saying makes complete sense, so we, as an educational community, should have done something about fixing this problem, in my opinion. There have been multiple tests in the past about education and standardized testing, and we get solid evidence proving that Standardized testing leads to ADHD or that we lose our divergent thinking ability as we get older, but we don't do anything to try to fix that trend. I really liked how he connected it to the economy, because I feel like a lot of people think that way, that if you're smart and do well in school, then you'll get a higher paying job and be put into an environment that pushes you to get that result, while if you are "not intelligent" then you aren't focused on and just deemed as useless. I really liked the comment about how different people work in different conditions and thrive in them, so we should try to recreate those kinds of environments for certain students, but we actually don't. We push the children into one environment, and judge their intelligence by their ability to succeed, by any means necessary, in that one environment. I also liked when the video said that we're becoming more unaesthetic in order to "succeed" in school, which I think is wrong. People should not be valued because of their ability to cram, or cheat in school, and devalued because they cannot work in that environment, or will not. I think that instead of punishing those who are deemed as unintelligent, we should be fixing them. Things that aren't broken don't need fixing, things that are, do.
 * Lee, Becky**

When i watched this film, I was very pleased. I was glad that someone was thinking about these things.; like, how public education needs to change in some ways, and that a new style of teaching/learning needs to arise. I agree with the factory idea, and how kids are sent into school, and then come back as robots. This education system was created in the past, and does not suite the future. I also like the ADHD part, and how the schools dont take the blame, and put it on medications and such. The school stystem needs to change, and allow our minds to develop and fully understand things, instead of us simply memorizing this and that, and a few weeks later forgetting it all. Our minds need to expand, and this will happen once things start changing.
 * Nediyakalayil, Shane**

I was very happy when I opened the link to this video to see that it was "Changing Education Paradigms", a video I had already watched multiple times and spent a lot of time thinking about. They way our education system runs is, like Robinson pointed out, much like a factory line. We send our kids down the assembly line of hard work > doing well in school (getting good grades) > college > job. This is a system in which we steam "knowledge" into their often unenthusiastic and unfocused selves. We judge our students' intelligence on how well you they achieve a letter grade (which can be achieved with successful mindless memorization). The appearance of aesthetic experiences has dwindled and the appearance of anesthetic experiences has become more and more common for our young generation. Robinson made a very good point about our education system when he said "They've spent ten years at school being told that there's one answer, its at the back. And don't look. And don't copy. Because that's cheating." Copying and studying other answers (what could be called collaboration) is the most relevant form of problem solving that we encounter in our lives. Creativity and collaboration have been losing their place in the education system while mindless memorization and cramming have become the leading forms of "learning" in our system.
 * Ott, Tommy**

After viewing Mr. Robinson's video, I agree with his beliefs on some of the flaws in our education system. What interested me most in his arguments was that we are still basing our school system off of the enlightenment time period. That was an extremely long time ago and the fact that we base our school system off of a time which had less then half of our technological means is ridiculous. It isn't just ridiculous it is Menchevik. I was also interested by the idea of the ADHD epidemic and why kids seemed to be disinterested due to distractions in society. As for ADHD, I agree that it is fine to help a child on standardized testing with this such problem. I find it fine though that schools help students with this problem do better as the schools realize that the most students solely care about getting good grades, and schools conform to the norm and help these students. Overall, I found the video very beneficial as it helped me understand the problems and reasonings of the problems of today's schools
 * Pozin, Jake**

I thought that Robinson made very good points in this video. The old system of education is based on that "factory line " mentality, and things aren't what they were back in the days of the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution. Of course having a degree no longer is enough to guarantee a job. In the medical field, for example, the degree doesn't mean so much anymore because the standards have dropped so much that many people hold a degree. So now there are too many people applying for the same job that has too few slots for employment. And then there's the problem with ADHD. Those kids shouldn't be given such pills to "settle" them down. It only causes them to be able to memorize things, which for the most part useless. I agree with Robinson that they should allow these people with ADHD to become creative and maybe do things that are outside conventional thinking. So many things have come out of thinking outside the box, like the Enlightenment thinkers who were creative enough to challenge conventional thinking. Lastly, Robinson's view on collaborative thinking is very true. It's always better to work together with others, because that way, everyone is gaining insight through others and not just themselves. Take the Enlightenment for example. All those thinkers had derived and spread those ideas through public discussions and inquiries with others.
 * Qiao, Victor**

I really liked this video and agreed with most of Ken Robinson's points. His timeline of the changing education systems was right on target and I agreed with him when he said that the system created in the nineteenth century was created for a different age. It was much different than the twenty first century intellectually and economically. I thought it was interesting how he doesn't believe that ADHD is an epidemic and it doesn't really seem that he believes in it. He was completely right by saying that kids nowadays need to be woken up because we are not focusing enough throughout our education. Back centuries ago, and even today in poorer nations, it is a true privalege to go to school and learn. Modern kids take advantage of that and many do not want to be challenged in school. I like how he said that the best learning comes from group learning, because we do truly learn from others and will be more successful.
 * Ruben, Ali**

Shapiro, Daniel I think that video was very interesting and the graphic that he was illustrating was also extremely cool to watch. I agree with some of the points that Robinson made, and I disagree with several other points that he made. I completely agree with Robinson’s point about ADHD not being an epidemic because I think that ADHD is absolutely fake. I feel like a kid just doesn’t want to try in school, so to remove all blame from himself, he gets tested and tests positive for the fictitious ADHD. However, I don’t necessarily agree with Robinson’s point about education needing to go in the complete opposite direction of being standardized. There’s just simply no system that can be created to make education completely unique, and even if there was a system made that could do this, it would cost way too much money to be accepted by the majority of citizens within the US. I also agree with Robinson’s point about television making school seem boring, and that is why I think standardized testing does not work, simply because it is boring when compared to watching television. I personally believe that our education should be at a point between standardized and unique. Then, students can be tested compared to others, and tested based on their own unique qualities. I can connect this to a survey I took in my art class about the eight intelligences (visual special, mathematical/logical, linguistic, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and spiritual). With a standardized system of schooling, you can only test mathematical/logical intelligences and linguistic intelligences. However, a system of schooling that would succeed would be one that can test at least a few of the other intelligences that separate one person from another person.

I agree with almost everyone else on this topic. The fact that we still base our education system on ideas from the enlightenment and industrial revolution is absolutely ridicolous. However I disagree with most people on the topic of ADHD. I think that in our society when standardized testing is the current form of determining ones learning ability, it is not wrong to help a child that is at a disadvantage. When some people say that medication is only helpful for memorizing facts that is crap. these medications are made to help settle children down yes but also to help them focus on the material so they can actually understand instead of bouncing off the walls and annoying the teacher and other students. If we folllowed Robinson's ideas about how we learn, we would probably have all different learning environments wheere all types of people could succeed. However since we dont have this type of system set up, I think it is wrong the way parents and their children with ADHD are judged.
 * Ben Stoehr**

I think that the points that Robinson makes are very accurate. Just having a degree is no longer the guarantee for a job, although it would help. I also like what he said about raising standards. They never should have lowered them in the first place. I find the fact that public schools are based on economic and intellectual ideas are very outdated. Also, the solution to getting kids to pay attention is not by forcing drugs into their systems. the solution is to make class interesting and not just a rote class of lectures and memorization. I agree with Robinson that school should become an aesthetic experience in which you want to learn and pay attention. I think the "schools are organized on factory lines" idea is clearly very precise. there was a video I watched a while ago that very accurately describes this (@http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tE6ZONL1guA ). I think this video describes schools and standardized testing quite truly. Education truly does destroy creativity and divergent thinking and collaboration is the stuff of learning. however, without one-on-one teaching, every student is going to be taught how the teacher wants to teach.
 * Volpyansky, Andrew**

I definitely agreed with Robinson's analogy between educational goals of the Enlightenment/Industrial Revolution and the present. I found the idea that society clings to the status quo in general that Robinson touched at to be true. For example, the United States has had the same elections system for centuries, people have been watching television for decades, etc. While some societal traditions may not be the most desirable, they are preexisting and what people are used to, which holds them firmly in place. In terms of education, although the modern day system absolutely sucks, there is stable order on earth and people are "fine" with their lives so people are less inclined to experiment with a system that could potentially disrupt the way people ;live their lives. I also agree with Robinson's views regarding how today's educational system is counterintuitive. Studies/empirics have shown that people/society in general have been the most successful when people collaborate -- however this is not stressed as much as it should be in educational settings. While maybe during classes we engage the material in a group setting -- ex. labs, discussions, etc. -- this doesn't stick with kids as they are not primarily assessed on their ability to work productively in a social setting, alternatively they are assessed by their ability to cram information into their head the night before a test.
 * Tashma, Josh**

My favorite part of the video was his rant about ADHD, specifically his jokes along the lines of "people start not paying attention in Oklahoma, and by Washington they've completely lost it". Personally I thought it was funny, but I believe this is actually a really big problem, as this influences the attitudes towards education; people blame the boredom of students on outside factors without looking at the big picture, and then drug them on medication after medication for the big part of their childhood (I know someone who was influenced by this, but you have to look no further than the first comment on this youtube video). I don't know about you, but it's quite shocking. I also agree with Josh about how the system is so heavily ingrained that to change it would require almost a revolution (Ok that was a hyperbole but you get the point). I somewhat disagree with his claims that our educational system seems to stifle our creativity in respect to the different uses of everyday objects. As we grow older, we assign specific uses to specific objects, and that helps us function normally. So when Mr. Robinson talks about how we grow less creative as we grow older, well it is true, and is not wholly caused by our mediocre educational system, as he makes in seem.
 * Shap, D**

I really enjoyed watching this video because Ken Robinson did a fantastic job at getting across ideas and concerns that a large amount of people in our society also have. Robinson did this by illustrating what his thoughts actually were. The spiel that Robinson had about Attention Deficit Disorder, in particular, caught my attention. As someone that has been diagnosed with A.D.D, I understand that our current educational system is making kids feel inferior in a school environment and having them buy back their efficiency with medications and pills. Our education system has become a two way system where the academic students are separated from the non-academic students and being academically gifted means conforming to the one-track, anaesthetic education where if you don't think like everybody else than it's a disorder rather than a tool and to bandage this divergent capacity of thinking with medicines that help you concentrate while it's actually limiting an ability. It is similar to education and schooling in our society where it acts as a template for a students future and the schools keep feeding students these ideas of being different and being an individual but individuality is limited when all these students are put in all of the same classes because of the year that they were born. Our generation and the generations after us will desperately need people to grow into leaders and pioneers and nobody can stand out as the leaders of the generation when students are given an efficiency level telling them how successful they can hope to be and students constantly being forced to be carbon copies of one another in order to be as successful but nobody is truly successful when everybody is at this equal playing field. The truth of the matter is that there are multiple different types of learning and academic success but the education system is only emphasizing one type of learning and making every student that comes through this schooling system think in that way. In an act to better the learning of students, schools are limiting the potential learning ability and capacity of future generations. For a great spoken word poem about Attention Deficit Disorder you can watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-2UnriOjVE ,
 * Ring, P**