Added: 5 years ago
From: TEDtalksDirector
Views: 3,183,865
Sort by time | Sort by thread (beta)

Link to this comment:

Share to:
see all

All Comments (6,468)

Sign In or Sign Up now to post a comment!
  • politicians too lazy to care this.

  • The occupy wall street protesters should attack the way we look at education! American schools are the reason people are afraid to start their own businesses. When teachers and parents use the excuse of "getting you ready for the real world" to justify the extreme inefficiency and pointlessness of the current school system what they mean is a capitalist world! How can we change society when we are teaching it as the ONLY society? Please thumbs up to get people thinking!

  • @karezza6 All teachers? Maybe if you had better teachers your critical thinking skills wouldn't be so weak huh?

  • You are the future 

  • 真想关掉那配音似的笑声

  • 6:00 minutes in he says, "We run our companies like this. We stigmatise mistakes."

    .

    It seems to me that companies must satisfy their clients/customers i.e. the people who pay them (the company) to provide them with a product or service. That's how it works, right?

    .

    So... who here runs their own company and has employees working for them?

    Who, of those employers, wants to give me a job so that I can come make mistakes in your company?

    Anybody...? I'm prepared to be wrong. Are you, Mr. Robinson?

  • @TableWolfMusic You are assuming the whole world is a company. Last time I checked, there were jobs other than toiling away in a company, not to mention he's talking about growing up and education. NOT adult life.

  • @magical11 For the majority of people who will graduate from university, which is what he is talking about, the prospects are indeed about toiling away with a company.

    Also he is talkiing about preparing people for the future (until they retire in fact). So he is talking about schooling, for the purpose of preparing people for adult life up until retiring. i.e. retiring from work.

    But as I say, I am prepared to be wrong about there being companies wishing to employ the mistake-makers.

  • Nice BMW product placement. Much disappoint.

  • deep

  • Iinspirational.

  • I lol'd all the way through this, I want this guy's babies

  • My substitute languages teacher said once, "you use languages alot in your life" we found out he is married to an Italian... That explains alot...

  • Makes you think

  • they kill me thats for sure

  • School won't make you an artist; You work hard to become one

    School won't make you a Nobel prize winner; You work hard to get nominated

    School won't make you a millionaire; You work hard to become one (or inherit from your family)

    School won't make your life better; You work to make it better

    All school can give you is a paper called Diploma

  • you can't fight something that is... just give up!

  • Fuck school, check out my channel for more...

  • school just sucks. honestly because the teachers are underpaid they feel like our lives should be just as shitty. some teachers are fine, some are cool, but most just fucking do what theyre told and make our lives shitty by teaching us shit we dont care about and dont need to learn to be a functional human being

  • @ddrum121 Underpaid? Some college professors get paid at least $80,000 (plus benefits). If they have doctorate degrees, they will also get a stipend of at least $2,000. So even though I agree that some teachers are fucking useless, they're definitely not underpaid. My high school English teacher always bragged out how she got paid $80,000 (plus benefits) every year. She's a clueless cunt, who did not know the materials by heart.

  • @ttiiyy I work in a call center talking to students all day long and I love my job (I live in Australia. I also make about $80,000 a year (normal base and commission). Guess what I needed to quality for the job...a nice personality, thats all. Tell that to your teacher ;)

  • Shakespeare in someone else's class...MIND BLOWN

  • interesting 

  • check out my channel to be educated in manufacturing for free!!! like so more can be educated!

  • the girl's picture and our education analogy was amazing

  • What a great guy! Thanks for posting!

  • 5 years later...has anything changed? That's the sad thing

  • Perfect speech topic.

  • No. Because Creativity is the key of showing students how to be creative in each way. I'm creative when it comes to decoration. I'm not saying that I'm going to be a decorator, I'm saying that I can see what students or people want when they imagine how a cake is suppose to look like and how they want the colors to be, how they want the writing on the cake to say I see what they want the colors, image, decoration, sprinkles, and flavor to be.

  • @JuliusDS92 No, hang on - I don't think you've listened to him. He doesn't knock those disciplines - he's holding up the gradual lack of strength in degree-level higher education in ALL disciplines. I daresay degrees still remain as viable intellectual capital in all of those fields, BUT they're not worth as much they used to be. You now have to add on a Masters, or a Doctorate, or A PhD etc.

  • @lordhaku Is there a lack of strength in degree level education across all disciplines? I'm sure this may be the case for some institutions for some disciplines, but that sentence seems too big a generalization.

    I'm only a university applicant right now, but from my conversations with plenty of other people at and beyond my stage, I've never got the sense that you "have" to have a masters or phd. It may help, but it's not required.

    

  • @JuliusDS92 Oh, true - a degree is still useful, but in my experience, and given conversations with members of the previous generation, they're not worth as much as they used to be. But you're right when you say my claim generalises across one too many disciplines. My bad.

  • @lordhaku I understand you better now, and in all fairness Ken Robinson might have been referring to the hypothetical situation in the future he had just mentioned. I did react a bit strongly when he said that, but I'd find it a lot easier to sympathise with him if he stopped coming out with at least somewhat questionable claims followed by "am I right" or "isn't that true".

  • Comment removed

  • I tried to open a charter school for perfoming arts but a State Senator prevented it from opening.

  • To quote Einstein "It is a miracle that curiousity survives formal education"

  • Comment removed

  • if you're not prepared to be wrong you will never come up with anything original

  • @potsyy Problem is school brainwashes us to think you have to be right and being wrong is worthy of punishment (grades). And even know if i know what you are saying is true, its been drilled into the brain too much already to matter.

  • Ken Robinson rocks!

  • It seems that a lot of schools do suck, or a lot of teachers suck, but the basic process is sound. Rather than whining and skewing about for magic panceas, I think it would make more sense for pub school kids & their parents to demand the teaching standards of private schools. Of course, that might mean uniforms (oh no!) which is standard in most Asian schools, public/private. Asia is rising due to traditional education - it works. 300 mil in India now enjoy prosperity. Creativity not lacking.

  • public schools purpose is to kill you as an individual, and prepare you for acceptance of goverment control and a backwards society

  • How can someone dislike this ?

  • please where is the other video about education?

  • @SKAgoi Hi, you should watch this: watch?v=r9LelXa3U_I

  • Comment removed

  • Schools kill more than creativity.

  • OMG this is sooo funny!!! my mum used to be a university teacher and i can honestly say what he said is exactly true. that's one reason why she left.

  • This is a great video. I have such respect for Sir Ken Robinson after seeing him give an interview in the film Finding Joe. It’s a documentary based off of the famed mythologist Joseph Campbell’s philosophies and how they have impacted our culture. With the help of interviews with various different respectable people, the film showcases how Campbell’s work is still relevant today and how he has inspired people to “follow their bliss.” bitly . com / syDs ZQ? r=b b

  • The part from about 15:15 to 17:43 made me cry. I don't have ADHD, nor am I a dancer, but I have an anxiety disorder that, while keeping me from being a "productive member of society" and causing me great pain, also inspires me to do everything from writing to drawing to making music to programming. It even inspires me to build social foundations that others can flourish off of, by setting up situations that I would never be able to participate in.

    I'm now in the process of being "cured" of this

  • 8:48 because maths and science have proved to be the key to our society progressing and our quality of life improving? how can you compare dance to maths? ok, dance may improve fitness and wellbeing, but rational and logical thought processes, which we all need, require maths and science to teach and develop it.

  • @wtfyman for some yes.

    for others absolutely not. so why should one be worth more than the other?

  • @wtfyman i dont believe that his intention was to say that math and sciences arent important. Rather, just because dance isn't necessarily this "key to society" doesnt mean that it should be considered less important or rejected. If a person has a better aptitude for dancing than math or science, then they should not be forced to stop dancing altogether to pursue a "better" subject like math, science, medicine, etc. I too believe math and science play big roles, but they arent the only things.

  • Also, I have found out I am good at learning other languages as well, simply through observation and reading subtitles.

  • This video is 5 years old, so I don't know if mentioning this will make any contribution to his book (even though it most likely wouldn't even if the video was newer), but I thought I might share how I found my greatest talent, which some of you might find rather trivial. So, I'm Greek and I'm very good at English. The thing is, I was good before trying to learn it at an institution. I learned with only a PS1 and an English diary. As a result, I was always at the top of my class. Weneedmorechars

  • great speach but he`s wrong about multitasking

  • You guys are surely dumber than the much older generation of people, despite u guys are suppose to have all these material advantages.

  • Never. Stop. Dancing

    

  • Come to Michigan PLEASE!!!  Or a surrounding state. I'll drive.

  • I am 16 years old, and I reciently realized about some things like this, the world is transforming from being an art, to a simple cube where everything is like you was teached in school. I am trying to become a better person, trying to become who I am really, and trying to complete a dream where I can teach people to see the world in a different way, your way. I am from Mexico and I am a dreamer! :D

  • Among other things, school is boring.  It is just boring.

    How much can or will you learn when you're bored? Very little. It is such a waste of time.

    And at the end, they hand you an useless piece of paper (diploma) and say: Atta boy or atta girl.

  • @cheeriosinabowl U know why? it's because school tels you, learn math, u ask your self why? They never told you why you should learn math... And to force anyone to learn something isn't the best thing. So the problem is school goes against "evelution" and how we are supposed to learn, not just by how meny hours you studie or how early you go up. Instead of forcing someone to learn, give them what they need, and let them self find the answer,

  • @cheeriosinabowl and learn what they want to learn. there you got creativity and curiosity. So in that way you made a purpes to studey and that makes it fun. So school in my eyes i just a crappy system. And I got to say I'v learned so mutch more now after school cause I study what I want to know by my self. And that another reson internet is a great thing. And that aslo why the SOPA law is coming, free free education, free thoughts and ideas, the list could almost be endless

  • @NiclasTimle89

    .... I agree with you. I have learned far more after my school days were over. Being in school was like stuck in a box. Also, my school days were not happy, fun-filled times -- so that made matters worse. And I have never gone back into my old school after having graduated many years ago.  No desire, that building was a downer.

  • @cheeriosinabowl Same story here

  • @cheeriosinabowl

    That's why you have to choose a degree you like.

    Doing what you hate will make your education almost 100% useless.

  • @cheeriosinabowl Try getting a job without any education. The piece of paper is not "worthless".

  • @morningstomper123

    ... well, of course you need SOME education, like knowing how to write, read and count. What I was referring to was the useless degrees churned out by the universities, ie., degrees in liberal arts.

  • I'm 26 Years Old. In school, I was the weakest in class, my art teachers belittled me. My English teacher killed any aspiration for writing I had and I got into so many fights I lost count

    In Poly, I hated my course so much I got kicked out on purpose. One day a teacher and friend who knew my love of games and cartoons pointed at a game and said, "You should learn to make these"

    I am 26 years old and I am a 3D Animator at an animation studio creating cartoons for children

    And I love it!

  • @Jiubei This was inspirational. I hope that one day I am able to find what I will do and love for the rest of my life. I'm having a hard time in my english class right now and during my junior year in high school, a teacher also murdered my inspiration for writing. I will do my best though. I'm glad I was able to see your post.

  • @Jiubei I do value education, but I don't think it's for everyone. I'm really happy for you. Do what truly inspires you.

  • @Jiubei lucky bastards. my school. (High school) will take everything of mine just so they can say i was being bad. which i don't care for school. they make us learn things i don't care for and have no use for.

  • Lead roles in the musical every year of high school. Member of the elite choir every year of high school. First place in one of the talent shows... and my teachers consider me a failure. It's a shame. I don't think my life will ever go anywhere. I have Asperger's syndrome. But why do people call it a disorder? It's absurd. I might not become a college professor, but give me a chance. Look at who I am through my own eyes. You'd see what I, as well as many others like me, are truly capable of.

  • thats why cause its even 2 mainstream fuck school and let me roll in games bitches-.-

  • unlike most people here, i haven't stopped believing in creativity. I LOVE dance, and acting, and trying to sort through my thoughts and analyze things through different perspectives because that's what I really enjoy doing. Don't get me wrong school tries to tear it out of you, but you have to be stronger then that. You have to rise above "education" and do what you love doing :)

    I Love Cows!!

  • he speaks alittle too fast

  • @kenmesuck you listen a little too slow.

  • I stopped drawing and sketching by the 8th grade and stopped playing guitar and toying around with musical instruments by the 11th grade. I now put more focus on my education.

  • it must suck if sarah watched this

  • The education system is to generic. Everyone has different needs and ways of learning 

  • He's totally right and absolutely hilarious in the process, but this is how people are suppose to be when they receive a well-rounded education, which has probably been missing from our world for a very long time now. England probably gets the closest to it, but most of the world seriously misses the mark (including my own America...way too knowledge-based)

  • great sense of humor, great message, but here's one thing that I felt as I watched this. From what he says throughout 20 min seems to be centered on the message "we should let children find and pursue their talents by putting equal educational emphasis on each subjects/forms of living" rather than calling for "more interdisciplinary and flexible educational system." I wish he explained more about his take on the latter issue, on "how to foster creativity" realm.

  • fuck school don't go to school 

  • I wish I had his sense of humor.

  • i 'm chinese and lives in hong kong. In hong kong we are work under pressure most of the time. The teacher always told us we must fight to other student and we may have a chance to go to the university. If i speaking have wrong,,tell me..!

  • @spicyham :D

  • how could 271 people dislike this video this guy is right about schools and creativity

  • Mhm, agreed

  • lol frank sent this. brilliant.

  • I love what he says about 'adhd' ...

  • When creativity dies the heart of america stops beating. I need smart friends will you all add me on facebook? :'^l

  • @fallenbodhisattva I will add you =]

  • I'm 22 years old. In 1 week I'll have to pass my law exams in order to complete my first 3 years of university . Though I am supposed to study like an ass, I am drawing 7 hours per day. Feeling like I chose the wrong path xD

  • @Umbrage00 Sounds about right to me: in the end you should do whatever you're passionate about and can make a difference in (however small or personal), and law is very very important to society as a whole. Good lawyers come in many colors :-)

  • For anyone who likes to discuss Tedtalks on an IRC channel: freenode has (an unofficial) #tedtalks chatroom.

  • If you think about it, a lot of the innovative minds we have come to revere have never graduated from school.

  • @DustinMan12345 same with me

  • yes they do yes they do.. ((please watch all my creative shorts)).. i didn't pass high school

  • What's amazing is that this video has taught me more in 20 minutes and 4 seconds than I ever learned in my four years of high school and three years of college.

  • Schools are a tool to indoctrine people into a life of servitude. The peeps running the schools make decisions without the input of anyone's parents. Then when you get out of school and are saddled with 10's of thousands of dollars in debt from all those loans.... what a sorry state of affairs

  • Dirty Dike - The Agitated , thats where i heard bout this fella :P

  • The York Region District School Board plans to get rid of the Integrated Arts program at Baythorn Public School in Thornhill, Ontario, Canada (just north or Toronto).

  • I'm not a full time activist but i wondered about this when i was in school, im 27. How would i begin to help influence something like this to begin in my area? I live in Nebraska. I have a kid who is "diagnosed" with a.d.d. but when i work with him he gets it better than if he was in school. Any ideas would be helpful.

  • I think this is really important. I stopped dancing, singing, and acting because I was told that I'll never go anywhere with it so there is no reason to be doing it now that I'm older. I was always told to focus on the main education classes instead of dance or theater class. Now those classes are important too, but dance and theater is what made me happy. It's important that everyone encourages their children to do what they love and take part in the arts as well as basic educational classes.

  • @juliaLOVExx arts classes all the way!

  • I agree. I remember one summer I had an incredible work ethic, I was writing songs everyday and practicing my guitar. As soon as school started that work ethic went down the drain and I saw work as a chore rather than an enjoyable thing.

  • everyone in the schools needs to accept Jesus today and it will come back,

    Tony

  • @71Warrior4Jesus what exactly does jesus have to do with this video?

  • @wildsparky886 thats the problem, Jesus is not included,

    Tony

  • "Shakespeare, put the pencil down. And stop speaking like that. You're confusing everybody." This guy is so clever, in addition to being brilliant. I show this video to my students all the time. ^^

  • I was interviewed for a thesis about people who tech stuff on youtube this week. During the conversation I realised that not only am I an autodidact, but those seeking information on Youtube are autodidacts too, and are getting what they want from teachers who are autodidacts themselves. These teachers are teaching in a different, creative way that school can't cope with because there are no exams involved or measurable outcomes, just rounded education :)

  • this guy laughs really annoying

  • interesting 

  • American schools don't educate children. We program robots. Human automatons who are capable only of performing rote tasks without asking any annoying questions. The word "educate" comes from the Latin phrase "e duco," meaning "I lead out." But we don't lead children out. We wall them up. And they become successful accountants and insurance salesmen who find themselves out of work when lack of imagination renders them obsolete and unable to cope.

  • Extraordinary speech. Can't agree more, although I've never actually looked at it like that before.

    I'm 14, and I've honestly never been taught of anything other than going to University and succeeding, or not going to university, and failing. It's a shame, because whilst I do KNOW you can live a happy and fulfilling life without university, I find it hard to see as successful because of what I've been taught. My mind is closed by schooling, and I can't re-open it.

  • soooo is that mean that school sucks now? :D

  • @danjoelabrenica no it just means that school isnt for everybody, and that the school system we have today isnt the right way to educate our youth. Teachers are the lowest paid people in society, and yet education is the most important thing in our society...and students are learning how to be better robots. It does need to change.

  • Typical British laugh. Sounds like Nigel Thornberry

  • Comment removed

  • white people love ted talks

  • It was very dificult for me to understand and laugh when i heard jokes in a foreign language (im Romanian) but at each of this guy joke i understood and laught a lot

  • this guy talks like one of those computer voice programs

  • Brilliant!...and hilarious...

  • Is this guy trying to make a point or doing stand up comedy?

  • @emk1996 I think you just made his point. :-)

  • @glvdtxn Wait, what point, I couldn't sit through this guy past 2 minutes.

  • @emk1996 There you go again! Your illustration is most eloquent.

  • Comment removed

  • This talk raises a lot of interesting questions about how we should change the way we are teaching our kids. Kudos to TED.

  • He is so right; it's a shame really. I am 17 and still in school, and the creativity is drained out of us. I personally am terrified of putting my hand up in class to answer a question and get it wrong, so most of the time I don't even have a go. Wish it wasn't like this

  • @R52OSO I experienced the same thing, I'm a year older than yourself and finished school, the education system makes you feel inadequate and it makes you feel thick. Remember, the leaving cert is just a memory test, they tell you things, you remember it, you reproduce it in an exam. This is where your creativity is lost. Einstein hated school! Read 'Rich dad, poor dad by Robert Kiyosaki' and also Unlimited power by Anthony Robbins.

  • @R52OSO I used to make videos as an outlet for my own creativity. I loved the process of capturing a fictional story and editing it for a worldwide audience. I thought I had something of a talent and took a highschool video production class. There I experienced dead lines, others who were less motivated, and no positive feedback for my work. It ruined my motivation to carry on. Spoiled it. It's been two years since then and in comparison to how many films I used to make, there is little to none.

  • @R52OSO Just want to say - don't worry, it gets better. Despite how some of the stricter teachers may present it to you, the world is not like school. It is about getting things wrong and learning from them, rather than having the right answer presented to you all the time. I know it may be hell for you at the moment, but trust me - even in the depths of a hellish workday, and despite some fond memories of my time there, I'm always glad to say "Well, at least I'm not in school"

  • @lordhaku I have to disagree with you. most types of work are by their very nature repetative regardless really of the education level required to perform it (good luck finding a heart surgery exciting when you've done it a hundred times). work is just as or more boring and mind numbing as school used to be and by necessity you need to spend a large portion of your life doing it.

  • @R52OSO Its really bad dude, I was at your point once. Nowadays I then change to live life on a I don't give a "%*$ basis, as in I would say what I think, keeps your mind alive during school. When I left, my imagination went to my work, so I went back to "normal". Try it but not too much. :D

  • @R52OSO I hear yah, same story during my school time about 3 years ago. And when you do dare to ask a question where you are wrong, than you hear here and there some chuckles, and you can hear the majority think "what a dumbass". So yeah, am not saying it is impossible to ask a question these days, but it sure is discouraging to do such.

  • @R52OSO If you're the sort of person to be exploring concepts like Ken is talking about, you won't have any issues. Best of luck with it all.

  • @R52OSO iwaslikethat tooconfidencechanges things

  • I wish some Chinese saw/heard this guy ! I taught there for a few years and countless times they thought I was crazy to ask them to use 'imagination', which many there call fantasy. I mean, literally, the people in charge of education in that country is simply destroying human intelligence at the same pace their "development" is destroying the environment !

  • @datubaozi - ARE simply...

  • this presentation is slow and sir ken robinson beats around the bush..

    absolutely a waste of time..sorry this is not for me..

  • I remeber how creative and free my mind was at such a young age. I try to connect with my chid like creativity but its so hard

  • This talk is remarkable and couldnt be any more true to life. Now that we know what needs to be changed its up to when and who will change the world.

  • Like this if you're still watching this in 2012.

  • Maybe education shouldn't trample on creativity, but it shouldn't also indulge children's creativity.

  • This is one of the most beautiful (and funny) videos I've ever seen on YouTube. It's full of hope.

  • TODDLER'S ODE TO SIR KEN ROBINSON

    w w w . ROBESONGROUP . o r g

    .

  • Comment removed

  • he is right. but since it still seems like having more money (in other words, learning all the work-related subjects) guarantees the better evaluations from people around me, my dream and the others are still getting crazier. and the more it happens, it should be harder for everyone to live together. now it's time to change ourselves

  • Of course society plays a dreadfully sadistic role in this too. Nobody else harshly judges a child or teenage that wants to do the "less important subjects" than frickin society. But of course the older society of today was yesterday's creative children that was pummeled into zombiefied submission.

  • I agree. The time that should be dedicated to my love for English poetry(im asian btw) & visual arts was diverted to the top tier of today's "education". Consequently, my math & physics grades were horrible(and I mean BAAAAAD) in high school because I always had a different way of viewing arithmetic problems. Apparently, my way was not "correct" so the naive teenage me just followed along stupidly. But why is it in my philosophy/logic class in college I was the 2nd best? Isn't math=logic?

  • @smbndt Holy crap Im going through almost the same exact thing

  • I agree with this not only do schools kill creativity but they brainwash you.

  • All right, people, now that people have brought up Tesla. Let us see how the Tesla-Hutchinson Effect was used to do something truly terrible. (Tesla, needless to say, would have been absolutely horrified.) Read the book which may be one of the most important ever written; read:

    WHERE DID THE TOWERS GO?

    by Dr. Judy Wood

    You can get your copy on Amazon.

    You can hear her interviewed on YouTube.

  • I keep coming back to this video. Very entertaining and informative, which is probably how our educational system should be like.

  • how annoying would that be? 7:25; LOL

  • Check this Video,

    "TEDxAlfaisalU - Qais Dirar - Social Maximum Development"

  • Comment removed

  • he is right

  • 100 % agree!

    

  • You are a wonderful person.

  • Creativity is all we really need..... It's the portal to infinity!

  • mistakes will build who you are, by learning from it and not giving up!

  • Briliant!