1. In your opinion, what were the 3 most important points that Robinson made in this video? 

2. Why do you believe these 3 points are particularly significant? 

3. Do you think Robinson's ideas can be achieved in education in the US? Why or why not? 

4. Explain a personal connection that YOU made to this video.

1. The three most important points from my perspective are: A) The need for education systems to promote adaptability and creativity. B) The need for more broad education to allow for greater cultural identity. C) As well as, the need to eliminate distractions between students and teachers; children are natural born learners and the issues arise when there are so many speed bumps in the way to make is less engaging. 

2. A) Education systems need to promote adaptability and creativity because that is the only way students are going to grow and become successful people in the world. If you are not moving forward, changing and thinking of ways to get ahead you are not going to be competitive with those who are. B) Cultural identity is something that becomes more and more lacking as the years go by. The education system needs to broaden its teachings to allow for greater more in-depth learning and understanding. C) Teachers now a days are so distracted by standardized tests and curriculum that they often times forget to recognize that they are helping young minds grow, not programming robots. The process and methods that lessons are taught truly have and effect on the way student absorb them, therefore it needs to be treated as a partnership between student and teacher rather than bullet points on a test review. 

3. It is my hope that steps like these can be achieved in the United States because were are relatively low on the education spectrum in comparison to other developed nations. What people are slow to realize is that teachers are the ones that produce all the worlds ups coming doctors, researchers, artists and so on. Teachers have the power to inspire, harness and push the young minds of the future but that matter is taken so lightly. To change the education system in the United States would take a great deal of time and a total change in mind set. The statement that “those who cannot do teach” needs to be forgotten and education and the educators need to be help in a much higher regard. 

4. While fortunate in many aspects of my educational experience, a lot of what was said in the video rains true to how I feel. Most teachers never took the time to feed my want to learn in the right manner, rather approached it in a pre for the test fashion. I came out of my K-12 years with much less tangible knowledge than could have been if I were engaged as a learner and not another number for test scores. 

These points are significant, because children today lack education specific to their needs. Not every child excels in every subject and today's society only seems to congratulate those that do. Teachers need to learn how to congratulate students on the diverse strengths they have, and teach children that to be original is a unique gift that will help them become successful. Instead, these kids are brought down by lies that say they aren't good enough or they will never learn as well as another child. Everyone learns at their own pace and are more interested in learning other subjects than others. 

I believe Robinson's ideas should be achieved in the US, but won't be able. The United States wants to have the best education and success, and in order to do that, they need to issue more standardized tests and create a uniform learning schedule for all kids. This all will destroy a child’s chance to be their own person.

Personally, I have felt the pressure to do excellent in classes I did not excel in. I felt I had to follow the same path as every child around me and I began to realize that I was a unhealthy way to think. Therefore, I decided to follow my own path.

1)         In my opinion, the three most important points that Sir Ken Robinson made in his video, “How to change education from the ground up” were his topics on adaptability, creativity and culture. 

Robinson spoke about how in today’s fast pace world, adapting quickly to change is crucial. Employers are seeking people who can think on their feet and adapt rapidly to change. It is important for students to practice adaptability in their daily lives. 

He then moved on to speak about the importance of creativity. Nowadays it seems more challenging to find creativity in schools. We have standardized tests to thank for this issue. The education system is trying to group all students together for the sake of test scores and they are not allowing for individuality or creativity in the school system. But without creativity, one is not truly learning and exploring a subject to its full capacity. 

Finally, Robinson’s 3^rd point was the purpose of culture in education. He talked about how important it is for students to look what is happening around the world and learn why people are different. Education is to understand each other and the world around us. 

 

2.)               I believe these three points are extremely significant because they are all skills students should practice in school and they will continue to practice them in the real world. If a student learns how to work well under pressure and they can adapt well to change, then they will be a more valuable employee in the work force. It’s necessary for students to face challenges in school and lean how to find solutions to various problems. 

Creativity is another example of a skill that will only help students in their future careers. It’s important to allow imagination in schools and let students mind run wild. Creativity builds confidence and it allows for students to be different. Employers are always seeking people who have creative solutions or ideas. 

Lastly, I feel that understanding and appreciating culture is one of the most significant abilities to have. Learning to respect others cultures and understanding the background behind one’s differences and ways of living will allow for growth as a person and as a student. If students don’t take the time to learn about different cultures around them, an incredible world will pass them by. 

 

3.)              I do believe that the U.S. education system can achieve Robinson’s ideas. I think that over many years, with the correct tools we could reshape the U.S. education system. I feel that teachers have gotten away from the roots of education and they have become lazy. Teachers strictly teach the test and they don’t allow any room for passion, excitement and positivity in their classrooms. Students no longer enjoy learning and instead associate school with something negative. Robinson’s ideas could work if teachers would remember that the heart of education is the relationship between the teacher and the learner. Not between the learner and the exam. Teachers need to create classrooms that excite students to learn and grow. 

4.)              A personal connection I made to this video was Robinson's quote, “teaching is an art”. I instantly connected to this quote when I heard it. I have always felt that teaching was its own kind of art. Being an artist and an educator separately, I have forgotten how teaching allows for me to still be an artist and a creator. I feel it is important for teachers to be proud of their career and take pride in the way they teach. 

 

2. All of us want the generations around us to have the best education so that our society can thrive but in order to improve education we must identify what isn’t working, address them boldly and work towards fixing those issues; the most discouraging problem in education systems to me is that we are training children to conform by force-feeding them information instead of allowing their thirst for knowledge to direct their learning. Learning should be personal, engaging and beneficial for the students and students are coming of high school and college without having been able to flex their creativity and adaptability, we are setting them up for failure. 

One of the hardest and most important jobs is being a teacher, and a teacher’s responsibility is to light a fire in their students and create the right environment for them to learn, which as Sir Robinson pointed out, is where students learn to teach themselves and other students. While many teachers crack down on students with lectures or Powerpoint slides for the sake of controlling their classroom, I believe it is much more important to allow students to interact with the material and their peers directly.

If we want to change the system and fix its flaws (and we know it has flaws because many students drop out and even many of the ones that graduate struggle to find jobs because the education system often squashes creativity) we must be willing to act together with the people around us. Just like the rock-and-roll movement or the Internet, many of the most revolutionary changes in the last century were not initiated by the government at all, but by the people. 

3. I absolutely think that Robinson’s ideas and can be achieved in the U.S. because the school systems have seen change before. Like Robinson said, some schools in the U.S. have chosen to implement iPads in their curriculum. My middle school and high school provided laptops for us to use academically, which certainly had an impact on the way we learned. In 1957, people rightfully spoke out against segregation and the Little Rock 9 enrolled in a predominately White high school: there was resistance but the people fought back and began a practice that we don’t think about much today. I hope that just like many other ineffective traditions that have passed away as time went on and people fought for change, the same will happen to the very idea of the system itself so that children and their creativity and thirst for knowledge will be emboldened instead of shunned or discouraged.

4. I really connected with Robinson’s concerns of the current school systems. Even though I was taking advanced classes in middle school and high school, I struggled to make good grades more so than my peers. I always felt that the things, and the way I wanted to learn were snubbed by many of my teachers; it was a relief to hear that I'm not the only one who feels like our system has a lot of fundamental issues. It’s ironic to me though, that the issues are so ignored by most teachers and faculty but they are the very people that are supposed to help you learn.