Sir Ken Robinson - currently visiting New Zealand. 'Creativity is as important as literacy and numeracy'

Education Readings

This week featuring Sir Ken Robinson

By Allan Alach

I welcome suggested articles, so if you come across a gem, email it to me at allanalach@inspire.net.nz

Here are some links to acknowledge Sir Ken Robinson who is currently in New Zealand.

Sir Ken Robinson: creative thought leader in education

Interview on Radio New Zealand on Sunday 4th March.

http://bit.ly/2tCwJmY

Summerhill School: learning as students choose

Sir Ken referenced this school in his interview, so here is an interview with Zoe Readhead, daughter of A.S. Neill - a must listen.

‘Summerhill is an alternative free school in Suffolk, England, started by educational leader A.S. Neill in 1921. The pupils are free to come to lessons as they choose, and students and teachers have an equal voice in decision making.’

http://bit.ly/2tGrcfh

Ken Robinson: Government “Standardization” Blocks Innovative Education Reform

“I never blame teachers or schools… But there is this deadly culture of standardizing, that’s being pushed on them, politically. My core message here is that we have to personalize education, not standardize it. That all children are different, and we have to find their talents and cultivate them.”

http://bit.ly/2DmPLh4

Do Schools Kill Creativity?

If you’ve never watching Sir Ken Robinson’s Ted Talk from 2006, or if you’ve not seen it for  a while, here it is. Either way, it is a must watch.

http://bit.ly/2FDSOmT

Sir Ken Robinson - Can Creativity Be Taught?

Links to many other Sir Ken videos can also be found here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlBpDggX3iE

“Modern ADHD Epidemic is Fiction” – Ken Robinson

‘Our children are living in the most intensive stimulating period in the history of the earth. They’re being besieged with information and coerced for attention from every platform: computers, from IPhones, from advertising hoardings, from hundreds of television channels. And we’re penalizing them now for getting distracted. From what? Boring stuff. At school, for the most part. It seems to me not a coincidence, totally, that the instance of ADHD has risen in parallel with the growth of the standardized testing. Now these kids are being given Ritalin and Aderol and all manner of things, often quite dangerous drugs, to get them focused and calm them down… It’s a fictitious epidemic.'

http://bit.ly/2HZNdsy

Moving on:

Does writing by hand still matter in the digital age?

Technology is having an impact on children’s handwriting ability. But what does this mean for learning and development?

‘But what of the role that handwriting plays in learning and development? And with technology changing how we live and work, what place does handwriting have in the modern classroom? These were the questions put to the teachers, academics and specialists in education and technology at the Guardian’s roundtable event on 27 February.’

http://bit.ly/2D8zY5h

But is there even a correct way to hold a pen?

‘It's true that handwriting employs our hand muscles differently from the swiping and tapping motions we use to navigate the online world of today.

But when it comes to scrawling words on the page, the idea of 'correct' pencil grasp is actually way older than the iPhone - and science shows that there appears to be more than one way to correctly hold a pen.'

http://bit.ly/2IiCtWy

Arts integration: Turning teaching on its head

‘Sometimes the arts are used alongside a lesson being taught – for

example, students might turn their writing into a performance and ‘act it out’ or perhaps draw a picture of what they have learned. We consider that in these instances, arts are simply being used alongside other subject areas, and while we like this idea, it is not what we mean by arts integration.  In our view, arts integration is a method of teaching, a pedagogical approach that focuses on the [non-arts] subject being taught, and not necessarily on the art form.’

http://bit.ly/2DapbaE

Contributed by Bruce Hammonds:

Learning from one of New Zealand's pioneer teacher - Elwyn Richardson

(Author of 'In The Early World ' possibly the best book written about education anywhere. ..)

Bruce’s article here is the perfect follow-on from the Sir Ken Robinson links and shows a way to Elwyn Richardson took creative primary education to a new and, I suspect, still unsurpassed level. long before Sir Ken's rise to fame.

‘Elwyn expressed concern that due to learning becoming over intellectualized ( and therefore available to be assessed), that intuitive thought was in danger of being neglected. There was, he felt, a danger of learning becoming too conceptualized and that this would result in damaging students' intuition and creativity. That it would result in the neglect or downplaying of the creative arts.’

http://bit.ly/2FViCOL

Bill Gates Admits His Common Core Experiment Is A Failure

This comes on the heels of New Zealand abandoning their rather similar national standards. Maybe non-educators should stick to their knitting…

‘

Wrong Bill Gates

After spending $400 million on forcing schools around the country to adopt Common Core, Bill Gates has finally admitted that the controversial teaching method is a failure, and significantly less effective than traditional teaching methods. 

Parents and teachers across the nation have been urging schools to dump the toxic Common Core curriculum, arguing that it deliberately dumbs down children and creates unnecessary and complicated methods for working out relatively simple problems.’

http://bit.ly/2G4zjoB

Assessment in the early years…

‘A recent story I heard talked about a display that pitted children against each other in a race to be

reading at a certain level.  This kind of practice breaks my heart.  I don't for a moment think that these teachers are doing this to hurt children, but I don't think they have taken time to think about how the children feel.  How does this shape their view of what reading is or even learning is?   How does it promote a culture of shared learning and journey?  How does it speak to these children about failure and mistakes?’

http://bit.ly/2FPECIi

From Bruce’s ‘goldie oldies’ file:

Here’s a collection of all Bruce’s articles about Sir Ken Robinson.

Out of Our Minds

‘A book to read for all who believe in creative education. 'Out of Our Minds' by Sir Ken Robinson. Introductory keynote speaker at the 07 NZPPF Conference to be held in Auckland.’

http://leading-learning.blogspot.co.nz/2007/02/out-of-our-minds.html 

Importance of Creativity

'Sir Ken talks about the importance of nurturing innovative solutions in the classrooms - indeed in every aspect of life. Sir Ken is now senior adviser to the Paul Getty Trust and was knighted in 2003 for his commitment to the creative arts and education in the UK.  is set to become the 'buzz' word of the future. Sir Ken sees creativity as essential for students as they seek jobs in the future.’

http://leading-learning.blogspot.co.nz/2007/02/importance-of-creativity.html 

‘Creative Schools’ a book by Sir Ken Robinson

‘A must read for anyone who believes in an education system that aims at developing the gifts and talents of all students. Read this article about Sir Ken's latest book My plea is for creative teachers, particularly those in New Zealand, to share this with as many teachers and schools as they can because the message is so important.’

http://leading-learning.blogspot.co.nz/2015/05/sir-ken-robinsons-new-bookcreative.html

The need to transform schools – Sir Ken Robinson

‘One writer school leaders could get behind to give support is Sir Ken Robinson who is well known to many schools. And there are many others. It is also ironic that while Western countries follow neo liberal ideology leading to testing, standardization and privatization Asian counties are working hard to break out of high stake testing and introduce more creativity into their systems!’

http://leading-learning.blogspot.co.nz/2013/05/transform-education-yes-we-must.html 

National Standards gone – now it’s time for creativity says Sir Ken

‘The previous Nationals  Government was right in believing schools should do a lot better. No

student should leave school feeling a failure. The trouble is their approach is wrong, and ironically, with its desire for all students to be assessed against National Standards, is creating ‘winners and losers’ environment and in the process narrowing the curriculum and encourages teaching to the tests. Sir Ken Robinson call this standardization a fast food approach; an  approach that has its genesis in the past industrial age.’

http://leading-learning.blogspot.co.nz/2012/07/creative-teaching-only-alternative-to.html

Sir Ken Robinson and Tony Wagner

‘While schools are distracted by ensuring they are seen to do well in achieving / improving their National Standards and NCEA data they are creating the very hyper-accountability conditions that make it difficult for creative teachers.’

http://leading-learning.blogspot.co.nz/2014/11/creating-conditions-for-creative.html

Time for teachers to escape the National Standards box - time for teachers to be creative!

Sir Ken Robinson - amazing clip

On the 26/27 of January I gave a keynote address to the 2011 Inspired Impact Conference organised by Ross Kennedy Principal of College Street Normal school Palmerston North. Over1400 educators attended.

The major draw-card was to be creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson but, at the last moment, Ross was informed Sir Ken could not attend due to Sir Ken having had a heart attack. After the shock Ross arranged for Sir Ken to appear as if live through satellite link up. It was, perhaps, better than real life as sir Ken was screened onto two large screens and was able to take questions from the floor.

Click on the video link to get an idea of Sir Ken's message. Admire the cartoon graphics that run as Sir Ken is talking. And, if you have time, take a look at others in the series particularly the one by Dan Pink.

Sir Ken's theme of developing a new creative education system was followed up by the other keynote speakers including myself -I am a huge Sir Ken fan.

Quotable quotes:

"The present time is the most stimulating period in the history of the earth and our children are distracted by boring stuff. " [Sir Ken Robinson]

"We are alienating millions of our youth who see no purpose in going to school." [Sir Ken]

"We have to go in opposition to standardisation which is systematically destroying the capacity for cognitive development." [Sir Ken]


Why our current conservative government prefers to go back to the standardisation of a failing Industrial Age is beyond me.

Principals ought to share this link with all parents but, in particular, BOT members.

Sir Ken Robinson (and Abraham Lincoln) on the need to transform our outdated education system – to  ‘tread softly on children’s dreams’.

Sir Ken Robinson

Sir Ken Robinson is well known to most teachers but for all the admiration few schools have put his ideas into action.

 

The trouble is although there have always been a small group of creative teachers whose teaching is aligned to SirKen’s views their ideas have been side-lined by the standardized approaches being foisted on schools by the current government; an approach that favours narrow achievement above love of learning.

 

Sir Ken’s follow up TED talk (which is still the most viewed TED video of all time) provides educators and opposition politicians with a real alternative but only if admirers have the necessary courage to translate words into action.

 

Unfortunately far too many schools have been pressurized into complying with  implementing a narrow educational approach  based on assessing students on literacy and numeracy achievement. Literacy and numeracy have, in effect, become the default curriculum. Arbitrary national standards and league tables have reinforced the natural conservative ethos of schools.
 

Sir Ken’s videos (s) provide inspiration for a real change. And he is not alone.
 

Sir Ken believes that not only do we have to face up to a climate crisis but that there is also a ‘crisis of human resources and that we need to deal with the  crisis  with the same urgency as we make such poor use of our talents’. ‘Many people’, says Sir Ken,’ go through their  lives not knowing what their talents are…many people don’t think they are good at anything…many people simply do not enjoy what they do…they get no great pleasure…they endure it’. In contrast some people ‘love what they do…it is who they are…it is their authentic self’. Such people however, says Sir Ken, are a minority.

 

An explanation for this sad siyuation is education. ‘Education' , he says, ‘dislocates many people from their natural talents'.

 

An education that taps into student’s talents is not easy according to Sir Ken, ‘(talents) are buried deep…we have to looking for them…you have to create the circumstances for them to be realised.’

 

‘Every system around the world is being reformed but reform is not enough….we do not need evolution but revolution… education has to be transformed into something else.’

 

To make his point Sir Ken quotes a speech made by Abraham Lincoln during the civil war in the 1860s.

 

 Lincoln said, ‘The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate for the striving present, the occasion is piled high with difficulty and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new so we need to think anew and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves and then we can save our country.’

 

Building on Lincoln’s speech and relating it to the crisis in education Sir Ken said there are ideas about schooling we take for granted.

 

 Such ideas were suited to a previous century but our minds are still captured by them. We need to ‘disenthrall ourselves of them.  This, he said, is easier said than done because ‘it is very difficult to know what you take for granted the reason being we take them for granted’.

 

Until we challenge currentassumptions and way we do things currently we cannot move into the future- all we are currently doing is tinkering with a failing system. Worse still the current standardisation government’s’ agenda is reactionary at best; an agenda that is creating a system unsuitable for far too many students.

 

Two things, in particular, are limiting education according to Sir Ken.

 

The first thing we need to ‘disenthrall ourselves of is the idea of linearity…the ideas that students need to follow a specific track….Life is not linear, it is organic. We create our lives as we explore our talents. We have become obsessed with this linear narrative’.

 

 Because of this linearity teachers all too often do not take their student’s interests seriously. Students are pushed into ability groups and courses that do not suit them – all too often more the convenience of teachers and their intentions. ‘Schools’, believes Sir Ken, ‘need to focus on the innate gifts of the students.’ ‘Human communities depend on a diversity of talents’ The challenge for teachers is to ‘reconstitute our conception of ability’. Our ability grouping is subverting students –‘ignoring their gifts and talents’.

 

‘The second big issue is conformity. We have designed our education on the model of fast food. Everything is standardised rather than customised’. Our current education is ‘impoverishing our spirit and energy as much as fast food is depleting our bodies.’

 

No wonder students become disengaged or leave alienated from their own learning. Many can no longer see the point of it all.

 

(The two taken for granted assumptions that come to my mind is the current over emphasis on literacy and numeracy and, associated with this, the harmful effect of demeaning ability grouping. By the use of such approaches and associated obsessive assessment schools have already all but moved back into 3rs Victorian education.  )

 

According to Sir Ken ‘we need to recognise that human talent extremely diversified…we all have unique aptitudes….we need to recognise the power of passion…what excites our spirit and energy…the things we love and want to get good at.’

 

Imagine schools based on developing this love of learning – the need to tap into and amplify every student’s talents.

 

‘When students get into something that resonates with their spirit they become completely engaged. People are opting out of educationbecause it does not feed their spirit, their energy or their passion.’

 

‘We need to change our metaphors. We need to go from an industrial model which is based on linearity and conformity and batching people and move to a model that is based on the spirit of agriculture’.

The model for education!

 

‘ We have to recognise that human talent is not a mechanical process – it is an organic process and you cannot predict the outcome of human development, all we can do is to create the conditions under which they will flourish.’

 

‘We are not into cloning education’ ( standardising it as is the current agenda)’ it is about customising to your circumstances and personalising teaching to the students you are actually teaching.’

 

Personalising education to develop the talents and gifts of all students is the ‘answer to the future – it is about creating a movement in education with external support based on a personalised curriculum.’

 

Sir Ken concluded his presentation with a quote from W B Yeats,’

 I have only my dreams to offer,

 tread softly on my dreams’.

W B Yeats

 

‘We should tread softly on our children’s dreams’.

 

So far we crushed more dreams than realised them. No wonder so many students leave our current school system seeing themselves as failures.
 

Imagine a country with an educationsystem dedicated to realising the gifts and talents of all students. How would a school look dedicated to developing the talents of all students? Could schools be developed to ensure all students to leave with their innate desire to learn and explore alive and well?

 

Sir Ken believes that the combination of new technologies and creative teachers could form the basis of transformed system but only if we ‘change from an industrial model to an agricultural one.’

 

Teachers would have to change their own minds first

More Sir Ken

And lots more on Google

Creative teaching - the only alternative to school failure; Sir Ken Robinson leads the way - but who is actually following.

'Creativity is just as important as literacy and numeracy'

 Tell that to the Ministry of Education and the Government.

Share with other creative schools or teachers and Board of Trustee members

First TED talk - over 9 million downloads

http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

Second TED Talk

http://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_bring_on_the_revolution.html

Talk with graphics - excellent

 http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_changing_education_paradigms.html

The Government is right in believing schools should do a lot better. No student should leave school feeling a failure. The trouble is their approach is wrong, and ironically, with its desire for all students to be assessed against National Standards, is creating ‘winners and losers’ environment and in the process narrowing the curriculum and encourages teaching to the tests.

Sir Ken Robinson call this standardisation a fast food approach; an  approach that has its genesis in the past industrial age.

As thoughts are returning to beginning a new term it is worthwhile taking the time to listen to the wise, and often entertaining, ideas of Sir Ken.  It would also be a good idea to pass the links on to other teachers to Board of Trustee members.

Sir Ken, in his second TED Talk, says we are facing crisis as worrying as the climate change crisis – the crisis of not realising the talents of all students. Developing the unique talents of all students is an urgent challenge.

Most teachers are aware of Sir Ken’s comment that ‘creativity is as important as literacy and numeracy’. Creativity is all about developing people who love what they do –students who have not lost through formal school their innate desire to learn.

The problem, according to Sir Ken, is that education disconnects students from their talents  and , worse still, assesses students  only in literacy and numeracy – made even more destructive by the publishing of league tables.

What is required, Sir Ken believes, is not evolution but a real educational revolution –‘we need to transform current education into something else.’We need ‘educational transformation’.

To do this we need to challenge things we take for granted- things people think can’t be done in any other way. For me the blind spot in education is the clinging on to the idea of ability grouping, sorting, setting and streaming  issues tackled by the book ‘Learning Without Limits'. Literacy and numeracy targets and league tables will result in the problem of either poor or inflated self-images.

Sir Ken quotes Abraham Lincoln (1862) who said, ‘the dogmas of the past are inadequate to the stormy present… we must rise to the occasion. As our case in new we must think anew and act anew, we must disenthrall ourselves of ideas we take for granted. The way things are. Ideas that may have suited a previous century ‘but our minds are still hypnotised by them and we have to disenthrall ourselves of some of them.’

‘The trouble is, Sir Ken continues, ‘it is difficult to know what you take for granted because we take them for granted’. This applies to my thoughts about the use of ability grouping that determines forever how  students see themselves.

Sir Ken believes we are enthralled by (take for granted) linearity – that learning must go through predetermined tracks (think National Standards). Education, he believes, ought to be seen as more organic- rather like visiting an exhibition at an art gallery than learning from a book from start to finish.

Sir Ken says, ‘we create our lives symbiotically as we explore our circumstances through our talents’. We need, he says, to reconstitute ability through our diverse talents

The other big issues we fail to appreciate is conformity (once again think of National Standards). School system he says are being increasingly designed as fast food organisations for the mind. Everything is increasingly being standardised, predictable, fragmented.

I would add secondary school have long feature linearity of learning and conformity of students. Now it is being pushed on primary schools.

What we need instead, says Sir Ken,’ is for schools to customise Learning to the individual circumstances of individual students. We have sold ourselves into a fast food model of education and it is impoverishing our spiritual capacity just as fast food depletes our physical bodes.’

‘School have to recognise human identity is extremely diverse – children have a range of potential aptitudes’ to identify and amplify. ‘All learning is about passion - what excites our energy- about doing something you love – that you are good at.’

The reason why so many students opt out of education is because education doesn’t feed their spirit – it doesn’t feed the energy of their passion’. The current focus on numeracy and literacy, no matter how well intentioned, will not solve school failure.

Sir Ken believes we have to change our metaphors. We have to go from an industrial model to an agricultural one. From a manufacturing model based on linearity, conformity and ‘batching’ people (one again with ability grouping) to a model based on agriculture.

‘We have to recognise’, Sir Ken continues,’ that humans flourish not in a mechanistic process but rather in an organic one. It is impossible to predict the outcomes of human development – all we can do, as with a framer, is to create the conditions under which all students will flourish’.

‘Education can never be about cloning’ (  by I would add through imposed best practices, targets and National Standards) ‘it is about customisation and about personalisation; education to suit the circumstances of your students’.

‘This is the answer to the future. We need to develop a new system with appropriate support’ ( in New Zealand the 2007 New Zealand Curriculum’) ‘to help all schools develop appropriate systems based on a personalised curriculum taking advantage of thecreativity of teachers’.

We have an opportunity to revolutionize education but to achieve this we will have to change from an industrial model ( I would add also add to escape from the current corporateefficiency model) to an agricultural model where each school can flourish.

Sir Ken concluded his talk with a quote from a W B Yeats poem about a lover only able to offer not great cloaks  but only ‘my dreams  .I have spread my dreams at your feet. Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.’

‘Every day in every way our students spread their dreams at our feet and we too should tread softly’.

The importance of creativity

My new 'guru' - sharing ideas some of us have held for decades: Sir Ken Robinson.

'Brilliant' - John Cleese

It has been great to discover Sir Ken Robinson. I bought his wonderful book'Out of Our Minds' last year but the icing on the cake was watching a small video clip of one of his presentations.

A must for everyone . Access his short video clip by going to TEDTalks - scroll down to Sir Ken.

Sir Ken talks about the importance of nurturing innovative solutions in the classrooms - indeed in every aspect of life. Sir Ken is now senior adviser to the Paul Getty Trust and was knighted in 2003 for his commitment to the creative arts and education in the UK.

Creativity is set to become the 'buzz' word of the future. Sir Ken sees creativity as essential for students as they seek jobs in the future.

The world is changing so quickly that promoting creative thinking he says will be essential. Sir Ken reminds us that kids starting school this year will be retiring in 2066 and that we don't have a clue about what the world will be like then.

The trouble is, Sir Ken says, is that the education system isn't designed to promote this kind of innovative thinking.The current system is designed to promote standardization, conformity and a certain type of narrow skill set. NZ teachers will recognize them as their current 'targets'. Creativity, he believes, is as important as literacy and numeracy.

Sir Ken defines creativity as the process of having original ideas and that there are several steps.The first step is imagination- the capacity to see something in the mind's eye. Creativity is using that imagination to solve problems - he calls it 'applied imagination'. Innovation is putting that creativity into practice as 'applied creativity'.

It seems simple enough but he outlines a number of things that get in the way. The first is the belief that only some people are creative - we are creative. The second is that creativity is restricted to the arts - creativity is applicable to every aspect of life ( the idea of 'multiple intelligences'). The third is you are either born with it or you are not - we now know it can be cultivated in everyone.

Educational Sir Ken believes , is currently focusing too much on literacy, maths and science. It is not that they are not important but that we need students with creative power in all fields.

The Renaissance was flowering on all fronts - education today, he says, is focusing on a piece of the problem. Another issue is to develop creative teaching. The trouble is that it has not been a good time for creative teachers in this era of standardized teaching. We need, he says, to create an 'environment for curiosity' to get the best out of teachers and students.

Creativity needs to be cultivated if we are to build a talent pool. Just as a sports person develops his or her skill so should any student with a talent. It can't be left to chance. We ought to be doing better, he states, and in particular the education system needs to do a better job.

Moves to personalize learning he sees as a positive step as with moves to develop a problem centred interdisciplinary learning approach which allows students and their teachers to share their individual talents. Modern information technology, integrated into a creative learning environment, he believes, offers exciting possibilities.

Schools need to be broken into smaller units and individual schools need more autonomy. Standardization may be OK for MacDonalds but it demoralizes teachers and students. Standardization, he continues, is based on making education 'teacher proof' when we need to do the reverse.

The secret of creativity, he believes, is looking hard at teachers and students to help them realize and share their strengths. Creativity is helping people, teachers, students and employees to find their talents.

Watch the video clip on TEDtalk and share with anyone who has an interest in the future.

And don't expect the Ministry to be creative - its not in their job description.

Sir Ken Robinson's new book:'Creative Schools - Revolutionizing Education from the Ground Up'.

Sir Ken Robinson's book is a must read if we want to bring education into the 21stC.

A must read for anyone who believes in an education system that aims at developing the gifts and talents of all students.

Read this article about Sir Ken's latest book

My plea is for creative teachers, particularly those in New Zealand, to share this with as many teachers and schools as they can because the message is so important. If we really believe in giving every student the opportunity to leave formal education with their love of learning intact  and with all their unique interests, gifts and talents identified and amplified then we really have no choice.

Excellent book.

And if you do pass this blog on also send the link to New Zealander David Hoods book  'The Rhetoric and the Reality'  which has the same message. It is time for change to start from the bottom up - that is  until we get a government that really understand about learning.

Sir Ken offers a real alternation to the current standardized, test orientated reform that  countries like New New Zealand have been implementing. The good thing is that New Zealand has not, as yet, gone as far down this standardized approach as Australia, the United Kingdom or the USA.

Sir Ken believes it is time to question the assumptions that underpin traditional education which he believes is now failing too many of our students. He writes that the current reforms, particularly  those that focus on introducing standards in literacy and numeracy based on

standardized testing  , are ironically limiting students with talents in other areas. As well many students currently  failing school often do well in real life - unfortunately not all .Many, sadly, blame themselves for their failure rather then the school system they were forced to comply with.

Current reforms are about standardization, competition and corporatism. (let alone the privatization of schools) - who supplies the tests determines the educations.

Instead of standardization, competition and corporatism, Sir Ken is calling for the personalisation of learning to uncover and amplify the talents of all students. 

So rather than having an 'achievement gap'  ( the 'one in five failing mantra')we need to see it as an 'opportunity gap' and provide educational experiences to motivate all students and not just the academic.

Sir Ken has worked with countries and states, as well as individual schools, to develop such a system. and he shares what he has found with readers.

He also makes the point that there are creative teachers in every school to make use of. He also encourages educators to visit and learn from the best of early education practitioners and then to ask what has happened to something that starts so well  and ends so badly for too many students..

His metaphor for education is not a industrial factory grading one, and sorting and grading students, but an organic living one - a system continually evolving and adapting to changing.
circumstances such as the transformational power of information technology.

He asks readers to consider how they would reinvent schooling and to challenge the taken for granted habits and organisation patterns and rituals that now currently limit students - the demeaning use of ability grouping and streaming is such areas.

 What are the dispositions future students will need? How best to organize schools to ensure all students leave with their love of learning intact and their talents developed? Perhaps it is this

thinking that underpins the 'modern learning environments' that are the latest idea - an idea that requires  personalized pedagogy if they are to be successful,

A personalized pedagogy demand that we value the questions, feelings and 'inner voice' of all students; something that creative teachers, past-and present, have always known. 'Profound things happen', writes Sir Ken, 'when students are given room to explore their own interests and capacities'. Children have a powerful innate ability to learn and Sir Ken outlines alternative schools that have 'recovered' students who, through formal education,  had lost the will to learn.

In New Zealand we at least have the 2007 New Zealand Curriculum to inspire us ( 'every student a seeker, user and creator of their own knowledge') and are also fortunate that we haven't gone so far down the standardized testing road as such countries as the UK, Australia and  the USA. But there is no time to waste.

Sir Ken sees teachers as artists assisting their students to develop the skills and talents required for their future success in contrast to currently demeaning compliance demands to 'deliver' the

curriculum.

Teachers need to create provocative learning environments to tap into their students curiosity; to engage, inspire and enthuse them. No exceptions.

 Stimulating learning means keeping students curiosity alive. It means helping students surprise themselves with the quality of what they didn't think they could achieve. It's about relationships and expectations. About students working with their teachers and their peers to complete exciting integrated learning projects -  at all all levels of schooling.

Sir Ken believes in students being helped to do their best in whatever areas of learning they are involved in - something anyone involved in any form of creative endeavor knows well.  He is also supportive of students being given time to complete work of real  depth and quality.

 I enjoyed his thoughts on 'slow education' which he says is  about individualizing the process, about allowing the space and time to discover students' passions and strengths. Slow learning is about 
doing fewer things well.


The future is about creativity, imagination and innovation. 

Imagination is the root l..of innovation; creativity is putting imagination to work and innovation is putting new ideas into action.

 Creative learning is about enlightened trial and error - about learning through giving thing go. Creativity is being prepared to end up where you didn't mean to go - it is about refining, testing, making new connections and keeping what works. It requires discipline and control. All learning is 'driven by appetite for discovery'..... 'And if you don't trust kids to be natural learners, your not going to get there'.

And this means trusting school and in turn teachers.

 Success is to be judged by what the students can achieve as shown in their finished work, displays, exhibitions and learning( electronic) portfolios. The wrong sort of assessment ( as now seen in schools ) can kills such learning. Current testing measure little of what is important and has a negative effect on both learning and teaching.

Creative teaching requires principals and teachers to operate from a different sense of what education should  and could be, and a different interpretation of success.

Creative teaching is not easy. It means challenging conventions and ingrained habits but it is a task that is worth the effort. Sir Ken's book is full of inspiring examples  to learn from  but their is no one way to success.

'How quickly schools will change will depend, in large part, on the vision of the people who run them, especially the principals, on how they set expectations, and where they draw the lines of permission' . 

The first thing is to get clear on what you want for your children and then to create a positive learning environment for all.

The role of a creative leader', Sir Ken writes, ' is not to have all the ideas; it is to encourage a culture where everyone has them'.

We don't want your ( right wing) mind conyrol

Ideally such creativity ought to be  encouraged by the policy makers but we haven't time to wait for them. We need to start revolutionizing education 'from the ground up'. Class by class if necessary.

This is why it is important to share Sir Ken's book with other like minds.

My advice is to buy the book,get inspired and join the revolution and at the very least to search out the creative teachers in your own school

Pass on this information about Sir Ken's book now.

Further Reading:

Howard Gardner - creative schools

Popular article on Creativity in education by Wayne Morris

Book list for creative schools/teachers

New Zealand's pioneer creative teacher - Elwyn Richardson

Backgrounds of innovators and  those wounded by school