What's wrong with education?

Sir Ken Robinson has done a follow up talk at TED based on his higher poignant speech of 2006, about the state of education regarding the negative approach to teaching creativity. His second speech, found here, follows up by defining a new approach to teaching, in which a global revolution is needed. The speech itself is very moving and speaks volumes to the state at which education is today failing society. The current education system has two flaws (well more in fact) that consist of defining an education approach based on training the masses to be prepared for an industrial lifestyle, and secondly to white wash the approach to education. based on the previous induction methodology. The simple fact is that the current plan of attack regarding education was invented at the age of the industrial revolution, and hasn't had a great deal of modification since that early inception. This social state arose out of an evolutionary path that was proceeded by the agricultural method of growth.

Doing research myself, on the subject of evolution in design through the centuries, after a stimulating experience of watching "Home", I found that there are many factors that aid in the need for such protocols, but also create faults in the delivery of these systems. The main reason that the agricultural revolution came along was the need to generate surplus food to feed the growing population. This worked, but worked too well, and the population boom was immense. With today's census indicating a 5 billion excess to the sustainability of the planet. What good that did come out of the agricultural revolution was the 'crafts' movement. Individuals who were able to express a skill (rather prefer avoiding the term talent), and deliver products and artefacts based around that skill. This was semi-localised and able to define culture and style. What happened next was the supply-on-demand criteria that meant that the crafts industry could not keep up. The population was booming and the need for more products quicker was becoming essential. There began the industrial revolution. This was the beginning of the downfall of education.

Previous to the industrial revolution education was a matter of passing information from one generation to another. In the craft sense this was ideal as individual quality could be maintained, as well as maintaining the style and characteristics of such local craft. What the industrial method did was call for a mass educational plan to get enough working bodies up and running to deal with the mechanical demands of the society. What happened however, in this structure was the desire of teaching the maths and sciences to the future workers. What it neglected, due to the automated approach to many process in industry, was the need to explore and educate the crafts. These still existed and were practised, but began to wane, due to competition of cheaper, mass produced products.

How this reverts back to education and the need for a new revolution; as called for by Sir Ken Robinson. Is the simple fact that educational numbers and parrot fashion methods to teaching industrialism in a modern technological environment is not conducive to peoples natures in a modern world. It also is detrimental to focusing and emphasising individual skills. Craft and art are about individualism. You can't, in the same light as teaching algebra, teach the same group of people the same way to express their artistic flare. Therefore, the education of people should in fact focus on people's own passions. Allowing them to concentrate on the aspects that make them more vivid in the challenges of a career option. Craft, as stated previously, is about individualism, and also nothing to do with the sciences per sae. To be frank, I can hardly remember any of the taught information that was promoted to me in school, and was never enthused in the notion of becoming a scientist, engineer or manufacturer. Hence a person notice that education does not solve everyone's passion and desire to study and fulfil themselves.

The revolution that is required is to see how such individuals can possible excel at activities that could change the world. This is based on the craft mentality to study, but not in the sense that arts should be a new focus. Education can spotlight desires in children at an early age and then stream them to their passionate goal. Being an educator myself, I do see the disparities that arise from forcing an out-dated educational approach onto a youth that really doesn't know what to do with it. The victim as well, in an under-staffed and over-populated institution, is creativity. Students getting numb to parrot teaching, not being nurtured with desire or passion. So, to conclude, watch Sir Ken Robinson, it is very moving, and help start a revolution!!!