Many of you will know that I am a great admirer of the work of Sir Ken Robinson. Frankly, why wouldn’t you be? Especially if you are engaged in education. A while ago, I cited his brilliant 2006 TED talk Do Schools Kill Creativity? which has been viewed by over 62 million people and is still as relevant - if not more so - today as it was 13 years ago.

In the light of recent decisions made at the Labour Party Conference regarding a proposed stance on independent schools (all very Henry VIII/Dissolution of Monasteries), I was reminded of Sir Ken’s 2010 talk - helpfully animated by RSA Animate for visual learners! - which reminds us of how recent a thing ‘Public’ (= State) education is.

Wouldn’t it be ironic if the raft of schools founded to educate children before state education was even a thing - dating back to the Sixth Century (King’s School, Canterbury) - were 'absorbed’ into the State Sector?!

This excellent 12 minuter manages to give an insight into the pillars at the heart of our (industrial) education system - which are of course anachronistic and no longer relevant - as well as pointing out the problems with standardisation, the mistruth of the ADHD 'epidemic’ and the advantages of embracing divergent thinking. Enjoy…

Sir Ken Robinson: Changing education paradigms | TED Talk

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In this talk from RSA Animate, Sir Ken Robinson lays out the link between 3 troubling trends: rising drop-out rates, schools’ dwindling stake in the arts, and ADHD. An important, timely talk for parents and teachers.