Sir Ken Robinson, Creativity, Learning & the Curriculum

Summary

The speaker advocates for a creative and personalized approach to education, emphasizing the importance of drama and theater in fostering individual talents. He criticizes the encumbrance of traditional systems, which obscure the essence of education: the relationship between learner and teacher. Drawing parallels with Peter Brook's 'The Empty Space,' he calls for a focus on the irreducible minimum of education and a holistic curriculum that values all disciplines, not just those deemed economically useful or academically prestigious.

Takeaways

• 🎭 The speaker emphasizes the importance of creativity and drama in education, suggesting that it can revolutionize how we approach learning and value individual talents.
• 📚 Peter Brook's book 'The Empty Space' is referenced to highlight the power of theater and the essence of what makes an experience 'theater', which is the relationship between the actor and the audience.
• 👥 The speaker argues that the 'irreducible minimum' of education is the relationship between a learner and a teacher, and that anything added should enhance this fundamental interaction.
• 🏫 The current mass education system is criticized for encumbering the core educational experience with testing regimes, national policies, and other external factors that obscure the heart of learning.
• 🎨 The arts are positioned as valuable and necessary components of education, contrary to the belief that they are 'useless' or less important than subjects perceived as more directly related to economic utility.
• 📈 The speaker discusses the outdated view that certain subjects are more 'useful' for employment, challenging the notion that subjects like art and music are less valuable than academic disciplines.
• 🌐 The importance of a holistic approach to education is stressed, advocating for balance and the inclusion of a variety of disciplines to reflect the diversity and individuality of human life.
• 🏛️ The speaker points out the disparity in educational priorities, noting that the English Baccalaureate focuses on a narrow set of 'core' subjects, neglecting the arts and other important areas of learning.
• 🌍 The challenges of the 21st century, such as technological advances and population growth, are identified as reasons why education must evolve to prepare students for a complex and interconnected world.
• 💡 Creativity is identified as a critical component of education, necessary for dealing with the complexities of modern life and fostering adaptability and resilience in students.
• 🚀 The potential of a new Renaissance in education is suggested, where creativity and imagination are central to preparing students for the future, emphasizing the importance of cultivating these abilities in learners.

Q & A

What is the main theme of the transcript?

The main theme of the transcript revolves around the need for a creative and personalized approach to education, emphasizing the importance of drama and theater, valuing individual talents, and addressing the challenges posed by mass education systems.

Who is Peter Brook, and what is his connection to the transcript?

Peter Brook is a renowned theater director and author mentioned in the transcript. He wrote 'The Empty Space,' a book that discusses the essence of theater and its power as a human experience. His ideas are used to draw an analogy with the importance of the relationship between teacher and learner in education.

What is the 'irreducible minimum' of theater according to Peter Brook?

According to Peter Brook, as mentioned in the transcript, the 'irreducible minimum' of theater is an actor in a space with someone watching. This minimal setup captures the essence of theater, which is the relationship between the audience and the actor.

How does the speaker relate the concept of theater to education?

The speaker relates theater to education by highlighting the importance of the relationship between the actor and the audience, similar to the relationship between a teacher and a learner. Just as theater is about this interaction, education should focus on the connection between the teacher and the learner, without unnecessary additions that obscure the core purpose.

What does the speaker criticize about the current state of mass education?

The speaker criticizes the current state of mass education for adding numerous encumbrances to the fundamental teacher-learner relationship, such as testing regimes, national policies, political influences, and other external factors, which obscure the essential purpose of education.

What is the speaker's view on the role of arts in education?

The speaker views the arts as an integral part of a holistic education system. He criticizes the tendency of educational systems to marginalize the arts as 'useless' or less important compared to subjects deemed more 'useful' for economic purposes, advocating for a balanced curriculum that includes the arts.

Why does the speaker mention his personal experience with choosing subjects in school?

The speaker shares his personal experience to illustrate the narrow-minded approach of educational systems that prioritize certain subjects over others based on perceived utility, rather than fostering individual talents and interests, such as art, which was discouraged in his case.

What does the speaker suggest as the 'basics' of education?

The speaker suggests that the 'basics' of education are not a set of subjects but rather the core purposes of education, which include personal development, cultural understanding, and economic empowerment. He argues for a personalized, culturally aware, and economically relevant approach to education.

How does the speaker view the role of creativity in education?

The speaker views creativity as a critical component of education, necessary for dealing with the complexities and challenges of the modern world. He believes that fostering creativity is essential for preparing students to adapt and innovate, and should be at the center of educational systems.

What does the speaker suggest as a solution to the challenges faced by education?

The speaker suggests that education should embrace a deeper and more generous conception of human capabilities, focusing on the personal, cultural, and economic purposes of learning. He advocates for a curriculum that values creativity, personalized learning, and a holistic approach to knowledge that prepares students for the challenges of the 21st century.

Outlines

00:00

🎭 The Essence of Theater and Education

The speaker discusses the need for a creative approach to education, valuing individual talents and revolutionizing mass education. They highlight the importance of drama and theater, referencing Peter Brook's 'The Empty Space' and his exploration of the essence of theater. The speaker emphasizes that the core of theater is the relationship between the audience and the actor, and by analogy, the heart of education is the relationship between the learner and the teacher. They criticize the encumbrances added to education that obscure its core purpose, advocating for a focus on helping individuals engage with the world and understand themselves better.

05:01

🎓 The Dichotomy of 'Useful' and 'Useless' Subjects

The speaker recounts personal experiences from school, illustrating how subjects were categorized as either 'useful' or 'useless' based on their perceived economic utility and academic value. They express concern over the prioritization of certain subjects like languages, mathematics, and science over others like art and music, which were deemed less valuable. The speaker challenges this notion, arguing that such a division limits students' exposure to potential talents and passions, and emphasizes the importance of a balanced and holistic educational approach.

10:02

🏛️ The Narrow View of Educational Basics

Continuing the discussion on education, the speaker criticizes the narrow view that equates the basics of education with a select group of subjects, often favored for their academic prestige or perceived utility in the job market. They argue for a broader conception of education that values a range of disciplines and recognizes the importance of the arts. The speaker contrasts the English education system, which they feel is too focused on a core group of subjects, with the Scottish curriculum for excellence, which gives equal weight to various areas of learning.

15:04

🏫 The Misguided Focus on Oxbridge and Standardization

The speaker addresses the misplaced emphasis on Oxbridge (Oxford and Cambridge) as the pinnacle of educational achievement, pointing out that not everyone needs or wants to go to university. They argue that the education system should not send the message that those who do not attend these institutions have failed in some way. The speaker also criticizes the focus on standardization and conformity in education, advocating instead for an approach that values diversity and individuality.

20:05

🌐 The Three Core Purposes of Education

The speaker outlines the three core purposes of education: personal, cultural, and economic. They stress the importance of personalized education to help individuals discover their talents and passions, the need for cultural education that fosters a sense of identity and mutual understanding, and the role of education in preparing individuals for the economic realities of life. The speaker also touches on the impact of technology and population growth on the educational landscape.

25:05

🌟 Embracing Creativity in Education

In the final paragraph, the speaker emphasizes the critical role of creativity in education, citing an IBM report that identifies complexity, resilience, and adaptability as key challenges faced by corporate leaders. They argue for an interconnected approach to learning that sees the continuity between subjects and promotes creativity as a means to address these challenges. The speaker concludes by advocating for a deeper belief in human creativity and its potential to shape a better future.

Keywords

💡Creative Approach

A creative approach refers to the use of innovative and original methods to solve problems or engage with a subject. In the video, the speaker emphasizes the need for a more creative approach to education, suggesting that valuing individual talents differently and revolutionizing mass education can lead to more effective learning experiences. The concept is integral to the speaker's argument for rethinking traditional educational paradigms.

💡Theater

Theater is a performing art form that combines acting, dialogue, and spectacle to tell a story. The speaker discusses the importance of theater in education, referencing Peter Brook's book 'The Empty Space' to illustrate the power of theater and its potential to be a profound human experience. The script uses theater as an analogy to explore the essence of what makes an educational experience transformative.

💡Irreducible Minimum

The irreducible minimum refers to the most basic or essential element that cannot be removed without changing the nature of something. In the context of the video, the speaker uses this term to describe the fundamental components of theater and education, arguing that the core of both is the relationship between the actor and the audience, or the learner and the teacher, respectively.

💡Encumbrance

Encumbrance denotes anything that hinders or impedes progress or movement. The speaker uses this term to describe the various systems and structures, such as testing regimes and national policies, that have been added to education over time, suggesting that these have obscured the essential heart of the learning process.

💡Personalization

Personalization in education means tailoring the educational experience to meet the individual needs, interests, and abilities of each learner. The speaker advocates for a personalized curriculum that helps students discover their talents and passions, contrasting this with a one-size-fits-all approach that may not cater to the diverse capabilities and aspirations of students.

💡Cultural Identity

Cultural identity refers to the sense of belonging to a cultural group, which is shaped by shared values, traditions, and experiences. The speaker mentions the importance of education in fostering a sense of cultural identity, enabling individuals to engage with and appreciate the cultural identities of others, thus promoting tolerance and mutual understanding.

💡Economic Utility

Economic utility in education refers to the perceived value of certain subjects or skills in terms of their practical application and contribution to a person's employability and economic success. The speaker criticizes the traditional view that prioritizes subjects like languages, mathematics, and science over arts and humanities based on their perceived economic utility, arguing for a more balanced and holistic approach to education.

💡Academic Value

Academic value is the perceived worth or importance of different fields of study within an educational context. The speaker discusses how some subjects are considered more valuable or prestigious than others, leading to an imbalance in the curriculum and potentially neglecting areas that are equally important for a well-rounded education.

💡Standardization

Standardization in education refers to the process of making educational content, methods, and assessments uniform across different settings. The speaker argues against the standardization of education, suggesting that it leads to conformity and fails to recognize the diversity and individuality of learners.

💡Complexity

Complexity in the context of the video refers to the increasingly interconnected and multifaceted nature of the modern world. The speaker mentions that dealing with complexity is one of the major challenges faced by organizations today, implying that education should prepare students to navigate and understand the intricate relationships between different areas of knowledge and life.

💡Creativity

Creativity is the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, and patterns to create meaningful new ideas, forms, and interpretations. The speaker places creativity at the center of educational priorities, arguing that fostering creativity in students is essential for preparing them to meet the challenges of the future and to contribute to a more innovative and adaptable society.

Highlights

The need for a creative approach to education and valuing individual talents differently.

The importance of drama and theater in education and the potential for misunderstanding.

Peter Brook's book 'The Empty Space' and its discussion on the essence of theater.

The concept of the 'irreducible minimum' of theater as an actor in a space with an audience.

The analogy between the essential elements of theater and those of education.

Critique of the encumbrances added to education that obscure the fundamental teacher-learner relationship.

The historical context of mass public education and its evolution.

The division of school curriculum into 'useful' and 'useless' subjects based on economic utility.

Personal anecdotes illustrating the limitations of a narrow educational focus.

The argument for a more dynamic and holistic approach to education.

The potential of technology to facilitate personalized and global education.

The importance of teaching as a transformative element in education.

The contrast between the educational frameworks of England and Scotland.

The three core purposes of education: personal, cultural, and economic.

The challenges of the 21st century and the role of creativity in addressing them.

IBM's survey on the top challenges faced by corporate leaders: complexity, resilience, and creativity.

The call for a new Renaissance in education to reconnect different ways of knowing.

The potential of embracing creativity to prepare for future challenges and possibilities.

Transcripts

[Music]

about the need for more creative

approach to education about the need to

Value individual talents differently

about the need to revolutionize how we

think of mass education and in that

instance the importance of the of drama

and theater uh in the whole process um

people badly misunderstand theater I

think uh there's a great book Years Ago

by Peter Brooke do anybody even know

know Peter Brook Peter Brook wrote a

book called The Empty

Space and in it he talked about the

power of theater and he wanted to know

say well what is the essence of theater

what is it he thought a lot of theater

really wasn't worth watching you know it

was a night out but you know it passed

the time but is they say in and um uh in

Becket uh in Waiting for God would have

passed

anyway so why would you go to the

theater you know rather than just s sat

down with a bottle of Claret and he

believed that theater was one of the

most powerful experiences that human

beings can have properly

conceived he said but we need to talk

about what theater really is if we're to

really to focus on he said the center

for Theater Research in Paris and um and

he said well let's perform a thought

experiment here if we are to focus on

theater what can we remove from the the

average performance and it still be

Theater what's the irreducible minimum

and I think it's a very good question to

ask so we said well you could take away

the curtains you don't need curtains for

theater you could take away the lighting

as long as you can see what's going on

actually even if you can't awful lot of

theater isn't actually

visible um VI

radio uh he said you can take away the

script a lot of theaters not scripted uh

you could certainly get rid of the

costumes as long as it's decent and even

if it's isn't uh you could get rid of

the stage and therefore the crew

actually you get rid of the

building you don't need any of this all

these are additions to the experience of

theater the only thing you can't get rid

of if you're interested in theater is an

actor in a

space and somebody watching that's what

makes it theat the actor is in a you

know creates a

drama but the act of it being observed

makes it theater the theater is that

relationship between the audience and

the actor even if it's just one other

person that's the irreducible minimum

and he said that's what I am interested

in that

relationship and he said I believe you

shouldn't add anything to that

relationship unless it improves

it unless it helps it in some

way and I believe the analogy with

education is

exact that at the heart of Education the

irreducible minimum of education is a

learner of whatever age that person is

in whatever their situation happens to

be and a

teacher in some cases the teacher is the

learner or it's uh it may increasingly

be uh mediated through technology it may

be a remote process but the heart of it

is that relationship and I believe we

should never add anything to it unless

it improves it and what's happened over

time since Mass systems of public

education came into being which is not

that long ago it's the mid 19th century

is that we've added every type of

encumbrance to that relationship and

obscured it you know we have testing

regimes National policies we have Party

politics we have building codes we have

um architecture we have Trade union

agreements we have the interests of the

Publishers the interests of the

examinations board all these things have

encrusted themselves around the

essential heart of education and it's

formed a kind of sclerosis around it I

think

um I mean it's like to switch analogy

it's like an old painting that's been

progressively obscured by layers of

varnish and dust till we've lost sight

of what the thing is and what it is is a

process of helping people to engage with

the world around them and to make more

sense of themselves in the process

and when politicians therefore talk

about getting back to basics

I wish they

would I just wish they would but

unfortunately um some very smart

politicians and Michael

go as well

[Applause]

and

believe

that the basics in

education are a group of

subjects that they became used to at

their own prep

school and typically these subjects turn

out to be ones which are

associated with two ideas one is a

certain type of academic ability and the

other is utility for work I will never

forget the fact that when I was at

school in Liverpool uh in the 50s and

60s the 1950s that would

be that I wanted to do art at the age of

40 and I was I loved art and uh we had

to make a choice you know the option

system came up and and I said to my

class teacher I I want to do art but my

uh family my my dad particularly was a

wonderful man uh and others and the

school thought it was a good idea if I

did German too I'm still not sure

why I don't know why really um I never

got the hang of it German does anybody

here speak German well congratulations

that's all I can say I mean

it's it's fantastic that you can do this

I've been to Germany and small children

can do it in Germany it's

it's it's the water there's something in

the water I don't know what it is but

German to me it's a beautiful language

but it's like in which I liked you know

all the case endings change don't they

they have to agree uh the adjectives

have to agree with the nouns you the

verb has to conjugate the verbs have to

decline the the verbs always at the end

of the sentence you can't put it

anywhere else or people get baffled um

and they're long sentences very often in

German aren't they because they have

these long compound words um so you

could be speaking German to somebody and

it can be five minutes before the verb

shows up you know I mean isn't it you

know you could be talking to somebody so

you know for quite a long time who is in

involved in this event where it happened

and when but you have no idea what they

did you

know and I couldn't get the hang of it I

except it was my fault but but um

because people around me were getting

hang of it okay it's just my mind didn't

go in that direction and it was like

Latin latin's the same the difference is

if you're doing Latin if you have to do

a translation in Latin uh they'll give

it you on a Thursday and you've got till

next Tuesday you've got the weekend and

a

pencil you know as in contemporary

German people expect a response

immediately you know well I couldn't get

the hang of it and uh anyway I asked him

if uh I said I want to do art in German

and uh I was sent to see the head

teacher and they said well you know he

said Robinson you have a problem I said

what's the problem he said the problem

is you cannot do art in

German well I was

baffled because I'd been to

Germany and there were pictures

everywhere I thought they can't all have

been imported surely some of

them some of the native speakers must

have made some of them you know no no no

you said you can't do it in this

school I said why he said because they

Clash on the

timetable so this was presented as my

problem what it was was a failure of

administrative

imagination presented to me as an

epistemological truth you know there's a

conceptual conflict between art and

German and it wasn't a conceptual

conflict

it was Mr Hughes who did the timetable

that was the

problem he was my conceptual

conflict so I said well what should I do

and the head teacher said well if I were

you I would do

German I said why he said it will be

more

useful well you you're familiar with

this idea and I don't I don't mean to

say German is not useful it is um

especially when you meet German people

it's extremely handy there's no question

about it and it's you know it's the

language of Gerta it's you know and and

of Hegel it's you know one of the most

Exquisite Productions of the human mind

it's extraordinary language but is Art

not useful is Art useless well what

became clear to me at that age is that

the school curriculum was pretty much

divided into two groups uh subjects that

were useful and subjects that were

useless and art and Music Row was in the

useless category interesting but useless

whereas some subjects languages

mathematics and science were thought to

be useful for what getting a job and

this always intrigued me because um

people would say that you know you

should do mathematics because it's

useful not saying it's not um but behind

it was this idea of economic utility

that you'll be in a better position to

get a job if you do these subjects and

you know that was that not true of you

that you were steered at school benignly

away from things you might have been

drawn to on the grounds that they're not

useful don't do art you won't be an

artist don't do music you won't be a

musician despite the self-evident fact

that millions of people are and make a

perfectly good life doing it and one

that fulfills

them so economic utility is one pillar

but interesting see people do not say uh

don't do math you won't be a

mathematician because also embedded in

the education system is an ideology

about academic value that some

disciplines or subjects as they're

mistakenly called um are thought to be

more useful than other ones and I

thought we'd got past it truthfully I

mean when I was writing my PhD thesis in

the 70s and '

80s

um I was working in a long tradition of

people uh who have campaigned argued for

a different conception of Education one

that's based on I believe a more Dynamic

conception of knowledge and a more

coherent conception of human life and

how people connect a holistic approach

to education which is all it is really

um an argument for

balance and often politicians default to

this view that there are subjects in the

world and some of them are more

important than other ones and therefore

we should teach those um I uh was I met

with one of the ministers this morning

at department for education and it was a

very interesting conversation

um and I point you know I

was concerned I am concerned that

this English

Borat

um

privileges this Core Group So-Cal Core

group of subjects English mathematics

science languages and the humanities

have crept in and I asked uh one of the

ministers where are the Arts in this

conception and uh because What's happen

happening you know is the schools are

beginning to cut Arts programs again and

he said well we don't want that to

happen at

all so I said well why don't you stop

it by including the art if there's going

to be an ebac put the Arts in there too

make a provision for it he said well you

but there is a 40% discretionary time in

education beyond the EAC and and people

we we hope people will do that but I

thought well you don't hope they'll do

math

you if you want them to do if you want

to encourage people to do the Arts make

it put it among the priorities you know

give it equal weight with everything

else and there are bit different and

better ways of thinking about education

than the one that unfortunately I

believe uh we're going to have to work

with for a while here in England

Scotland has a much better framework it

always has by the way it has Scotland's

always been ahe of England honestly uh

in its approach do you agree with with

education but they have a curriculum now

which is uh called the curriculum for

excellence which gives equal weight to a

number of areas the Arts The Sciences

the

humanities uh languages

technology uh religious and moral

education I think so um uh health and

well-being that seems to me to be a

sound conception of the components of

the curriculum there is no cultural

economic reason for excluding these

other disciplines and what they've also

reced and I say this in fairness to the

the the uh the government in in London

uh their white paper hasn't recognized

the importance of

teaching but and that's consistent with

my analogy with Peter Brooke that

teaching is what makes the difference

but you have also to give people a

framework that facilitates balance and

this default mode to this group of

subjects

socalled uh is really just a throwback I

believe uh based on a misconception what

the basics are um now in other words

instead of looking forward the 21st

century which is the one we're in it's

really a an echo of a 19th century view

of education and you align that with

what ministers unfortunately keep saying

that we need to get to back to a

didactic fact-based education and a

dactic process of teaching and learning

um people giving lessons from the front

of the class uh then you start to see

the Gap I think in their sense of

reality and it might be assisted I

imagine uh if we had some Ministries

who' worked in education that probably

would have helped um I find I do find

that strange you know people don't

become the health secretary because

they've had their appendix out do they

you know you've had some organs removed

you're perfectly qualified to pronounce

on the future the Health Service you

know your qualifications you've been to

school all right um the other thing I

found shocking today by the way is this

um uh that the Secretary of State talked

about how terrible it is that of the

880,000 children who were in the school

system last year who were on on um free

School meals you know from low-income

families that only 40 of them got to

Oxbridge you see we've got we've got to

stop this haven't we I mean Ox Oxford

and Cambridge are fantastic institutions

but firstly not everybody wants to go to

university not everybody needs to go to

university uh there are plenty of other

great options for people to live lives

which add up to something and have

purpose somebody to go straight to work

people want to go to vacational programs

many of which are fantastic um but this

idea that the Pinnacle that everybody

education should aspire to is not to go

just to University but to go to Oxford

and Cambridge well what signal does it

send you know that those who don't go to

oxen Cambridge are the also RS of the

education system and that those who go

to university have made a terrible life

error you know that's the other what

goes with this that going to University

is the is the what we should all aspire

to well you know unless the government's

prepared to add another 880,000

places to Oxbridge each year then of

course some people aren't going to make

it even if they want to but the signal

it gives to people is that they have

somehow fallen short of the required

standard of education and if we know

anything about human life it's it's

based on diversity and

individuality I you know if you've got

two children you'd never never confuse

them would

you would

you which one of

you didn't I just talked to you a minute

ago no even identical twins are

completely different in some key

respects and that's what we know about

human life it's diverse and human

cultures are obey ecological principles

of synergy the big problem I think for

education is that it's based on

principles of

conformity and increasingly of

standardization and the consequence is

that many people pass through the whole

of their education feeling disconnected

from it because it doesn't speak to them

it depresses them spiritually so when we

talk about getting back to basics I

think we

should as I sit these are the basics not

a group of subjects the basics are these

there are three purposes as I see it to

education the first them is personal

that education is inevitably and

unavoidably and properly personal

you cannot treat people as homogeneous

units going through education that all

of us have different capacities

different interests and different

passions and one of the great purpose of

education is to connect people with

their own sense of

possibility

that and the principle here is that

human resources I believe are like

natural

resources uh they're often Buri deep

beneath the surface lots of people I

interviewed for the element didn't

discover their real talent

until the opportunity presented itself

or somebody they knew pointed them in

the direction they should be going in

that They Came Upon something with other

people's help or by a matter of

circumstance um and of course we don't

know what we're capable of until we have

the opportunity to find out about it

very often one of the big concerns I

have with a narrow curriculum is it cuts

off opportunities for people whose real

talents May lie in the areas that have

been segregated out from the the center

of the curriculum and I think that's

true for a lot of people that they

conclude they're not good at anything

because they're not good at what's

required of them but they may well have

deep talents that we haven't yet touched

and the priorities I think for

personalized education are to help

people get in touch with their real

capabilities to give them a genuine

sense of creativity in the world they

face and thirdly to give them a sense of

confidence too many of our kids and

adults leave formal education with no

sense of confidence about what they are

capable of achieving and the answer to

that is a personalized curriculum to all

the great teachers I know are people who

can look in the eyes of young people and

see what will work for them it's like a

great doctor is you know if you if

you're being treated by a doctor you

want somebody who has a deep knowledge

of all sorts of situations and

possibilities but is able to apply that

knowledge in your case and to see how it

relates to you in particular you know

I'm for example not against standardized

testing in

itself not in itself I mean if I have a

medical exam I want some standardized

tests I do you know I want to know what

my cholesterol level is compared to

everybody else's I don't my doctor to

tell me on some scal invented in the

car you know your cholesterol is what I

call level orange what what is that you

know I want the numbers but I want them

applied in my case so they're so that

the numbers become a diagnostic tool

rather than as to often they become

which is the purpose of Education the

second big I I think core function of

education is cultural that in the end we

live in a community of people and not on

our own we share this rather crowded

planet with many other people and we

need an an education process that

enables us to have a sense of our own

cultural identity which engages with the

identities of other people and their

values and systems and ways of being and

thirdly promotes a sense of Tolerance

and

mutuality and this opens up a whole

debate I think about the content of

education and its core but by the way

since I mentioned the art it's often in

the Arts that the values of cultures

become most apparent and manifest if you

want to discover the truth about

previous times or places or peoples you

need to engage with their music as much

as with the the dates of their great

events with their

chronologies and the third purpose of

education is economic there is no doubt

that education has powerful economic

purposes and should

have but the fact of the matter is I

believe and this is something I I'm Keen

that we should all try and impress upon

our policy makers is that culturally and

economically we are living in a

revolution and I believe this is

literally true that we are living in the

most tumultuous times in human history

now I don't say that lightly because

human culture has always been pretty

tumultuous but I think there are factors

now which exceed any previous time in

history and there are two and one of

them is the focus of Learning Without

Frontiers in in lot of work it does

which is

technology the new technologies are

transforming everything so that's one

factor but the other factor is

population growth the Earth is now more

populated than any point in history 7

billion people for most of history there

are fewer than a billion people on the

Earth and this population boom has

happened in the past 50 years there's a

fantastic program which I recommend you

watch that was on uh the BBC presented

by David

atur last year called how many people

can live on

earth good questions then because we all

need water fuel food clothing space so

how many of us can this tiny planet

accommodate since water is running out

there's not that much of it anyway uh

the water tables in China are dropping

precipitously at the moment uh we're

running out of fossil fuels we've got

good reason now to be worried about some

of the nuclear Alternatives so what's

the situation and so they did a

calculation of uh to answer that

question the whole program sets it down

you can download it on the internet but

what it came to as time is short is this

they said if the average if everybody if

everybody on

Earth consumed you know water fuel food

at the same rate as the average person

in

Rwanda the Earth could sustain a maximum

population of 15 billion

people but if everybody on Earth

consumed at the same rate as the average

person in North America

the Earth could sust stain in a maximum

population of 1.2

billion and we at 7 billion and

Counting and frankly the only reason

we're getting away with it in the

developed industrialized world is

because the rest of the world is putting

up with it or isn't aware of it but

they're becoming more and more aware and

self-determining and the emergent

economies by the way are made up of a

much younger population than the old

economies in the old economies the

population is Aging in the Middle East

where there's natural Revolution

happening half the population is under

under 30 so when I say there a

revolution it's this combination of

Technology culture and resources John my

brother who's here tonight as well and

my other brother Neil have a great

website I recommend it it's called the

peaceful Planet which sets out some of

the the Dynamics that are going on in

this area and it's part of a bigger

ecological movement but it's no

exaggeration to say that if we get this

wrong there would be very serious

consequences uh for for all of us you

know we are the most populous generation

in the history of humanity and we can't

continue with the same practices that

have brought us here indefinitely in

fact probably not for much longer so the

challenge for Education could hardly be

greater and the basics are not this

group of subjects that have been uh

venerated for so long they are the core

purpose of Education of the personal the

economic and the cultural and to bring

that change about has implications for

the curriculum it has implications for

teaching methods and styles it has

implications for the use of technology

which offer profound opportunities for

the personalization of education for the

globalization of education and it has

use implications for assessment as

well and all of this is possible and

within our reach but we can't reach it

if our minds are locked into a 19th

century conception of utility we have to

embrace the depth of the challenges that

we face but also the depth of the

possibilities that our children face

this to me is why this issue of

creativity is so critical I just want to

kind of bring bring this to this point

because we're going to have a break and

then uh have some conversation there was

a report published last year by IBM they

they did a survey of 3,000 corporate

leaders around the world in every type

of business and public sector um

organization in education and they ask

them what the what the challenges are

they mostly face and they said there are

three big

challenges the first is how to cope with

complexity the world has becoming more

and more complicated for us I I came

across this quote on the internet

actually for about what it means to be

British these days and it said this

being British these days means driving

home in a German

car stopping to collect some Irish beer

or Danish logger picking up up an Indian

curry or a Greek kebab and spending the

evening sitting on Swedish Furniture

watching American programs on a Japanese

TV

and it said and the most British thing

of all suspicion of anything

foreign we are more and more

interconnected we are joined in a common

fi

um so the idea of complexity is at the

heart of this equation and how we deal

with that and that means a form of

Education where people don't just think

of subjects as being separate and

disconnected but see the essential

continuities between ideas there is much

more in common between the Arts and the

Sciences for example than we've been led

to believe there's huge science in the

Arts great discipline in all all of

these areas and much Artistry in The

Sciences I think we need a new

Renaissance here we need to reconnect

these ways of knowing which have become

lost in the past two 300 years so

complexity is a big issue the second

thing they point to is resilience and

adaptability how do we change our ways

and produce organizations which are

adaptable and and flexible in new

circumstances and we don't do that with

a rigid narrow curriculum we do it by

getting our children to live the lives

they are leading and by promoting the

powers of responsibility and

adaptability and creativity which is the

last priority how do we promote a

genuine sense of creativity now I've

written a lot about that and we can talk

a bit about that after the break but

what creativity means in practice but I

believe it has to be put at the center

of our education systems

hdl's once famously said that

civilization is a race between education

and

catastrophe and it is truthfully

education is how we prepare ourselves to

meet the challenges of these short lives

that we have but to do that we have to

start with a deeper and I think more

generous conception of our capabilities

the thing that sets us apart for the

rest of life on Earth I believe is this

power of

imagination which leads to the power of

creativity creativity is in a way the

child of imagination and many of the

challenges we face now are the results

of human creativity but we won't engage

them by diminishing these Powers but

only by increasing them and I think as

soon as we begin to grasp the true

nature of human creativity we'll begin

to see the possibilities for a

coexistence that will add up to

something you know we can't predict the

future but we can anticipate it and I

think if we have a deeper belief in our

own powers and the powers of our

children and create education system

that celebrate and cultivate them will

produce a harvest of ideas and

possibilities that will I believe

eventually and sooner I hope rather than

later help to generate a future which

our children will be proud of and that

we'll all want to live

in thank

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you

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yeah