401V, 501, 502: Ken Robinson, "Bring on the learning revolution"

Attention Group 401 (Evening): More from Ken Robinson. (Also see this earlier post.)

Students in Groups 501 and 502: we are also discussing these talks--Judy and I want to hear your viewpoints, too!

Update for Groups 501 and 502: We didn't have time to see this video last Thursday. We'll see it later in December. But we did see "Schools Kill Creativity."



Discussion questions on the second Ken Robinson video:

1. Al Gore spoke at the TED conference four years earlier about the climate crisis, a crisis involving natural resources. What is the “second climate crisis” to which Robinson is referring?
2. Robinson says, “I meet all kinds of people who don't think they're really good at anything. ” They don’t spend their lives doing what they love. Among the factors responsible for this situation, which does Robinson point to? Metaphorically speaking, how are human resources similar to natural resources?
3. Jeremy Bentham divided the world into what two groups?
4. What is fundamentally wrong with “reform”?
5. “I love that word, ‘disenthrall’.” What does it mean, in Robinson’s usage?
6. Thanks to education, we are enthralled to the idea of linearity. What is “linearity”? In contrast, how does Robinson describe life? It’s not linear, but instead it is ….?
7. How did this linearity express itself in the educational policy statement that Robinson encountered soon after his family arrived in Los Angeles? What was his response to this policy statement?
8. Linearity is one principle that holds us in thrall. What is the other idea, exemplified by fast food?
9. Rather than reforming education based on copying systems, no matter how good*, Robinson advocates what approach in the future?
10. Why are people leaving the educational system?
11. Talent is important; what else is important for hour-long tasks to seem like five minutes?
12. Why should we tread softly?

* KIPP (“it’s a great system”): “KIPP, the Knowledge Is Power Program, is a national [USA] network of free, open-enrollment, college-preparatory public charter schools with a track record of preparing students in underserved communities for success in college and in life.” (www.kipp.org)