Our students, and our economies, need such change to occur. To get there, we’re going to have to dramatically change the assessment approach. The change needs to be toward the needs of the individual student. Here is my “summary in a box” of this book: The problem with conformity in education is that people are not standardized to begin with. Meanwhile, it is having catastrophic consequences on student engagement and teacher morale. The standards movement is not achieving the objectives it has set for itself. Improving them by raising conventional standards will not meet the challenges we now face. The old systems of education were not designed with this world in mind. If you run an education system based on standardization and conformity that suppresses individuality, imagination, and creativity, don’t be surprised if that’s what it does. While education systems around the world are being reformed, many of these reforms are being driven by political and commercial interests that misunderstand how real people learn and how great schools actually work.Īnd, he is a not a big fan of standardization and conformity: The teachers get a voice – the biggest voice! From the book: In other words, not a “top down” but a “bottom and middle up” approach.

Robinson especially believes that we need the “grassroots,” to drive creativity and innovation in schools. #3 – And, since it is the job of each/all of us, we have to help raise up the solutions “from the grassroots.” It is the job of all of us to help make education better.

#2 – Education matters to each person, and each community.

#1 – The “old” models for school and education are no longer working. I began my synopsis with this question: Why is this book worth our time? I presented my synopsis of his latest book, Creative Schools: The Grassroots Revolution that’s Transforming Education at this month’s Urban Engagement Book Club, sponsored by CitySquare. And at the forefront of that asking is Sir Ken Robinson. Who knows – literally, who knows – what the job demands and possibilities will be in coming years?īut, we keep asking “how do we improve our schools?,” as we should. We have to prepare our students for a life that is not yet in full focus. I suspect that we expect the practically impossible. It is no secret – we are all worried about the quality of education. The root task is to create the conditions in which the relationship between students and teachers can flourish. If students are not learning, education is not happening.

The element ken robinson sparknotes