I’m rarely short on opinions.
One of my opinions is that the law “No Child Left Behind” is really about “No Child Gets Ahead”.
For me, the law seeks to repeal with the brush of a pen the fact of the bell curve.
That said, I truly like this presentation.
(Depending on your browser security settings, may need to click twice to start the video. If you are receiving this via email, or want to open the TED site with the video, just click here: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html)
Bio of Sir Ken Robinson
http://www.ted.com/speakers/view/id/69
More of my posts about TED
http://www.myephemerae.com/category/ted
That was a fabulous talk. The message really resonated with me. I have a PhD in physics and struggled mightily to function within the academic system. I am really fortunate that now I am able to utilize at least a nominally more diverse set of abilities in my career than was required of me to get through the education system. I remember when I was majoring in music and mom told me to make sure I got my teaching certification do I would “have something to fall back on”. This is in keeping with the idea that the arts simply aren’t valued within academia as much as other endeavors and moreover it isn’t expected that a person would obtain a degree in music just for its own sake and go from there. I switched to business. Disaster. It wasn’t until I quit school altogether that I decided that I wanted to learn physics. But even then the structure was difficult. There were times when I as studying for my PdH qualifying exams that it physically hurt to sit in the cube and do the math. I’m just wired different than most of the folks who do what I do. Some people however, understand this and view it as an asset. Some do. So yeah, I can relate.
June 27th, 2008 | #