Sir Ken Robinson

What do Abraham Lincoln, gardening and dreams have in common?
According to Sir Ken Robinson, education shares a common thread with Abraham Lincoln, gardening and dreams. In a speech Lincoln gave to Congress in December 1862 he said that our leadership needed to "disenthrall" themselves from the old way of thinking and problem solving in order to save our nation. Mr. Robinson says the same change in thinking needs to occur within education. The focus needs to shift toward our greatest natural resource, the talents of students, and no longer revolve around the processes we use to educate children. Organic gardening is one of the latest crazes, requiring extra time, patience and money. In organic gardening much of the work is done with the tools, soil and seeds you already possess. There is no need to purchase fancy fertilizers, weed killers or genetically modified seeds. You take the seeds available, plant them and, this is the most important step, give them the proper growing environment. Applying this concept to education means the main goal is not making sure children have information tossed at them with the goal of passing a test as motivation or as the end result. Instead, children are in an environment free of artificial teaching that comes in the form of the endless lecture and test cycle. Children are in classrooms that feel natural, full of activity and technology that seem natural to children. I personally do not believe a quiet classroom means the children are learning. It does mean they are well managed. Organic opportunities such as art lead to the next ingredient. Passion. As students engage in topics, activities, stories, and conversations about which they are passionate learning is a natural, organic product. Children can not help but learn, explore, question, challenge, consider and think about those things that interest them.
Mr. Robinson is encouraging an overall shift toward the passions and needs of children and away from the egos of those adults making decisions regarding their education. Too often education sits on the chopping block when budgets become tight. It is all too common that education is thrown into the center of a political frenzy. Isn't it ironic that those who suffer from the political agendas of others are not even old enough to vote? Robinson's final charge speaks volumes to educators, and, as a society, we need to listen carefully, too. We live in a world that does not cherish nor encourage our children to be what they are...children. Society forces them to grow up way to quickly, school introduces children to stress with non stop testing, parents are much too busy rushing to the next event to recognize the quiet plea for rest and teachers do not have time to find out what motivates children because scores are front and center. Education must become about engaging students. The current system might produce the smartest child in the world, but what good does it do the child or society if along they way their spirit is crushed? Mr. Robinson wants us to consider that "Everyday, everywhere children spread their dreams beneath our feet. We should tread softly.".