Expanding our definition of smart | Sir Ken Robinson + Amanda Palmer

there's my other confession is I'm going to blame pregnancy for the father he makes me laugh without really having to say anything so this could be super awkward if I just turn into some giggling simpering school child who proposed just please forgive me hi Hey how are you Oh God it started okay so I'm going to start off we canvassed our TEDx amazing TEDx community around the world and I have picked two questions that were submitted from those questions for you so I'm going to just kick right off with the question from Lisa chin from TEDx Zuzu in China who asks I watched your house schools kill creativity talk in 2006 have you seen any changes in education since then yes what are they that's my all right okay I didn't know there be supplementals um I'm screwed actually you know I didn't want to say this I mean Ted has been a fantastic thing for me the talks been seen we think about 25 million times being viewed online but I think it's you could probably multiply that by 10 because it gets shown at events like this or large events so I don't know maybe it's been seen by 2 300 million people I mean I know that's not Gangnam style you know or Miley Cyrus but I don't twerk yeah and are you sure well now rule about how to rule I don't twerk I mean I I might today I don't know it depends of the mood takes me I think in fact I just did it was a small small private twerk so how happy actually quite a lot you know that I was as fast as he listened to Susan about all that she's had I get lots and lots of emails from kids from parents from teachers about how that particular talk had a huge impact on them I know schools that have reorganized their Thai way of doing things because of that I know hold school districts who've reordered themselves around the issues that I was raising what I'm keen to say is that I wasn't making this stuff up I gave a talk a while ago at a university in the Midwest somewhere and over lunch with the faculty beforehand some guys said to me you've been at this a long time now haven't you I said what's that he said you know trying to reform education I said yes that's right he said what is it seven years now I said how do you mean he said you know since that TED talk and I said yes but I was alive before that you know this was so that was that was like a moment ready I just showed up and and at a time there's a private thing but but the reason I say it is that it it also resonated that with all kinds of people and it resonated because it's true that our education systems squander huge amounts of children's talent and the consequence is that very many people don't discover their talents and it's not an accident it's systemic you know years ago you're from Liverpool on you Sheffield I'm very so to hear that sorry I was misinformed is there anybody else I could be speaking to instead anything anybody closer to Liverpool perhaps I don't know no I'm your best bet all right well in my twenties I went round the abattoir in Liverpool no the slaughterhouse you know which is a factory for killing animals I don't know why I went now to be honest and I think I was taking a girl out you know I mean I fun I know how to treat a woman you know cometh before we have dinner let's see where it came from and and I went we went around this thing and you know it's designed to kill animals and it does I mean very few escaped you know they're on chest width there aren't survivors clubs you know that get together and think about the old days at the abattoir and at the far end of it there was a door that said veterinarian and I thought well he must be depressed you know at the end of the average day you know so I said after what's the veterinarian for is it a bit late you know for that and and he said well he comes in this guy show me around he said the veterinarian comes in every couple of weeks to conduct random autopsies so I thought well he must have seen the pattern by now surely in I mean another another 2,000 dead cows with bolts in their head there's there's something happening in there I'm going to get to the back of it I refuse to be deterred are you gonna bring this back there yeah yeah any time any minute now yeah any minute hey but my my point is and there is one that if you design a system with certain features to do certain things don't be surprised if it does it and if you design a school system based on the principles of industrialism and conformity and you strangle it with a culture of standardized testing which bleeds the life out of teachers and students alike don't be surprised if this is not a cordon of creativity and vitality and don't be surprised if in America 30% of kids leave before the 12th grade don't be surprised if depression is one of the biggest problems now affecting schools around the world and don't be surprised if the whole thing in the end is a source of more frustration than it is success for a lot of people and my answer for a lot of education systems is that you know often policymakers scratch their head and think how can we solve all these problems and the simple way to solve them is to stop causing them don't do that do something else I don't know and if you just be quiet for a minute they I I don't know what I was it's not due till April you know the thing is nothing the thing is that so what I'm saying is the reason I think I get such a response from students and from teachers and not just them brought from policy makers and often governments I'm pleased to say it's because they recognize that I don't think people are acting out to the wrong intention you know they're doing the wrong thing for the right reasons and and what I'm trying to show and I said I didn't make this up I stand in a very long tradition people have been arguing for holism who've been arguing for human systems of Education not automatons based systems education and which ones ones which are generally responsive for the talents that people have and I'm delighted to say there are lots of countries in the world which are moving in that direction some like Finland have been doing it for a very long time so I think we have time for one question from the audience which is absurd but thankfully second is not leaving tonight right not much you've heard something I don't I mean he might be if it doesn't behave but um can we have I can't see where microphones are does someone have a very quick question that won't prompt a very long answer no pressure well if there are no yes there's some doing that yes if you can wait yeah microphone yeah sir can I guess my question you know throwing his voice up here we see when's the tipping point right at one point I'm back here it's it's some laps not helping is it I'm back here the multi-directional microphone in the dark I'm back here not that big of a really go yeah yeah hi when's the tipping point at what point do you see something changing that will will really start to make significant shifts shifts in outcome I think several things are happening already you know we were hearing earlier from Susan about Gandhi and Gandhi's other great dictum was be the change you want to see in the world and my case for all of this is that we need a theory of change and what policy makers often seem to believe is that they can only affect change in schools by grabbing the reins and taking command of everything and controlling it and that's what we're seeing around the world command and control mentalities and education is not an industrial system it's an organic system it's a human system and we make much more progress if we apply principles of Agriculture an actually of organic farming you might compare organic farming with industrial farming and say it's based on completely different principles so the change is already happening it's happening everywhere there are brilliant schools all over the place there are great teachers running great classrooms there are great home schoolers there are wonderful initial school districts are trying to do the things that we've been talking about it isn't we have to wait and then see if it if it reaches a final conclusion organic life isn't like that it's a constant process of change and it won't be finished either so I always say to people change what you're doing change where you are if you're a teacher if you're a school superintendent if you're a student it change what you do change your world and if enough people change their worlds we changed the world whether it happens quickly or slowly we don't know but at least we can set off on the journey and many people are well II I think very well advanced along it already [Applause] here is the reason that we do not have time for more questions is that I am about to spring a surprise on second which makes me deeply happy we thought that we should pay tribute to the man with twenty five million views are all star of all stars if you will and so to do that we roped in someone who knows a thing or two about virality it's just like a monetary thing you just yes yes I'm afraid you owe me no I am actually going to buzz off stage and leave you sitting here not feeling awkward because I would like to welcome to the stage miss Amanda Palmer with a song she has written especially when I can stay right there [Applause] hi hi oh wait Oh can you hear me I'm really nervous I was up here yesterday and I wasn't nervous and now you're here hello imagine how I feel all right um so oh god yeah I live with this all the time you know minute so uh okay hi sir Ken um uh it's just a song I'm just oh okay I I wrote this yesterday basically um just a short introduction because you need to know the background for it to make any sense at all um a good TED talk this has been an amazing conference so far by the way and my mind is blown again it was last year - and a good TED talk really changes you and a really really good TED talk not only changes you it the way it changes you can change which is to say you know I you watched does anyone watch them repeatedly because I sometimes - and if the work hang on you can change and I first saw your talk back at the beginning when I was you know a few years ago when I was first discovering Ted and it really moved me a lot especially the part about the choreographer um and I don't need to go into it you guys have all seen it and soon um I was that kid I was this like flighty weird chaotic couldn't focus didn't want to read weird already girl and I have also spent my life really believing there is a misdiagnosis and a lot of kids instead of a celebration that part of the talk meant a lot to me and then Ted write me about two months ago and said will you write this song for sir Ken and I was in Australia writing a book ironically based on my own TED talk on a sick deadline and was like sure maybe I'll just write it when I get to Ted with my husband who's a writer who will maybe do all the work I brought Neil Gaiman with me he's sitting right there and so we thought that we would you know write the song on Saturday or Sunday and I would rope it Jason Webley my friend who also came and played who was awesome and we we decided to prime ourselves on Saturday night so we took Sir Ken on the laptop into bed and we watched and I didn't mean uh uh I'm getting a bit edgy now you know and the class struck me and it totally different way than I imagined it dead yes I'm sure yeah it's actually striking me in a completely different way no I was just coming up on this very stick to it it struck me in a new way because I all of a sudden was sort of seeing it for Neal's perspective too and um where was the laptop connected that's really blighted uh Neal um I don't know if you guys know Neil Gaiman he's my husband he's you should go him or me he's a really accomplished writer who didn't go to college and uh I found out a story he told me when we were first going out he when he was 17 he's also he's British he's one of you and you guys are somewhat the same generation and sort of reminded each other they're both very handsome he it's not getting any better by the way I'm just saying when when you when you was 17 it was going through the the the crushing ness of the British public school system and which I'm sure you know a lot about and his parents got a letter from the administration of the school saying we would like you to come in because we believe that Neil's not inconsiderable talents would be better educated elsewhere and here's the thing his parents got the letter and because they were British and super embarrassed didn't even go into the office they just pulled him out of school because they assumed he would be expelled and then you know maybe were all the luckier for it because he would often became he'll Gaiman but it wasn't until 30 years later just recently when he ran into one of the administrators of the school who told him oh that's not what that little all we thought you were so talented you should probably go to art school and we wanted to just tell your parents so I saw you know whatever that's the story and the story of the writing of this song is a 12-minute TED talk it was mostly written in bathrooms and conference faces of Ted I tried to rope Neil or Jason and Saturday night we went out to dinner instead Sunday we were really going to muscle them and do it we were like oh my god we don't have a song let's just do a Beatles cover and write some words about education we were really screwed I wrote this yesterday and um I hope it's good I'd really nervous I'm sorry that if I up are you trying to lower our expectations here is I would I don't know uh so here I have to read it because I just touched it an hour ago all right [Music] it isn't easy to be human not that with any other choice when she was young they gave her heavy books to read the chief pigeon struggled all words just look like toys and they punished her unmanageable fee we cannot measure what's important just what's easiest to find and what they found is that sheet with her life a weed without a ground that she could grow or a son to give her light this is most certainly alarming what she needs Oh can't these little brats learn anything little a proper education a dancer in a prison little bricks and I'm tear down a boom when we were small the teachers told us that we needed to be brain which one to swallow a compendium of rules and to be quiet like the others to apply ourselves and save the things we care about for later after school as his imagination fled in his unmanageable mind they made him run around a track and his speed but he just wanted to write stories in the safe fields of his mind this is most certainly alarming what he needs it's look at these little breaths learn anything at all a proper education a writer in a prison little pricks a nun tear down all covering this world and it's unmanageable children all curled up stared inside could be so strong they are so willing to be wrong not like these teachers who are so afraid to die don't they know that that just means that you're alive and by the by you can do anything at all without a proper education the whole earth and a prison little breaks a nun tear down a ball so here's to you Sir Ken Robinson heaven is a place where people play spray the walls outside because when the world is in the balance Oliver lot what was it again what did they say in the letter and the world is in the balance all of uh not inconsiderable talents will be needed for the challenge as we rise are we most certainly will fall [Music] Oh haven't we learned anything at all [Music] it's fantastically thank you ladies and gentlemen Amanda Palmer answer Ken Robinson can I do this yeah okay oh thanks time thank you very much

Channel: TED Archive

Views: 277,896

Rating: 4.8135047 out of 5

Keywords: TED, Archive, Ken Robinson, Amanda Palmer, education

Id: 8awctnozMdo

Length: 24min 11sec (1451 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 13 2017