I thought Sir Ken was great! I have never seen a public speaker like him! He stood out in front of the stage with a mic, no notes for 2 hours and kept the crowd fully engaged! I liked his presentationstyle - jokes and stories - then relating all the pieces together with knowledge nugget. Very cool!
Basic points of his presentation -
Education is a cultural process, shaped by forces. we are all born with natural talents that should be, but may not be discovered (especially in our school systems). As a culture we need to re-evaluate what is important and how we educate. 30% of those starting the 9th grade, so not graduate (60% for African Americnas and 80% for Native Americans).
Education, cultural services, and libraries are the front lines of educating the public. We should focus on educating about what is taken for granted. Right now, our government is pushing STEM (Science, Techonology, Engineering, Math) - and is sending the message any of these other talents or areas are not needed.
It is, in fact, these areas taken for granted that foster creativity, innovation - which gives birth to technology. We must encourage creativity and talent. Do what you are good at and passionate about.
All of this info, and more fascinating gacts are available in Ken's books, "The element" and "We are out of our minds".
To me, it felt like his presentation was telling our profession, we must change the way we think about our profession, our role, education, and the library's place in society if we are to remain relevant.
This interesting insight was peppered amongst some hilarious jokes inlcuding - Independence Day celebarting getting rid of the British, younger generation not understanding the hand cranking of the mimeographs, America thinks a decade is a long time. I'm defintiely not doing him any justice. I beleive you can watch him present on youtube (TED conference).
I didn't see Sir Ken Robinson in-person, but I have watched his TED talks from 2006 & 2010. He's very entertaining and informative. We also have a copy of his book in the library "The Element: how finding your passion changes everything." I like his message of valuing creativity.
ReplyDeleteSir Ken was really delightful. I had the honor of escorting him to and from the men's room. (Michelle told me to make sure he got there and then came back to do his presentation without getting mobbed!)
ReplyDeleteSomething else to add to my resume!