Sir Ken Robinson

Sir Ken Robinson is an internationally recognized leader in the development of creativity, innovation and human resources. He has worked with governments in Europe, Asia and the USA, with international agencies, Fortune 500 companies, and some of the world's leading cultural organizations. In 1998, he led a national commission on creativity, education and the economy for the UK Government. All Our Futures: Creativity, Culture and Education (The Robinson Report) was published to wide acclaim in 1999.

He speaks to audiences throughout the world on the creative challenges facing business and education in the new global economies. Commenting on his latest book, Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative, John Cleese says: "Ken Robinson writes brilliantly about the different ways in which creativity is undervalued and ignored in Western culture and especially in our educational systems."

For twelve years, he was Professor of Education at the University of Warwick in the UK and is now Professor Emeritus. He has received honorary degrees from the Open University and the Central School of Speech and Drama; Birmingham City University and the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts. He was been honored with the Athena Award of the Rhode Island School of Design for services to the arts and education; the Peabody Medal for contributions to the arts and culture in the United States, and the Benjamin Franklin Medal of the Royal Society of Arts for outstanding contributions to cultural relations between the United Kingdom and the United States. In 2005 he was named as one of Time/Fortune/CNN's Principal Voices. In 2003, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to the arts.

His new book, The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything, will be published in January 2009.

Sir Ken Robinson's website

Sir Ken Robinson: Creatively Speaking Part 1

Sir Ken Robinson has become a very important figure in the independent school world as well s the education world. He speaks to teachers and school leaders imploring them to rethink what we are educating children for and how we are doing that. He believes that schools are failing miserably at preparing kids for places in the Creative Age, and that their Industrial Age education, which is the model most schools operate from, is actually doing them a disservice.

Sir Ken talks directly to teachers at the Apple Summit on creativity and teaching:
Creatively Speaking Part One

TEDtalk: Sir Ken Robinson

Sir Ken Robinson's TEDtalk: Do schools kill creativity?

Students with restless minds and bodies -- far from being cultivated for their energy and curiosity -- are ignored or even stigmatized, with terrible consequences. "We are educating people out of their creativity," Robinson says.

He champions a radical rethink of our school systems, to cultivate creativity and acknowledge multiple types of intelligence.

A visionary cultural leader, Sir Ken led the British government's 1998 advisory committee on creative and cultural education, a massive inquiry into the significance of creativity in the educational system and the economy, and was knighted in 2003 for his achievements.

Sir Ken Robinson: Creativity in Education Part 2

Again, from the Apple Summit on Education:

Creativity in Education Part Two

Sir Ken Robinson Podcast

Mediasnackers Podcast #88: Sir Ken Robinson

This podcast discusses how to cultivate creativity and how to talk to children properly.

TED - A World of Learning

If you don't know about TED, then this will be greatly exciting for you. TED is amazing. Since 1984 people interested in ideas have been converging in Monterrey, California to share and learn from one another. Participants pay to have this opportunity and each of their presentations is strictly limited to 20 minutes.

In June 2008 TED passed an important milestone: 50 million TED talks viewed worldwide, nearly half of them outside the U.S. To keep pace with demand, TED is now releasing a new talk every weekday. One to watch is Boston Philharmonic conductor Benjamin Zander, who was a huge hit at 2008 TED conference.

To celebrate two years and 50 million TED talks, TED released for the first time the list of the Top 10 TED talks (below). These are the talks that have proven most popular over time, and -- interestingly -- they mainly feature speakers who were little-known before their talk was released. The most popular talk, viewed 2 1/2 million times and counting, features neuroscientist Jill Bolte Taylor, who observed her own stroke while it was happening.

Watch the Top 10 Talks highlights video >>

Top 10 TEDTalks of all time
1. Jill Bolte Taylor's stroke of insight
2. Jeff Han's touchscreen foreshadows the iPhone and more
3. David Gallo shows underwater astonishments
4. Blaise Aguera y Arcas demos Photosynth
5. Arthur Benjamin does "mathemagic"
6. Sir Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity
7. Hans Rosling shows the best stats you've ever seen
8. Tony Robbins asks why we do what we do
9. Al Gore on averting a climate crisis
10. Johnny Lee demos Wii Remote hacks

Who owns TED

TED is owned by The Sapling Foundation, a private nonprofit foundation, a 501(c)3 organization under US tax code. It was established in 1996 by Chris Anderson, who was at that time a magazine publishing entrepreneur. The goal of the foundation is to foster the spread of great ideas. It aims to provide a platform for the world's smartest thinkers, greatest visionaries and most-inspiring teachers, so that millions of people can gain a better understanding of the biggest issues faced by the world, and a desire to help create a better future. Core to this goal is a belief that there is no greater force for changing the world than a powerful idea. Consider:

• An idea can be created out of nothing except an inspired imagination.
• An idea weighs nothing.
• It can be transferred across the world at the speed of light for virtually zero cost.
• And yet an idea, when received by a prepared mind, can have extraordinary impact.
• It can reshape that mind's view of the world.
• It can dramatically alter the behavior of the mind's owner.
• It can cause the mind to pass on the idea to others.

Sir Ken Robinson at NAIS 2008

Sir Ken Robinson was one of the keynote speakers at the National Association of Independent Schools Annual Conference in New York last year.

Sir Ken Robinson at NAIS.

His message is that creativity should be valued as a critical skill in our school systems. It is not really a priority. Why not? If we are committed to preparing our children for the future in the 21st century, which we have identified as largely unknowable and highly different from the decades of the 50s, 60s, 70, and 80s, then why is it so crazy an idea that our educational systems need to rethink themselves?

One's capacity for imagination and creativity is fundamental to our future, as individuals and as schools.

Stanford Professor William Damon to Speak at GSL

Tuesday, November 11, 7:00 p.m., Grace-St. Luke's Sanctuary
free and open to the public (bring a friend)
Book signing
SACs credit

William Damon, author of The Path to Purpose: Helping Our Children Find Their Calling in Life, will speak at Grace-St. Luke's School on Tuesday, November 11 at 7:00 p.m. in the church sanctuary on the corner of Peabody and Belvedere. Damon is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, the director of the Stanford Center on Adolescence, and a professor of education at Stanford University. His current research explores how people develop character and a sense of purpose in their work, family, school, and community relationships. He examines how young people can approach their careers with a focus on purpose, self-understanding, imagination, and high standards of excellence. Damon also has written widely about how to educate for ethical understanding.

It is with great intention that Grace-St. Luke's invites Dr. Damon to speak about his book The Path to Purpose. This school year at Grace-St. Luke's will focus on helping each child start the process of understanding themselves as learners, with each child engaging in intentional programs and processes to discover their strengths, their learning style, and how to use this awareness to become strategic learners. Damon's work furthers the discussion to include how parents and teachers can use a child's self awareness and understanding as a platform to guide them to a sense of purpose, mission, calling or passion early in life. Finding a passion or calling early, Damon postulates, thereby gives a child a lens or powerful sense of meaning to the whole education journey.

About William Damon

William Damon is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, the director of the Stanford Center on Adolescence, and a professor of education at Stanford University. His current research explores how people develop character and a sense of purpose in their work, family, school, and community relationships. He examines how young people can approach their careers with a focus on purpose, self-understanding, imagination, and high standards of excellence. Damon also has written widely about how to educate for ethical understanding.

Damon's most recent books are Taking Philanthropy Seriously: Beyond Noble Intentions to Responsible Giving (2006); The Moral Advantage: How to Succeed in Business by Doing the Right Thing (2004); and Noble Purpose: The Joy of Living a Meaningful Life (2003). Earlier books include Bringing in a New Era in Character Education (2002); Good Work: When Excellence and Ethics Meet (2001); The Youth Charter (1997); Greater Expectations: Overcoming the Culture of Indulgence in Our Homes and Schools (1995); and The Moral Child (1990).

Damon is editor-in-chief of The Handbook of Child Psychology, fifth and sixth editions (1998 and 2006). He is an elected member of the National Academy of Education.

Damon has received awards and grants supporting his research from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the John Templeton Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the Pew Charitable Trusts.

Before coming to Stanford in 1997, Damon was a professor of education and University Professor at Brown University, where he continues to hold an appointment as an adjunct professor of human development. From 1973 to 1989 Damon held a variety of academic positions at Clark University and, in 1988, was a distinguished visiting professor at the University of Puerto Rico. Damon received his bachelor's degree from Harvard University and his Ph.D. in developmental psychology from the University of California, Berkeley. He is married and has three children.

Damon in Independent School magazine

Here is the link to Dr. Damon's cover article in Independent School magazine. Of course, in the spring I had no idea that Dr. Damon would be featured in Independent School magazine, but I am thrilled that he is. This makes GSL look really smart and timely, on our game.

In this article, Damon addresses the issue of student disengagement, which he deems as one of the most pressing problems in education today. And, he says, the problem is "not confined to disadvantaged neighborhoods, failing schools, or poorly-run classrooms." Dr. Damon contends that "even in the most privileged schools, there are students who find little meaning in the work they are expected to do." These student do their work dutiful and to high accolade, but Dr. Damon's research proves that they are at great risk for burnout when a sense of purpose is missing.
How can we more consistently remember to paint the big picture for our students, explicitly drawing the threads/connections from the lessons to their interests in life? Can we do a better job at making education relevant? Is it worth the effort?

(Dr. Damon says the more interested a kid, the more engaged he or she is, and the more engaged, the better he or she behaves and the more they learn, the more skills he or she develops. He says that moral behavior follows a sense of purpose.)

Damon's Advice for Parents and Teachers

What do I want to be when I grow up? Children ask this, but do we really help them use this question to become the person they imagine themselves in the future? Do we help them become people who love what they do and find a sense of lasting satisfaction from the contribution they are making to the world? William Damon, in his
new book, The Path to Purpose: Helping Our Children Find Their Calling In Life, gives specific steps for parents and teachers to support kids in becoming who and what they want to be when they grow up.

In his studies of where a sense of purpose in life comes from, Dr. Damon identifies a set of factors that are crucial. His recommendation is that parents and teachers become more mindful of these factors in the day-to-day moments in order to help guide children to find their calling. A calling, he defines as that "fit" between what one is good at, what one enjoys, and what excites and excites the more we delve deeper. His suggestions are not difficult or complicated. With a little mindfulness, these can be woven into many interactions we have with chldren and students. (from chapter 6, "Parenting for Purpose")

1) Listen closely for the spark, every child has one. Fan the flames
2) Take advantage of regular opportunities to open a dialogue
3) Be open-minded and supportive of the sparks of interests expressed
4) Convey your own sense of purpose and the meaning you derive from your work
5) Impact wisdom about the practicalities in life
6) Introduce children to possible mentors
7) Encourage an entrepreneurial attitude
8) Nurture a positive attitude. Avoid cynicism at all costs
9) Instill in children a feeling of agency (a sense of their own power and capability) and link this to responsibility.

The Path to Purpose Website

Here is the link to Dr. Damon's The Path to Purpose webpage