Honoring Sir Ken Robinson

 
For a more decade, Sir Ken Robinson has been known as a rock star--at least with teachers and when it comes to his viral social media. His infamous 2006 TED talk "Do Schools Kill Creativity?" still is one of the most-viewed TED Talks of all times. For that reason combined with his push for innovation, imagination, & creativity in education, it is with great sadness too learn of his passing at the age of 70 last Friday (August 21st, 2020).

It got me thinking about how his philosophy is sort of the heart of this blog: GTG. Creativity is the foundation of innovation, which is the key to solving many of the problems of our world. Additionally, he was an avid environmental activist. For that reason, it is fitting to honor him. 

In looking into Sir Ken's history, I ran across his New York Times bestseller The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything, a New York Times bestseller he co-wrote with Lou Aronica. It seemed only right to read. In it, he discusses the importance of marrying your personal talents, natural attitudes, and your own passions to reach your "Element" in order to achieve a future in which you thrive. It ties with those "21st century skills" especially given the global & technological change growing exponentially this last decade--and beyond into the future!  

It really causes you to think about it all in the wake of the pandemic and the necessary changes we had to make for spring remote learning... and hybrid learning (for me) this fall. In fact, he has a thoughts on this subject, just this past May.

He also spoke of imagination and empathy in part of his longer 2011 speech at the Dalai Lama Center for Peace & Education. Empathy seems to be a common theme these days in many places.

For more on Sir Ken Robinson and his brilliance and inspiration--or simply to pay tribute yourself to an amazing man who left this planet far too early, check out the following:

• His official website
• Sir Ken Robinson's YouTube Channel
• Sir Ken Robinson's Speaker page on TED.com where it features
• "Do Schools Kill Creativity" (June 2006)
• "Bring on the Learning Revolution (May 2010)
• "Changing Education Paradigms" (Dec. 2010)
• "How to Escape Education's Death Valley" (May 2013)

Image from https://www.facebook.com/SirKenRobinson/photos/a.1794274873930602/3582940128397392/, videos from https://youtu.be/QU4Q17t4muY and https://youtu.be/Yu2zcmb3yAQ , quote from https://theartofeducation.edu/podcasts/interview-sir-ken-robinson-ep-068/