Sir-Ken-Robinson-Bring-on-the-learning-revolution!

Iwasherefouryearsago,andIremember,atthetime,thatthetalksweren'tputonline.IthinktheyweregiventoTEDstersinabox,aboxsetofDVDs,whichtheyputontheirshelves,wheretheyarenow.(Laughter)Andactually,ChriscalledmeaweekafterI'dgivenmytalkandhesaid,We'regoingtostartputtingthemonline.Canweputyoursonline?AndIsaid,Sure.Andfouryearslater,asIsaid,it'sbeenseenbyfour...Well,it'sbeendownloadedfourmilliontimes.SoIsupposeyoucouldmultiplythatby20orsomethingtogetthenumberofpeoplewho'veseenit.And,asChrissays,thereisahungerforvideosofme.(Laughter)(Applause)...don'tyoufeel?(Laughter)So,thiswholeeventhasbeenanelaboratebuild-uptomedoinganotheroneforyou,sohereitis.(Laughter)AlGorespokeattheTEDconferenceIspokeatfouryearsagoandtalkedabouttheclimatecrisis.AndIreferencedthatattheendofmylasttalk.SoIwanttopickupfromtherebecauseIonlyhad18minutes,frankly.So,asIwassaying...(Laughter)Yousee,he'sright.Imean,thereisamajorclimatecrisis,obviously,andIthinkifpeopledon'tbelieveit,theyshouldgetoutmore.(Laughter)ButIbelievethere'sasecondclimatecrisis,whichisassevere,whichhasthesameorigins,andthatwehavetodealwithwiththesameurgency.AndImeanbythis--andyoumaysay,bytheway,Look,I'mgood.Ihaveoneclimatecrisis;Idon'treallyneedthesecondone.Butthisisacrisisof,notnaturalresources--thoughIbelievethat'strue--butacrisisofhumanresources.Ibelievefundamentally,asmanyspeakershavesaidduringthepastfewdays,thatwemakeverypooruseofourtalents.Verymanypeoplegothroughtheirwholeliveshavingnorealsenseofwhattheirtalentsmaybe,oriftheyhaveanytospeakof.Imeetallkindsofpeoplewhodon'tthinkthey'rereallygoodatanything.Actually,Ikindofdividetheworldintotwogroupsnow.JeremyBentham,thegreatutilitarianphilosopher,oncespikedthisargument.Hesaid,Therearetwotypesofpeopleinthisworld:thosewhodividetheworldintotwotypesandthosewhodonot.(Laughter)Well,Ido.(Laughter)Imeetallkindsofpeoplewhodon'tenjoywhattheydo.Theysimplygothroughtheirlivesgettingonwithit.Theygetnogreatpleasurefromwhattheydo.Theyendureitratherthanenjoyitandwaitfortheweekend.ButIalsomeetpeoplewholovewhattheydoandcouldn'timaginedoinganythingelse.Ifyousaidtothem,Don'tdothisanymore,they'dwonderwhatyouweretalkingabout.Becauseitisn'twhattheydo,it'swhotheyare.Theysay,Butthisisme,youknow.Itwouldbefoolishformetoabandonthis,becauseitspeakstomymostauthenticself.Andit'snottrueofenoughpeople.Infact,onthecontrary,Ithinkit'sstilltrueofaminorityofpeople.Ithinktherearemanypossibleexplanationsforit.Andhighamongthemiseducation,becauseeducation,inaway,dislocatesverymanypeoplefromtheirnaturaltalents.Andhumanresourcesarelikenaturalresources;they'reoftenburieddeep.Youhavetogolookingforthem,they'renotjustlyingaroundonthesurface.Youhavetocreatethecircumstanceswheretheyshowthemselves.Andyoumightimagineeducationwouldbethewaythathappens,buttoooftenit'snot.Everyeducationsystemintheworldisbeingreformedatthemomentandit'snotenough.Reformisnouseanymore,becausethat'ssimplyimprovingabrokenmodel.Whatweneed--andtheword'sbeenusedmanytimesduringthecourseofthepastfewdays--isnotevolution,butarevolutionineducation.Thishastobetransformedintosomethingelse.(Applause)Oneoftherealchallengesistoinnovatefundamentallyineducation.Innovationishardbecauseitmeansdoingsomethingthatpeopledon'tfindveryeasy,forthemostpart.Itmeanschallengingwhatwetakeforgranted,thingsthatwethinkareobvious.Thegreatproblemforreformortransformationisthetyrannyofcommonsense;thingsthatpeoplethink,Well,itcan'tbedoneanyotherwaybecausethat'sthewayit'sdone.IcameacrossagreatquoterecentlyfromAbrahamLincoln,whoIthoughtyou'dbepleasedtohavequotedatthispoint.(Laughter)HesaidthisinDecember1862tothesecondannualmeetingofCongress.IoughttoexplainthatIhavenoideawhatwashappeningatthetime.Wedon'tteachAmericanhistoryinBritain.(Laughter)Wesuppressit.Youknow,thisisourpolicy.(Laughter)So,nodoubt,somethingfascinatingwashappeninginDecember1862,whichtheAmericansamonguswillbeawareof.Buthesaidthis:Thedogmasofthequietpastareinadequatetothestormypresent.Theoccasionispiledhighwithdifficulty,andwemustrisewiththeoccasion.Ilovethat.Notrisetoit,risewithit.Asourcaseisnew,sowemustthinkanewandactanew.Wemustdisenthrallourselves,andthenweshallsaveourcountry.Ilovethatword,disenthrall.Youknowwhatitmeans?Thatthereareideasthatallofusareenthralledto,whichwesimplytakeforgrantedasthenaturalorderofthings,thewaythingsare.Andmanyofourideashavebeenformed,nottomeetthecircumstancesofthiscentury,buttocopewiththecircumstancesofpreviouscenturies.Butourmindsarestillhypnotizedbythem,andwehavetodisenthrallourselvesofsomeofthem.Now,doingthisiseasiersaidthandone.It'sveryhardtoknow,bytheway,whatitisyoutakeforgranted.(Laughter)Andthereasonisthatyoutakeitforgranted.Soletmeaskyousomethingyoumaytakeforgranted.Howmanyofyouhereareovertheageof25?That'snotwhatIthinkyoutakeforgranted,I'msureyou'refamiliarwiththatalready.Arethereanypeoplehereundertheageof25?Great.Now,thoseover25,couldyouputyourhandsupifyou'rewearingyourwristwatch?Nowthat'sagreatdealofus,isn'tit?Askaroomfullofteenagersthesamething.Teenagersdonotwearwristwatches.Idon'tmeantheycan'torthey'renotallowedto,theyjustoftenchoosenotto