Bennett, W. Paul. “The Trouble with Schooling: Why Do Schools Kill Curiosity?”

Word Press, 18 August 2012. https://educhatter.wordpress.com/2012/08/18/the-trouble-with-schooling-why-do-schools-kill-curiosity/

 

     The author Paul W. Bennet in this news article tells us readers a story from a book he would like all of us to know. Although he is not the author of this book he briefly explains how the current education system may be “flawed” or “outdated” with today’s standards. The book he is stating in his news article is, “The Curiosity of School” by Zander Sherman”. It talks about how Zander Sherman was raised in the rural fringes of a town in Muskoka, north of Toronto. Home-schooled he had intellectual independence. However it was soon neglected by his schools education system as he was not able to do any of his radical thinking boring him to death. To show his distaste in the educational system  he began writing and distributing his own pamphlets, The Anarchist, catching the attention of his principal getting him in trouble. Sherman in his book then describes how the educational system dates back to Prussia in the early 19th century. Under Prussian rule established a curriculum focused on social control. As insane as this may sound I would have to agree with the author as it feels some schools often dictate what we can learn and what we can’t. Sherman then states, “Behind it all, he sees an institutional commitment severely limiting students’ ability to find and pursue their own interests.” This quote means that to be in school grounds you are committing yourself to follow whatever rules may apply to “further” your education. It hinders students full potential and capability to truly immerse themselves in schools academically. The phrase, “school is a place to learn” is an understatement in some occasions as it is mostly a place to follow orders under a teachers or principle’s curriculum. 

The author’s writing style is that of a summary shortening the entire book, “The Curiosity of School”. Although it is simplistic it still makes the point across sharing his thoughts about the book. The author may not be credible as this is a depiction of what he sees as a well written brief summary while they’ll may be others with different perspectives. I believe the author chose this genre to let many others acknowledge the significance of this book and how it has broadened the landscape of our educational system. I believe it was a good choice for the audience as it kept them well informed of Sherman’s idea of the topic. 

Sir Ken Robinson, “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” TEDTalks

     In the youtube video presented by TEDTalks Robinson shares his thoughts and ideas about the question if all public schools truly kills creativity in students. During the video Robinson gives insight to the audience members how different education was back then compared to it now. He questions that since new discoveries and idea’s happen almost everyday how can we, “Teachers” help teach students for what’s to come in an unpredictable future. Time from the 90’s until today has significantly changed. All of society has changed. Including our clothing, our cellular devices, our taste in music etc. Robinson states that we wouldnt know what’s yet to come because we are so vast as humans. During his talk he explains how there was this girl who could not stand still. In his words, “The school in the 30’s wrote to her parents and said we think Julian has a learning disorder, she couldn’t concentrate. She was fidgeting. I think now they say she has ADHD. Wouldn’t you? But this was the 1930’s and ADHD hadn’t been invented. It wasn’t an available condition. Fast forward; “She said she was on her feet moving to the music and we watched for 4 minutes and turned to her mother and said Mrs Lynn Julian isn’t sick, she’s a dancer. She had a wonderful career at the ballot. She’s a multi millionaire. Somebody else might have put her on medication and tell her to calm down.” This inspirational line from Robinson explains how such creativity could have potentially been snuffed out due to such high demand from the education system. Not following such rules would be too, “different” for the educational system to handle almost having a fixed mindset. Robinson also states that what the educational system wants you to think that getting a degree would mean that you can have a job and that you can be successful. I agree that having a degree doesn’t always mean guaranteed success. There are many other celebrities that live a life of luxury without a single degree doing what they love best. 

Robinson gives a style where it is believable to can be seen today. I believe he is credible due to the amount of examples he has given during his presentation and how it can possibly impact our future career’s. Everyday is different with new beginnings and endings. In 30 years from now it would be significantly different from what it is today. I believe it was also a good choice for the audience to help them grasp the idea of how the education system may be outdated.