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A review by jrobles76
Creative Schools: The Grassroots Revolution That's Transforming Education by Ken Robinson, Lou Aronica
5.0
This is one of those books that is really important and should be read by everyone. I don't see that happening, but it really should. College courses on education and administration should require this as part of the curriculum. You may have seen Sir Ken Robinson's TED Talk where he discusses the industrial system of education and how it is failing students. This book outlines several ways we can better serve students, with real world examples of schools that are succeeding. This is also a great book for business leaders on how to think about change and doing what works, even within a system that has strict guidelines. If I took away nothing else, the three steps for change would leave me better off: critique, vision, and theory. To change things for the better, you need an honest Critique of how things are, a Vision of how they should be, and a Theory of change to move from one to the other. I've been doing this at my job for a while, but now I have a better way of explaining it.
Sir Robinson never suggests that change will be easy, but he makes a strong case for why it is necessary. One idea that stuck out to me was how educators would respond negatively, or hopelessly, about the ability to change things. "We have these regulations we must adhere to," or, "My principal won't go for that." We need to shift our focus on the things we can change and the things we do control. As a teacher are you really required to give a test every week? Is handing out a worksheet with fill-in-the-blanks an accurate means of assessment? Is lecturing and then testing your students on how much they can regurgitate really the best way? These are things a teacher can control. You can seek to engage students or you can set yourself up as their adversary. That is something you control.
The book touches on many subjects across the education spectrum, from student to teacher to administration to politicians. Sir Ken Robinson has been doing this for decades and has experience in many different areas, but what comes across most is that he doesn't believe there is only one solution, there are many. He gives you the tools to start asking questions and shows you where to find some answers. It is always a good book that gets you shopping for other books to read.
I don't have any children in school, but the education of future generations is important to me, because those are my fellow citizens. They will have to make decisions that impact my life, they will work or create the companies I will patronize. We need them to be prepared to tackle any challenge, not just specific ones. This book along with Fareed Zakaria's In Defense of a Liberal Education and Alfie Kohn's The Homework Myth provide an outline of what we need from education and what needs to change.
Sir Robinson never suggests that change will be easy, but he makes a strong case for why it is necessary. One idea that stuck out to me was how educators would respond negatively, or hopelessly, about the ability to change things. "We have these regulations we must adhere to," or, "My principal won't go for that." We need to shift our focus on the things we can change and the things we do control. As a teacher are you really required to give a test every week? Is handing out a worksheet with fill-in-the-blanks an accurate means of assessment? Is lecturing and then testing your students on how much they can regurgitate really the best way? These are things a teacher can control. You can seek to engage students or you can set yourself up as their adversary. That is something you control.
The book touches on many subjects across the education spectrum, from student to teacher to administration to politicians. Sir Ken Robinson has been doing this for decades and has experience in many different areas, but what comes across most is that he doesn't believe there is only one solution, there are many. He gives you the tools to start asking questions and shows you where to find some answers. It is always a good book that gets you shopping for other books to read.
I don't have any children in school, but the education of future generations is important to me, because those are my fellow citizens. They will have to make decisions that impact my life, they will work or create the companies I will patronize. We need them to be prepared to tackle any challenge, not just specific ones. This book along with Fareed Zakaria's In Defense of a Liberal Education and Alfie Kohn's The Homework Myth provide an outline of what we need from education and what needs to change.