Remembering Ken Robinson

"The fact is that given the challenges we face, education doesn’t need to be reformed — it needs to be transformed. The key to this transformation is not to standardize education, but to personalize it, to build achievement on discovering the individual talents of each child, to put students in an environment where they want to learn and where they can naturally discover their true passions.”

Dear Friends,

Sir Ken Robinson has died and I wanted to honor him by sharing his TEDtalk for those of you who have never seen it, or not seen it in a while. It strikes me that we have never been more in line with Robinson's ideal than we are this year. The whole combination of outdoor play, reinvention of the classroom culture and structures that keep kids at the center, students having space to explore their surroundings as leaders not followers, and prioritizing community and creativity is sublime. Sir Ken would have been delighted to see our school making sweet lemonade out of the sour lemons of the pandemic. The evolution of our program is adaptive and organic, which are central to his crusade for the transformation of 21st Century education.

Before you watch, I want you to know that I feel Robinson kind of oversimplified and handled ADHD in a somewhat upsetting manner in his talk. That said, he effectively got across that in an ideal world ADHD would be seen as and maybe even called something else ("Attention-Deserving Happy Dreamers," or some such). ADHD would be seen as a learning benefit, because those who possess it liven things up, demand engaging lessons, bring energy and creativity to the world. And yes, maybe those who have this diagnosis would be seen as less of a problem and more of an asset.

Ultimately, so much of what Robinson preached is what I believe. I appreciate and obviously share his longing for a world where school is am absolute haven. In fact, that's why I am part of the Center School. It's the closest to an educational haven I've experienced, with a community that supports the endeavor and children and teachers who are more than up to the challenge of living our education with gusto!

RIP Sir Ken. I am glad to say, we're doing our best to carry out your dream.

Have a great week, all!

Charlie Spencer

Head of School