Darcy Kesterson - Life After High School

TED Talk: Changing Education Paradigms - Ken Robinson

In this specific TED talk, Ken Robinson talks about how most kids are getting their creativity educated out of them. When kids are young, they have massive amounts of potential to think creatively and use their imagination, but as they grow up their minds get solely wrapped up in learning. Before I really figured out what I wanted to do after I graduated high school, I spend most of my summers volunteering with kids. I began to fall in love with their imaginations, the way that they were always positive and coming up with brilliant idea after idea. I’ve always wondered why children seemed to be so inspiring with their perspective on life and this TED talk caught my eye.

Sir Ken Robinson was born and raised in England. He went through all his minor schooling and then attended at the University of Leeds to study English and drama. Once he got his Bachelor of Education there, he received a PhD at the University of London. Robinson spent most of his life in England, working through different programs all throughout Britain with an initiative to develop the arts educations. He talked mostly with the teachers and administrators rather than the children themselves. His main purgative was to stress the importance of the mind and letting its creative juices to flow. In 2003, Robinson was knighted for everything he did for inspiring creativity in education and the arts, as well as the economy. He wrote several books on the topics of the arts and the necessity of creativity. After listening to this TED talk, Robinson seems like a very well spoken man. He carriers himself in a very high manner and is very eloquent in his speech. His mind is clearly one of a creative genius. When he explains his ideas to the crowd, his point is easy to understand and clear. Since most of his time is spent reaching out to adult audiences, these qualities are necessary for his line of work.

Out of high school and into college, I think I would like to study education. I’ve been working with kids throughout my entire life, and I couldn’t imagine myself doing anything else as a career. Over the summers before I graduation from college, I hope to intern at a school and sit in a few classrooms. I’m still in contact with a few of my elementary school teachers and a few of them have already opened the possibility of me observing their classroom if I ever wanted to. One of the only things I am uncertain about is once I am a teacher, which age group I would like to teach. In Robinson’s talk, he stressed the difference in between young children and teenagers – the children had such creativity and imagination. In the past, I have volunteered at summer camps and worked with kids aged from six to fourteen. The smaller kids always seemed to have a wonderful time with all the crafts and they always seemed to have a positive outlook on what was going on. The older kids weren’t as spontaneous, but I felt as if I could hold a (somewhat) intellectual conversation with them.

My first paid job was as a head coach for a middle school softball team. Coaching a bunch of girls who had never even seen a softball before was challenging, but I was up for the task. They all had positive attitudes and I used that to help propel them forward. While working with them, I had several animated conversations that I’m pretty sure I’ll remember for a while, whether it was just joking around with them or actually conversing about the sport itself. Sometimes, I struggled to find new things to do with them. I didn’t want them to get discouraged and want to give up something that they had barely learned the basics of and I wanted them to have fun. Having a creative outlook on this definitely helped me think up new ways to do drills and scrimmages.

I hope that when I’m a teacher, whichever age group I end up teaching, that I will inspire my kids with a mature sense of imagination. My past work experiences should help me with this, and if I keep the goal in mind to keep children’s creativity running strong, I’m sure the future will be a brighter place.