True reform, which won't happen

Sir Ken Robinson, a "world renowned education and creativity expert," gave this talk a couple of years ago which the RSA (Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) published this whiteboard marker video of.

Sir Ken makes several salient points about education and the way it should be reformed, which is, of course, the exact opposite direction of the way it is going. And, of course, I agree with him. Why else would I put this up?

The biggest point he makes is that our public education system is completely outdated and we are pushing toward reforming it into more of its outdated-ness. Basically, the structure of our system is based on the Industrial Revolution's model and has no bearing on what we now know about the development of the brain or how the 21st Century works, which is a bit different from the 19th, for those who haven't noticed.

I would love to work with the system he proposes, but it is impossible from within the system in which I work. If only policy makers would listen to experts in the field rather than figure out what the best economic plan is. If anyone would decide to actually do his job and make true reforming policy and then TEACH the public why that plan is best, there would be no real problem. But our government is too lazy and is run by people who just worry about the next election. Nothing really changes unless people start dying. Look at any major changes to the way the US does anything and you'll see that they are mainly based on catastrophe of some sort.

It amazes me how this country, which used to be a leader in nearly every field, has fallen behind in nearly every field because we settle for "fine" and "okay' rather than actually putting aside differences and politics and striving for "great."