One of the best talks that I have seen from the TED conference website recently is one given by Sir Ken Robinson on creativity and education.  Many people I have talked to actually have seen this talk in a class in school which may seem ironic.  Serious thought should be given into implementing creativity into the education system and less focus on the fear of failure.  Sir Ken Robinson keeps the talk light and humorous while maintaining a strong thesis that considers the style of the current education system and how it affects the future of children today.  Some notable quotes from the speech include:

Nobody has a clue…what the world will look like in five years’ time. And yet we’re meant to be educating them for it. So the unpredictability, I think, is extraordinary.

I heard a great story recently — I love telling it – of a little girl who was in a drawing lesson. She was six and she was at the back, drawing, and the teacher said this little girl hardly ever paid attention, and in this drawing lesson she did. The teacher was fascinated and she went over to her and she said, “What are you drawing?” And the girl said, “I’m drawing a picture of God.” And the teacher said, “But nobody knows what God looks like.” And the girl said, “They will in a minute.”

Picasso once said this. He said that all children are born artists. The problem is to remain an artist as we grow up. I believe this passionately,that we don’t grow into creativity, we grow out of it. Or rather, we get educated out if it. So why is this?

Note: Sir Ken Robinson has an excellent book called “The Element”

Bottom Line: The education system works for some but not for all.  The system is created to dilute creativity and promote conformity.  Some call the education system broken but when given the task of creating an education system that can correctly serve 300 million American individuals, who really has the right answer?