Sir Ken Robinson: what did he actually say, and what is the criticism?

Sir Ken Robinson was a British speaker and education adviser. He became known for the 2006 TED talk “Do schools kill creativity?”, which is one of the most watched TED talks ever.

What did he argue in the talk?

The talk is humorous and built on stories, not on tables. Its core can be summed up in four claims. This is a paraphrase, not a quotation, so check the original yourself.

1. Creativity is as important in education as reading and writing, and should have the same status.
2. Children dare to try even when they do not know the answer, while many adults have learned to fear being wrong. Robinson believed that school systems contribute to this.
3. School subjects are ranked in a hierarchy. Mathematics and languages are at the top, the arts at the bottom. He believed this reflects an industrial-age idea of what leads to a job.
4. Schools educate too much from the neck up, and pay little attention to the body, movement and imagination.

EstablishedThis is what the talk is about. That he argued this way is not disputed.

Watch the animation: “Changing Education Paradigms”

Video · 12 min · English

This is not the 2006 TED talk. It is a hand-drawn animation from the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), made in 2010 from a talk Robinson gave there. It looks at how school systems were built for industrial society, and why he thinks they fit poorly today. The video lasts about 12 minutes. Switch on captions in the player if you need them.

OpinionThe animation shows Robinson’s perspective, not documented research. Watch it together with the criticism below.

What is the criticism?

Critics have pointed to several weaknesses. They do not necessarily disagree that creativity is important.

• He relied mostly on anecdotes and charm, not on research. The claim that school “kills” creativity is not documented in the talk.
• Creativity is not separate from subject knowledge. Many researchers, among them the American psychologist Daniel Willingham, have argued that ideas build on what you already know. Separating the two then becomes too simple.
• The hierarchy between subjects is a claim about values and the labour market, not something that can be measured directly.

DisputedWhether school actually reduces students’ creativity is disputed. There are measurement tools, but they measure different things and do not give one clear answer.

How can you read the talk critically?

Separate three kinds of claims while you watch:

Type	Example from the debate	How to check
Value	Creative subjects should have the same status as maths	Discuss it. It is a choice, not a fact
Description	School ranks subjects in a hierarchy	Look at lesson hours and curricula at Udir
Cause	School makes children less creative	Requires studies that follow the same children over time

OpinionMany would say the talk’s most important contribution was putting the topic on the agenda, not proving anything.

What does this mean for you at school?

You can take with you what holds up, without accepting everything. Yes, you should get to practise guessing and trying. No, you do not get out of learning the basics first. Both help you think in new ways.

Read more about what creativity is in Creativity in school. For the youngest students, play is a central topic, see Play-based learning (in Norwegian). For homework and open tasks, see Creativity and homework (in Norwegian).