There isn’t an education system on the planet that teaches dance everyday to children the way we teach them mathematics. Why?
The answer is not to standardize education, but to personalize and customize it to the needs of each child and community. There is no alternative. There never was.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Education should be tailored to the individual needs of children rather than adhering to a one-size-fits-all approach.
Ken Robinson emphasizes the importance of personalizing education to suit the unique requirements of each child and the community they belong to. He argues that standardization in education fails to address the diverse learning styles and needs of students, and thus, a customized approach is vital for effective learning. Robinson's assertion is that there has never been a successful alternative to this tailored strategy, highlighting the necessity of adapting educational practices to individual circumstances.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a conference on children's education, this quote can be used to emphasize the importance of adapting teaching methods.
More from Ken Robinson
All quotes →Creativity now is as important in education as literacy, and we should treat it with the same status.
When my son, James, was doing homework for school, he would have five or six windows open on his computer, Instant Messenger was flashing continuously, his cell phone was constantly ringing, and he was downloading music and watching the TV over his shoulder. I don’t know if he was doing any homework, but he was running an empire as far as I could see, so I didn’t really care.
Creativity is the greatest gift of human intelligence.
Teaching for creativity aims to encourage self-confidence, independence of mind, and the capacity to think for oneself.
Helping people to connect with their personal creative capacities is the surest way to release the best they have to offer.
Similar quotes
Notice how many of the Olympic athletes effusively thanked their mothers for their success? “She drove me to my practice at four in the morning,” etc. Writing is not figure skating or skiing. Your mother will not make you a writer. My advice to any young person who wants to write is: leave home.
Don't let schooling interfere with your education.
If your plan is for one year plant rice. If your plan is for ten years plant trees. If your plan is for one hundred years educate children.
Books, like proverbs, receive their chief value from the stamp and esteem of the ages through which they have passed.
I have read my books by many lights, hoarding their beauty, their wit or wisdom against the dark days when I would have no book, nor a place to read. I have known hunger of the belly kind many times over, but I have known a worse hunger: the need to know and to learn.
I don't teach anymore, but I can still clearly see fifth period after lunch - that's a real tough time to teach. And I tried to imagine writing a story that would appeal to those kids - even when they're tired, even when they're bouncing off the walls.