Ken Robinson: How to escape education's Death Valley

This speech was given as part of a TV Special: TED Talks Education given in May of 2013. The focus of the speeches were on how to create an educational system that works for kids instead of against them. Ken Robinson did an incredible job of focusing on this topic while using Dr. BJ Fogg's Behavioral Change Model as he spoke. Dr. Ken Robinson believes that human beings are naturally diverse and different. He believes that curiosity is how we light the spark in children who are natural learners. He also believes that human life is creative. Through his speech he persuades his audience to change the way they view education and help them understand that education is about people and not about data or test results. 

BJ Fogg would say that there are three elements that must converge at the same moment for a behavior to occur. The first thing necessary to change behavior is to have the motivation to change. We want to avoid pain and have pleasure in life. We are pain avoiders.  Dr. Robinson gives us specific examples of the future pain we want to avoid when we educate our students strictly on test scores and grades. He says we should have the motivation to improve the educational system for our children and grandchildren and the motivation to improve overall education to help with our future. He suggests that the way to educate students that will bring pleasure to both students and educators is to give equal weight to arts, humanity, and physical education and not just focus on math and science.

Dr. Fogg also says we should have hope and not fear. We as humans want to have something to look forward to.  Dr. Robinson points out that the way our education system is currently moving should cause us some fear. We should want better education because we want a better future for our children and society. Toward the end of his speech Dr. Robinson gives us that hope. He suggests changes that can be made to help the education system. He compares education to Death Valley. He told how it is named that because it is the hottest, driest place on earth where nothing grows. He told the audience that in the fall of 2004 it rained 7 inches and so in the spring of 2015 flowers grew on the floor of Death Valley. He recognizes that effective and proper public education is not dead it is just dormant. The surface of education has the seeds that are just waiting for the conditions to change and the rain to come so that our education system and our students can blossom and grow in the desert they currently exist in.

Another part of Fogg’s motivation is cohesion or association with others. He believes that people want to be accepted and not rejected. Robinson points out that our current educational system is rejecting those students who do not fit the institutionalized mold. Those students who do not sit still and buy in to all that is taught are now medicated and labeled ADHD. They are given bad grades and they eventually drop out believing that they cannot be successful without a college degree. Robinson gave an example of a young girl who could not sit still and who ended up being an amazing dancer and a world famous choreographer. She is very successful and wealthy now. She has found a place where she is accepted.

The second element that must converge is abilities. Fogg believes that in order to change behavior a person must have the ability to do so. He says the hard way is to train people to give them more skill, but suggests the easier thing to do is to simplify what they must do. He also says that time and money can be involved in abilities. If a person does not have the time or the money to change their behavior then it is not possible. Robinson claims that making changes to the education system is simply a matter of climate control. He says that now there is command and control in the schools and the way we educate. He suggests changing the climate to accept that humans are naturally diverse and different, curiosity is the way natural learners achieve, and human life is creative. He wants to put control back in the classrooms. He reminds us that education is simply about people.

The third element that must be present is a trigger. Fogg says that without a trigger the behavior will not happen. Triggers can be cues, prompts, requests, offers, and so on. The three specific triggers that Fogg mentions are facilitator, signal and spark. Robinson does a great job of being a facilitator and tapping in at the intrinsic level. He inspires people to believe that America can have a great educational system like Finland. He tells the audience to think about the simple things done in Finland where they have high test scores and no drop outs. He says it is as simple as individualizing teaching, attributing high status to the teaching profession, and dissolving the responsibility to the school for getting the job done.

Robinson is very persuasive and constructs all of the process premises in his speech. He helps us see that we all have a need to improve the education system in the United States for the emotional security and creative outlets of our students. Changing the education system will help students’ self-esteem and sense of belonging. They will feel safer in school and be more willing to take risks and be creative.

The second process premise he helps us see is that of emotions. He uses the fear of negative results in the future as well as giving us the feeling of pride that we can improve and do better. He really focuses on how much happier students and educators will be when these tiny changes are made.

The third process premise of attitudes is easy to see when you pay attention to how Robinson frames the problem with our educational system. He shares his opinion and has us see how we agree with him. We know that we can improve and do better and we feel like we want to help be part of the change. We can understand the simple behavioral changes that need to take place so we can help make the change.

The final Premise is consistency. Robinson points out that we are uncertain about the future with our educational system we currently have. He talks about how many children are really getting left behind. He talks about the economic loss we face with our current system and how we are not the top nation in education. For those who believe that our education system is fine and that we are moving in the right direction this conversation might cause some dissonance. Because of his research and the way he presents his message it is compelling and moves one to change their belief and want to help make a change.