Hvis du, som så mange andre, mangler godt selskab i det coronaforbandede 2020's sidste dage, hvis du savner et ansigt, en stemme og nogle ord, der kan få dig til at smile og tro på, at næste år bliver bedre, at der er håb for fremtiden, så lyt til Sir Ken Robinson, som vi mistede alt for tidligt.

I heard a great story recently - I love telling it - of a little girl who was in a drawing lesson. She was 6, and she was in the back, drawing. The teacher said this little girl hardly ever paid attention. In this drawing lesson, she did. And the teacher was fascinated. 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 that nobody knows what God looks like, and the girl said, they will in a minute.

Kids will take a chance. If they don't know, they'll have a go. Am I right? They're not frightened of being wrong. Now, I don't mean to say that being wrong is the same thing as being creative. What we do know is if you're not prepared to be wrong, you will never come up with anything original.

Transskriptioner af Ken Robinsons taler burde ikke være tilladt. Det svarer til at se en god film med bind for øjnene. Ken Robinson talte med samme frimodige selvsikkerhed og overbevisning som pigen, der tegnede Gud. Sådan forholder det sig med skolen, det må vi lave om på, desuden har jeg en sjov historie, som illustrerer min pointe.

Jeg har som hundrede millioner andre tilhørere kun set og hørt Ken Robinson der på en flad computerskærm, men sådan føltes det aldrig, det føltes som et møde med en klog, vittig og begejstret veltalende ven på en pub i Liverpool, hvor han voksede op.

(…) human life is inherently creative. It’s why we all have different résumés. We create our lives, and we can recreate them as we go through them. It’s the common currency of being a human being. It’s why human culture is so interesting and diverse and dynamic. 

Der kom ikke mange tørre sætninger over hans læber, før hans øjne begyndte at smile, og man vidste, at endnu et underfundigt og kærligt ironisk sidespring var på vej ud af hans barnligt krøllede hjerne.

I mean, other animals may well have imaginations and creativity, but it’s not so much in evidence, is it, as ours? I mean, you may have a dog. And your dog may get depressed. You know, but it doesn’t listen to Radiohead, does it? And sit staring out the window with a bottle of Jack Daniels.

“Would you like to come for a walk?”

“No, I’m fine. You go. I’ll wait. But take pictures.”

Ken Robinson kunne have solgt sand i Sahara (undervist akademisk som professor) heldigvis valgte han at bruge sine talenter og kræfter på at sælge menneskelighed, mangfoldighed og kreativitet til en skole og et uddannelsessystem som standardisering, test, målstyring og konkurrence har gjort iskold og ødelæggende for elevernes trivsel og motivation til at lære.

We all create our own lives through this restless process of imagining alternatives and possibilities, and one of the roles of education is to awaken and develop these powers of creativity. Instead, what we have is a culture of standardization.

Not far from where I live is a place called Death Valley. Death Valley is the hottest, driest place in America, and nothing grows there. Nothing grows there because it doesn’t rain. Hence, Death Valley. In the winter of 2004, it rained in Death Valley. Seven inches of rain fell over a very short period. And in the spring of 2005, there was a phenomenon. The whole floor of Death Valley was carpeted in flowers for a while. What it proved is this: that Death Valley isn’t dead. It’s dormant. Right beneath the surface are these seeds of possibility waiting for the right conditions to come about, and with organic systems, if the conditions are right, life is inevitable. It happens all the time. You take an area, a school, a district, you change the conditions, give people a different sense of possibility, a different set of expectations, a broader range of opportunities, you cherish and value the relationships between teachers and learners, you offer people the discretion to be creative and to innovate in what they do, and schools that were once bereft spring to life.

Lad os ære Sir Ken Robinsons minde ved at fortsætte hans kamp for elevernes ret til at blomstre i en ny naturlig skole, der dyrker mangfoldigheden, samarbejdet, venligheden og kreativiteten.

Glædelig jul og godt nytår

https://www.ted.com/talks/view?language=en

https://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_do_schools_kill_creativity