The Young School Will "Rise With" the Occasion.

If you have 18 minutes and you care about education, watch this.  Sir Ken Robinson will be here in Oklahoma City next month for the Creativity World Forum and I personally can not wait to hear what he has to say.  Watching his talks reinforces everything that I want to do at The Young School.

I once heard from a docent at the Museum that in gardening, if you put plants in the place that's right for them, they will flourish.  If they get the amount of light or shade that they need and if they get the right amount of water, they will grow.  Ironically, I was telling my walking partner in the Race for the Cure just this morning that I thought people were exactly the same.  When they find their passion they will grow.  They also find what it is that they are meant to give to the world and we need everyone's contribution in order for this world to be its best!

In education, I believe that we need to help children and adults to find their passion.  No two people are the same, so the education model we have for everyone doesn't work.  It's not that the teachers don't work.  They are the hardest working people on the planet, and the most underpaid, but we have to change the way that we approach what we are giving kids in this country through school.

I am not claiming to know everything about education or to even say that we will be a school that could replace what we currently have.  We will be more of a community center after school hours than anything else.  But I know that if things go according to our plan, anyone that walks through our doors and takes a class will be encouraged to find their passion and to grow...and it will be done through creativity.  (Those sweet little preschoolers will have the experience that is closest to a school setting, but even that will take a different form.  I'll take a future blog to talk about my ideas for that.)

Sir Ken Robinson says that education has to "rise with" the occasion, not "rise to" it.  The world is changing and there is a revolution in educational models all over the world.  We have to move with this change in order to give kids and adults what they really and truly need.  We have to feed their energy, spirit and passion in order for learning to resonate with each person as they are, who they are and where they are.  We have to customize the experience to the person in order to give the best education possible. We have to feed their spirit! (These are Sir Ken's words, but they are exactly what I have been trying to say through this project.)




Watch this video...it will inspire you.