RSA ANIMATE: Changing Education Paradigms
Ken Robinson
Ken Robinson argues that the modern education system was designed for a different era and systematically reduces divergent thinking in children.
Why we picked this
Robinson's TED talk went viral, but this RSA Animate version is arguably the sharper, more complete version of his argument.
If you’ve seen Robinson’s famous TED talk on creativity, this is the deeper cut. Here he broadens the lens from creativity to the entire paradigm underlying modern education — why we group children by age, why we separate subjects, why we treat attention disorders with medication instead of rethinking what we’re asking kids to pay attention to.
The most devastating moment comes when he presents research on divergent thinking: 98% of kindergarteners score at genius level, and the number drops catastrophically as they progress through school. The system doesn’t fail to nurture creativity — it actively destroys it.
Robinson died in 2020, but talks like this one ensure his ideas keep reaching new audiences. The RSA Animate format brings his arguments to life in ways that a standard lecture never could.