Angela’s Favourite TED Talk

Talk: Changing Education Paradigms by Ken Robinson

Why: Ken Robinson’s TED talk “Changing Education Paradigms” is one of my favourites.

There are many different types of learning and many different types of intelligence. Unfortunately, as Robinson notes, our current system doesn’t always encourage people to work with their strengths, and thus limits them from achieving their full potential – perhaps achieving something the world has yet to conceive.

Through my years in high school, I often found myself thinking that my time would be better spent doing other tasks, or learning more about subjects that I genuinely wanted to pursue instead of solely those in the assigned curriculum. Fortunately for me, I was still able to pursue my interests outside of school and later on in life, but things don’t work out like this for everyone.

In fact, I’ve seen many people become lost after high school because they weren’t prepared to make a decision on how to move forward. They were stuck in the conveyor belt mentality, waiting to be told where to go next. This is an unfortunate reality facing youth and—with the job market being as competitive as it is—a troubling one.

I think that different people, with different specialties, working together is key to driving innovation. Though I think there are pros and cons to the current public school system, the reality is that everyone has a different set of strengths and our society could benefit greatly by taking advantage of these differences.

Link: http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_changing_education_paradigms

About Angela Stairs (Social Media)

Angela has been trained in the art of the communication, with a particular agility on social media. She believes that different points of view make the world a more vibrant place and is always open to discovering a journey through a new perspective.

Currently Media Relations Specialist at JS Communications, she is an adaptable storyteller with experience in writing and editing for newspapers, magazines, and online publications, as well as developing targeted messaging for communications and marketing projects in both for-profit and not-for-profit sectors.