At the beginning of the semester, we had an input from Susan on the sociology of education. Its aim was to aid our understanding of education systems and create awareness of social context and diversity within primary schools.

The video below is a recording of a lecture given by Sir Ken Robinson, a speaker and international advisor of education, on the subject of education paradigms. Robinson talks about how the current educational systems of the world are flawed and need to go through some major changes.

One of the main problems is that the current systems of education were designed during the industrial revolution years, which focused primarily on academic performance. We no longer live in such a society, so why then, in the words of Robinson, are we “trying to meet the future by doing what [we] did in the past?” It seems nonsensical considering our technologically advancements and the various new and exciting outlets for learning. It makes me question why our education systems have failed to follow the trend.

Which leads onto another issue affecting our current education system; the fact that it generally only benefits those children who fall under the category of academically intelligent. Those who aren’t as academically intelligent are forgotten about in a sense, which results in them losing interest and falling away from their studies.

This taps into an interesting point Robinson makes about Divergent Thinking (a thought process or method used to generate creative ideas by exploring many possible solutions) and how young children have an almost natural ability to think about various different concepts, but as they grow older and become ‘educated’, it begins to fade.

So how then are we as teachers meant to raise attainment if the systems put in place fail our children? The answer is, we can’t. Not unless we take a step back and rethink these traditional approaches to learning to ensure no child is left behind.

That way, we will be able to ensure we are flexible to the needs of our children, instead of stifling them with outdated systems of education.