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Creativity20 min

Do schools kill creativity?

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  • SpeakerSir Ken Robinson
  • Length20 min
  • TopicCreativity
  • Key notes6

About this talk

In one of TED's best-loved talks, Sir Ken Robinson argues that creativity matters in education as much as literacy. With funny stories and one unforgettable one about a young dancer, he makes the case for schools that grow every kind of talent.

  • 20 min
  • Creativity
  • by Sir Ken Robinson
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Key notes

What to take away.

  1. 01
    Creativity is as important as literacy

    Robinson argues schools should give creativity the same status as reading and writing.

  2. 02
    Be willing to be wrong

    If you're not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything original.

  3. 03
    We grow out of creativity

    Children take chances, but many of us learn to fear mistakes as we grow up.

  4. 04
    Every school has the same ladder

    Maths and languages sit at the top and the arts at the bottom, almost everywhere in the world.

  5. 05
    Intelligence comes in many forms

    We think visually, in sound, in movement and in abstract ideas, and creativity often comes from mixing them.

  6. 06
    Some people move to think

    Choreographer Gillian Lynne struggled in school until someone saw she was a dancer, not a problem.

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