Sir Ken Robinson

Author, creativity expert and educationalist Sir Ken Robinson has gained world wide recognition through his TED talks. Not only is he inspiring and captivating, he’s also very funny. He uses humour to lighten and keep the viewers engaged and stimulated. I choose this particular video because it was recommended to me a couple of years ago as a great example of delivering a presentation. I remember pressing the start button and sitting with a note book in hand ready to record any helpful tips that could help with my impending lecture. Within the first two minutes the notes book had been put down and I sat there captivated by his talk titled ‘Bring on the learning revolution’. He speaks of how the current education system is linear and how education removes people from their talents. People conform to this model of schooling because as learners we do not know any better. Sir Ken Robinson strives for the current education system to be transformed into something else, a more organic approach. Teachers should be creating conditions that allow children's/ learners natural talents to flourish. He also talks about passion and how time seems to evaporate when you are doing what you love, which is very true. Here a couple of quotes I found inspiring: “Passion is what excites your spirit and energy” “Life is your talents discovered” Enjoy

The Do Lectures

DO LECTURES
IDEAS + ENERGY = CHANGE

The idea is a simple one. That people who Do things, can inspire the rest of us to go and Do things too. David Hieatt.

The Do Lectures started out in 2008 in a chicken shed in West Wales, Cardigan. The founders of this festival and conference style event, Clare and David Hieatt wanted to set about bringing the ‘Doers’ of the world together. A number of inspiring speakers and engaged attendees come together for 3 days in a beautiful location. The talks are synonymous with the world-renowned TED Talks, all the talks are videoed and shared on the Do Lectures website www.thedolectures.com

I felt compelled to include the Do Lectures on my blog, as it’s a fantastic event and immensely inspiring. It’s a great opportunity to learn from other people, from all walks of life and it is happening right on our doorsteps! One lecture that really stood out to me was by Alistair Smith, the creator of Accelerated Learning. His humour, passion and presenting style really resonated with me. In his ‘Do Talk’ he actively promotes learning through getting people to the edge of their comfort zones. He has developed an education model that encourages learners to unlock prior knowledge, share a strong sense of purpose and encourage deep questions and pattern recognition. At the end of the presentation he reads out a quote by Eric Hoffer.

  ‘In times of change the learners will inherit the earth, whilst the knower’s will be beautifully prepared for a world that no longer exists’. Eric Hoffer

Alistair Smith's approach to teaching I thought showed similarities to that of Kolbs learning cycle. David Kolb (1984) describes learning as something, which builds and grows. (Crawley, 2001). As teachers we strive to present learners with new and interesting experiences and provide an opportunity to reflect through modes of assessment and evaluation. With this newly acquired knowledge the learner can begin to adapt their behaviour to learning new things.

Take a look at Alistair Smiths talk, I found him inspiring.

https://vimeo.com/58955191
http://www.thedolectures.com/alistair-smith-why-we-need-to-change-how-we-learn#.Vj0YtxzNp2s