The 2008 TED conference is going on in California right now, and so I find myself watching some old TED talks … wishing I were there and pining for the new talks that will begin appearing soon.

So here’s an older TED talk, from Sir Ken Robinson: Do Schools kill creativity?

Some quotes from the talk:

“It’s education that’s meant to take us into this future that we can’t grasp.”

“My contention is that creativity, now, is important in education as literacy.”

Paraphrasing: “If you were to view our education system from the point of view of an alien, you’d be forced to conclude that the purpose of public education throughout the world is to produce University professors. They’re the people who come out of the top.” Ouch!

Public education came into being (around the world) to meet the needs of industrialism.

Best quip (paraphrased) “University professors are just another form of life. There’s something curious about professors – not all of them – but typically, they live in their heads. They look upon their body as a form of transport for their heads.” (Wow – what a great insight! This totally describes me!)

“The structure of education is shifting beneath our feet …”