🍎 tl;dr Tuesday: 100 million views and counting... but

It's been 18 years since Sir Ken Robinson delivered his famous “mic-drop moment” on the TED stage, asking whether schools kill creativity.

If you haven’t seen the video, it’s only 20 minutes long. Still, we thought it was worth sharing the tl;dr and reflecting on how it’s withstood the test of time.

Since 2007, a staggering 77 million have watched the video on the TED website, plus another 24 million people on YouTube (that’s 100M+ views for those keeping track). The message itself is provocative. But we were most struck by the top comments on YouTube – which span an entire decade, yet all say the same thing.

Here’s one from around 7 years ago:

"Almost 10 years since this video was posted and unfortunately nothing has changed."

Fast forward two years:

"Clap clap. 12 years have gone by, we're still in the same boat."

After Robinson's passing in 2020, the video received a renewed flood of attention, and the chorus of frustration remains the same:

"It's incredibly upsetting how old this is and how everything is still the same."

The key points of the talk are:

• We don't grow into creativity; we're born with it but educated out of it

• Fear of failure kills innovation because kids are taught to be afraid of making mistakes

• Schools prioritize conformity over individual talents

And last, but not least:

• The gap between education and real-world needs is widening

How could Robinson's remarks receive such a thunderous ovation in 2007 – both on stage and reverberating to the present on the internet – yet have so little effect on the educational system? You can read more of our analysis here.

Thankfully, there's hope. While systemic change is slow, a revolution is brewing at the margins. Alternative education models are on the rise, prioritizing creativity and individual talents. The open education revolution doesn't have to wait for institutions. It can start in your home, your classroom, or your community.

That's all for this edition.

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Until next time,

Charlie (the OpenEd newsletter guy)