SIR KEN ROBINSON REMEMBERED

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OBITUARY

Humanity, optimism and imagination

Matthew Taylor, Chief Executive of the Royal Society of Arts, pays tribute to the inspirational educational thinker and author Sir Ken Robinson.

Sir Ken Robinson, who died in August at the age of 70, had a big influence on me. Around the time I joined the RSA my mother was keeping on at me to join millions of others in watching Ken’s famous TED talk “Do schools kill creativity?” When I did, I made two decisions on the spot: first that we would start filming RSA talks and getting them to mass audiences; and, second, that we would invite Ken to be one of our early keynote speakers. Since then, RSA livecasts, replays, the “Animate” series and shorts have been watched hundreds of millions of times all across the globe. And, of course, one of the most popular is Ken’s Animate, which has been viewed well over 20 million times.Ken gave his 2008 RSA talk to mark receiving the Society’s Benjamin Franklin award. Afterwards he charmed my star-struck mum, reminiscing about Leeds in the late 1960s, when they had both been students. I only met Ken a few times, but I can confirm that he was just as warm and engaging face-to-face as in his famous talks.The facts of Ken’s life have been set out in several glowing obituaries. They talk about his childhood in Liverpool overcoming the barriers presented by poverty and disability; his fascination with arts in education; his powerful 1998 report on creativity and

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learning to the Blair government; and his bestselling books (most notably The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything). His influence on policymakers stretches from Northern Ireland to Singapore.Yet many will see Ken as a heroic failure. After all, in his own native country the narrow curriculum, the obsession with testing and the fact that arts and cultural education has been marginalised, especially in schools in working-class areas, all illustrate how education policy has gone in the opposite direction. Yet, as Ken appreciated, the world is complex and unpredictable.In the wake of Covid-19 and the terrible impact it has had on children’s learning, not to mention the exams debacle, the time is right to change the conversation about education, its methods and purposes. Now, perhaps, long-running arguments about the relevance and value of schooling will start to move centre stage: What skills and competencies do young people need in an age of AI and robotics? How do we prepare young people for a world of new challenges and risks, of which the climate emergency is the most obvious? How do we address the epidemic of anxiety and depression in youngsters?

The humanity, optimism and imagination of Ken Robinson’s work will be a vital asset.How to measure a person’s life? Perhaps by the effects they have on those who live on after they have gone. Tens of millions of people have been moved and inspired by Ken Robinson. From kids who realised it wasn’t necessarily their fault that they were bored in school, to jaded teachers thrillingly reminded of the idealism that made them choose the profession. I suspect the greatest impact of Ken’s work is still to come. Watch his talks, read his books and maybe we can start winning some of the battles he so valiantly fought.

…the time is right to change the conversation about education, its methods and purposes.