Talks from inspiring teachers | Playlist. Clint Smith: The danger of silence. What the best education systems are doing right. In South Korea and Finland, it’s not about finding the “right” school. Fifty years ago, both South Korea and Finland had terrible education systems. Finland was at risk of becoming the economic stepchild of Europe. South Korea was ravaged by civil war. Yet over the past half century, both South Korea and Finland have turned their schools around — and now both countries are hailed internationally for their extremely high educational outcomes. The Korean model: Grit and hard, hard, hard work. For millennia, in some parts of Asia, the only way to climb the socioeconomic ladder and find secure work was to take an examination — in which the proctor was a proxy for the emperor, says Marc Tucker, president and CEO of the National Center on Education and the Economy. The Koreans have achieved a remarkable feat: the country is 100 percent literate.
Among these countries, South Korea stands apart as the most extreme, and arguably, most successful. “A key to that is education. Indeed. TV Special: TED Talks Education | Playlist. Ken Robinson | Speaker. Creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson challenges the way we're educating our children. He champions a radical rethink of our school systems, to cultivate creativity and acknowledge multiple types of intelligence. Why you should listen Why don't we get the best out of people? Sir Ken Robinson argues that it's because we've been educated to become good workers, rather than creative thinkers. A visionary cultural leader, Sir Ken led the British government's 1998 advisory committee on creative and cultural education, a massive inquiry into the significance of creativity in the educational system and the economy, and was knighted in 2003 for his achievements. What others say “Ken's vision and expertise is sought by public and commercial organizations throughout the world.” — BBC Radio 4.