‘The full development of the human personality’ (May 2010)

‘The full development of the human personality’ (May 2010)

One of our greatest challenges in education is our human rights obligation to work for ‘the development of the child's personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential'.

How do we avoid self-fulfilling prophecies based on flimsy assumptions about what a child is capable of? (See video on ‘teacher expectancy effects'/the ‘Rosenthal effect'/''Pygmalion effect' - and how about sharing this with students? The Wikipedia entry also covers the effect of student expectations of teachers)

Meeting our professional responsibility, Ken Robinson argues in his latest TEDtalk Bring on the Learning Revolution, means moving from an ‘industrialised model' of education (standardised schools) to an ‘organic model' (personalised learning)  to create ‘conditions where kids' natural talents can flourish'.

If you haven't already, see his much talked/emailed 2006 TEDtalk Schools Kill Creativity, and other Other TEDtalks on learning and education.