Connect the dots

Sir Ken Robinson (2010) is a world-renowned education expert known for challenging the status quo when it comes to how we educate children. In a talk delivered at the RSA, Robinson proposes a change to the education paradigms that currently exist by shifting the focus towards a system that fosters divergent thinking. Robinson’s theory takes on a “normative approach” (Bush, 2015, p. 2), in which he advocates for what he believes is best practice for educational institutions. Below are the key ideas from Robinson’s theory sorted into the four aspects of organisations as identified by Bush (2015): goals, structure, culture, and context.

 

Goals

Robinson wants us to move away from the current goal of standardisation and conformity (individualised subjects, children educated in “batches”) and move towards a system where the objective is to create divergent thinkers.

Structure

The compartmentalising of students is a natural consequence of educating students within a system that values standardisation. Robinson advocates for learning to happen within groups, stating that “collaboration is the stuff of growth” (Robinson, 2010, 10:47).

Culture

Robinson (2010) encourages educational institutions to think differently about human capacity. Rather than labelling students and disciplines (academic, non-academic, abstract, theoretical, vocational), schools need to recognise that our students are nuanced beings and work towards “waking them up to what they have inside of themselves” (Robinson, 2010, 6:29).

Context

Although Robinson (2010) mentions that the habitat a school occupies influences its culture, I feel it is more fitting within the ‘context’ aspect as described by Bush (2015, p. 3). Where a school is physically located and the demographic of students that attend needs to be taken into consideration when creating educational programs that promote divergent thinking.

 

What are the key drivers for change that the teacher librarian could respond to through school library programs?

In a primary school setting, Bush’s (2015) essential aspect of ‘goals’ can take the form of a School Improvement Plan. Although these goals are set by the executive team of the school, a teacher librarian is uniquely positioned to be a driving force in helping a school to reach their targets. I draw an example from my learning in ETL501 The Dynamic Information Environment. If the school has a priority within their school improvement plan to improve learning outcomes in reading across the next four years, a teacher librarian could:

• Create a space within their library that is conductive to reading
• Collaborate with classroom teachers to improve student self-efficacy towards reading.
• Improve circulation rates by identifying students interests and resourcing the library accordingly.

 

References:

Bush, T. (2015). Organisation theory in education: How does it inform school leadership? CORE. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/162657439.pdf

Robinson, K. [RSA Animate]. (2010, October 14). Changing education paradigms [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U