Mengying Zhou

Professor Lookholder

SOC 1

March 19, 2017

RSA Animated: Changing Education Paradigms

The video I will be analyzing is called RSA Animated: Changing Education

Paradigms. It is an animated adaption of a speech given by Sir Ken Robinson, a world-

renowned education expert. The RSA is a charity organization that has over 200 years of

history and it is dedicated to drive social progress in the world. In this video, the current

education paradigm is evaluated in great detail through Sir Ken Robinsons speech in

conjunction with the talented visual representations from Andrew Park. Sir Ken Robinson

discusses how modern education has come to be the way it is and how we should

approach education in order to progress with changing times. Robinsons main message

is to encourage the world to reform the education system so that we can provide an

enriching educational experience for our children and the generations to come.

A big focus of this video explores the education paradigm and faults that come

with it, given that its original structure was formed in the past and cannot properly

anticipate for the future. Nowadays, the new generation of youth cannot necessarily

found a job even after attaining a college degree. There are a lot of sociological concepts

with some highlights about cultural identity and age discrimination when it comes to

learning. At the 0:45 mark of the video, Robinson briefly talks about the concept of

cultural identity and ponders about how we must educate the youth with a sense of

cultural identity so that these characteristics down can be passed down while being a part
of the process of globalization. As a Chinese immigrant that became American at a young

age, I believe that that Chinese-Americans have a separate cultural identity of its own. I

came to America with a set of beliefs about how education and careers are closely related,

but recently I am grown aware and more open to the changing education paradigms upon

witnessing the successes of entrepreneur that did not necessarily have a strong college

education.

Even though I am made aware of this notion, I am still aiming to attain good

grades so that I can transfer to a reputable college. Good grades are a good indicator of

intelligence and this would allow me to be more competitive during my application. In

this video, Robinson talks about how students are pressured to excel in standardized tests

in order to get into a good school. This highlights Comtes idea of establishing a science

in measuring society. Children who are interested in other things and cannot focus on

institutionalized schooling are labeled to be incapable or even having a disorder such as

ADHD. They are then prescribed drugs so that they can be part of the norm. Robinson

considers this to be an epidemic, because the creativity of the students is restrained (4:30)

with pressures to be a certain way. This relates to what we learned in Chapter 4 in regards

to socialization and it reminds me of Coleys expression of the looking-glass self. When I

first moved to America, my peers thought I was smart because I was good at math and in

turn made me believe that I was smart and thus I was able to approach schooling with a

sense of confidence. Comtes positivism is also prevalent in this video in 7:55 mark as the

author talks about standardized tests that are develop though the scientific method. For

example, if you scored a certain level on the test, you would then be a genius a divergent

thinking. This is great to boost the confidence of children, but it could also be detrimental
for those who have not yet developed the skills to score highly at that particular time of

their life.

Being confident and succeeding in school does indeed help us develop a good

habit of achieving and puts us in higher echelon of the education social order, but it still

does not guarantee us for a successful job. In the past, schooling was only offered to the

rich and education for the masses and the working classes wasnt provided until we

developed a system of public education funded by taxation (2:15). Many people at the

time objected to this idea, but it still came to fruition because of the enlightenment era

and the defining characteristics of that society at the time, as Emile Durkheim would

have put it. This was a paradigm shift in education and it has shifted once again in recent

times as many students in this generation feel that there is no purpose going to school.

The current education system thus alienates these children and labels them to be stupid.

This term of alienation is something Karl Marx is most concerned with as he favors

power and control in establishing social order. However, in the United States, the

influence of the education system has declined with stories of dropouts ending up

creating successful businesses. Durkheim would consider this to be an anomie, where the

standardized education systems control of individual behavior has been rendered to be

ineffective. Because of this, the new forms of education with a greater variety of options

are being formed, allowing us to succeed in creating new fields and new industries.

Unfortunately in China, the job market is still focused on recruiting those who

come from the most prodigious universities and to get into those universities,

standardized testing is the prime measure in determining capability. This is no surprise

considering that Mao Zedong, the leader that united China extensively studied Karl
Marxs theories. China still has not developed a system that offers free public education,

which is a great shame. However, Marxs focus in alienation has allowed China to

become a greater manufacturing power. The Chinese are able to replica everything to

near perfection, but the separation of powers and the isolation of the workers along with

the creative undermining has prevented China from having any reputable projects that

have a cultural identity in the global market.

Unlike Marxs ideas that focus more on asserting power and control by focusing

on alienation, Durkheims functionalism places an emphasis on societal equilibrium,

which talks about how society is a system of interrelated parts. I believe that this concept

is coherent with the message that the author of this video is attempting to showcase in

valuing the potential of all individuals. There will be children with certain special talents

that cannot be measured, who are not deemed intellectual on standardized test, but these

students still possess skills that can potentially disrupt the current education system. If

you skip ahead to the 6:00 mark, the author talks about how there are pressures for

students to do well in school and parents end up putting their children on performance

enhancing medication. The author suggests that the arts are the victims of this way of

thinking and I personally do believe that it devalues the creative elements of education.

Artistic children have a different approach to life and can be quite valuable as

they offer a new perspective. They balance out the students who only know how to score

high on tests. Sometimes those who cannot focus on school have a greater ability to

succeed in the real world, because of how they have developed through their own unique

way of socialization and their journey in focusing on their own personal interests. By

allowing the system to be constantly disrupted and in turn achieve equilibrium, there is a
greater chance of advancement. When unique beings are placed together, the collective

thought process could be very encouraging. By embracing both sides of spectrum,

different ways of education will only bring about greater sense collaboration and I am

very excited to see how the education paradigm shifts what inventions will come about in

the near future.