"Escaping Education's Death Valley": Brainy Educare's Reflection on a TED Lecture

Sir Ken Robinson, "How to Escape Education's Death Valley"

The video above gives a nice analysis on the current state of education. Although the focus is on the American education system, a lot of the points made can be extended to describe what’s happening around the world, and particularly in Nigeria.

The speaker, Sir Ken Robinson, talks of how education is usually approached in a mechanical way: that standard curriculums are designed, and standardized tests are given; yet students, by their very nature of being human, are far from standard. There is no prototype for “the student” and yet our education systems have not advanced to recognize this nuance.

Robinson notes that there are 3 principles under which life flourishes: 

• Human beings are naturally different and diverse
• Curiosity
•  Human life is inherently creative

Robinson goes on to make the claim that education should be re-designed in such a way that the 3 guiding principles, mentioned above, remain at the root of our approach. It is in this way that we can turn schools from places of simply recycled information to places where genuine learning takes place.

Please share your thoughts on these ideas. Are our schools already taking some of these principles into consideration? If not, how far behind are we in doing so? What steps need to happen to get us on track/keep us on track? We at Brainy Educare take pride in the belief that our programs address these issues at their core. However, our work cannot be done alone; instead we need to open up the conversation so that other education stakeholders (students, parents, teachers, principals) can join us in our mission.

Thank you

- The Brainy Team

Sharing Our Vision: The challenges we seek to address

Imagine a world where everyone has the opportunity to learn in the varying desirable ways peculiar to each of them; a world that truly acknowledges that every child has the potentials to exceed expectations. A world where every child is made to see the process of lifelong learning as a path to a future blessed with discovery, creativity and self-fulfillment. Such a world is our dream at Brainy Educare.

Before now, education focused on the acquisition of literacy skills: simple reading, writing, and calculating. Generally speaking, educational systems did not see the need to train people to think and read critically, to express themselves clearly and persuasively, nor to solve complex problems in real life situations.

But now, these aspects of high competencies are required of almost everyone in order to successfully negotiate the complexities of today’s contemporary life. The demands for work have increased dramatically, as has the need for organizations and workers to change in response to competitive pressures in their world of work. Thoughtful participation in various spheres of life has also become increasingly complicated as the locus of attention has shifted from local to global concerns. Above all, information and knowledge are growing at a far more rapid rate than ever before in the history of mankind.

As if all of these were not challenging enough, the family— which is the smallest and most reliable unit of support and reassurance for the individual— is smothered beneath all of these emerging demands. The priceless treasures that come with belonging to a family, where life skills are gently passed on from generation to generation, is gradually ceasing to be.

Support services have never been more required than they are now. Both the home and the school communities are in dire need of complementary strategies to improve the quality of education.

Brainy Educare Services addresses all these challenges through a portfolio of services that we offer. We leverage on our wealth of experience, passionate inspiration and undeviating urge for positive change. Our team of educational and child psychologists, medical professionals, motivational speakers, behavioral therapists, counselors and sport coaches are always available to ensure guaranteed customer satisfaction and indeed a worthwhile experience. We have a mission to propel all education stakeholders into action to help every being get motivated for a lifelong learning experience and, as such, become the very best that they can be!

Please join and support us in this mission. 

"The world is full of information. Education is how information becomes knowledge; and knowledge changes things for the better."