The Power of Self-Directed Learning

I wanted to share some of the research and sources who have guided, informed, supported and shaped my passions and professional pursuits within the field of education in the development of Creative Classroom Connections.

Sir Ken Robinson has been hugely influential for me. I remember when this RSA Animate video came out, and I was blown away by how interesting and engaging it is to listen to him speak while watching his ideas play out in visual form and shared with different classes students in the early part of my teaching career, and it always generated such interesting and engaging class discussions. In the follow-up ted talk below, Ken Robinson discusses why we need to nurture creativity both in and out of our schools. A summary quote from the talk that really stuck with me:

We have to recognize that human flourishing is not a mechanical process, it’s an organic process, and you cannot predict the outcome of human development. All you can do is create the conditions under which the student will begin to flourish.

So when we look at reforming education or transforming it, it isn’t like cloning a system. It’s about customizing to your circumstances and personalizing education to the people you are actually teaching.

For more information and a crash course self-directed learning, I highly recommend paying a visit to Unschooling School’s website and visiting their resources page.