Sir Ken Robinson: Bring on the Learning Revolution! Video on TED 2/2010

As part of our Full Sail Multiple Learning Theory Applications course we were directed to watch the video above. I really liked it and I think other educators would like it, too. I could really relate to what the speaker said about life not being linear and about doing the thing you love. His comments about college being the goal of our educational practice made me think of the changes in Michigan which try to put every one on a college track and, I think, short change students who want to take another path. It also, I believe, puts tremendous pressure on kids to be something they're not and I expect it is the reason a lot of kids drop out of high school. I enjoyed his comments about conformity, too. My question is, how do you customize education for the students when the Federal and State Departments of Education do so much to mandate what is done and what proof of learning is acceptable to them? And if your school doesn't make AYP, they'll replace you all. (I'm not sure where all the super-teachers and administrators would be coming from). Customizing education for the students is a local level sort of thing. It requires that teachers in classrooms have the freedom to be creative and try new things (of course based on pedagogically sound data).

How does one bring this about, this freedom for teachers to customize children's education, when the Powers That Be don't appear to trust teachers to make those sorts of decisions?