The Element

I seem to surround myself with people who know what it is they want to do in life, or at least pretend to. Personally, I have no idea. But I keep reminding myself that I'm 19, and that there's no hurry. I suppose I feel such pressure because I didn't go through things in the normal way. If I had stayed in England (where I'm originally from) then I would have taken my GCSEs and gone on to specialize in something. We moved to America, to Los Angeles, when I was 12, just in time for middle school. I stayed in school until I was 16, which in England would have been fine. In America however, they tend to think that your life ends if you don't graduate college, let alone high school. Never the less, I did leave school when I was 16.

The thing is, I hated school. I felt suffocated and lost there. The teachers kept explaining to me that I would have no future unless I succeeded in their classes, but no matter how hard I tired, I just didn't care enough to pay attention. There wasn't a moment in the entire four and a half years I spent in the place that I knew who I was, let alone felt like myself. I remember one teacher telling me that I seemed to dance to the beat of my own drum, the only problem was that nobody else could hear the music. 

So, I left, and spent two years working before going to community college where I currently am now. While the route I tool was certainly unorthodox in Los Angeles, and had, I will admit, it's lonely moments, I have never regretted it for a moment. In the past three years I have learnt more about myself, and life, than in my entire life up to the tender age of 16. Of course non of that would have been possible without my parents, who supported and guided me every step of the way. But the thing is, while everybody I knew in high school has two years left of college, I feel some kind of pressure to know what it is that I'm supposed to do with my life. The things is though, I don't.

I mentioned my parents. My name is Kate, and my Dad, Ken Robinson, who wrote the book in the picture above. He has written several books before The Element, but I have to admit that this is the first one that I've read. My dad travels the World talking about how schools stifle creativity. Instead of reading my paraphrases, you can watch speaking at the TED conference here:

The Element is about how finding your passion changes everything. When you're in your

element, everything else seems to flourish, but that the vast majority of us go through life without ever knowing what it is that we're truly good at.  These are things that my father has been telling me for years, and things that I feel very passionately about.

It wasn't until I actually read The Element though, that everything seemed to come in on me properly. I was instantly inspired. I signed up for as many different classes as I possibly could, from sewing to Yoga Booty Ballet (a fusion of yoga, ballet and cardio, which I'm very excited for!).  The book is an encouragingly easy read, but I promise that afterwards your life will never be the same.  

I say all of this as his daughter.  I have spent my whole life hearing these things, and I was completely jaded with it all. But The Element opened something inside for me.  I want to find my true potential.  But there is no hurry for me to declare what it is that I want to do with myself.  I realized that the most exciting part of life is finding out.

You can find out more about the book at:

The Element and Sir Ken Robinson.

Comments

[Tessy]

Thank you so much Kate for sharing your story. Your dad has so many admirers everywhere, and we are really looking forward to seeing him in England over the next week for the launch of the book !

[Mike Amos-Simpson]

I think your attitude/approach is good, and you're fortunate to have the confidence to be able to take that approach. Imagine how much harder it is to do that though, if you don't have parents that understand education (and the education systems weaknesses).

I haven't read your Dads book but from the little I understand of his message its one I very much agree with. Nowadays I recognise that many teachers have spent their whole working life within the academic system - straight from University into teaching. Had I known this when I was at school I wonder how it would have made me question just how well they're able to prepare me for the 'real life'. That said I can't pretend that I took them seriously anyway and spent most of my school life sat in corridors!

I think regarding children as 'blank sheets' and then guiding and supporting them to find their own talents makes considerably more sense than trying to make everyone fit within the boxes of literacy, numeracy, science etc. Not that those aren't important, but learning them will be much more interesting through doing the things you're passionate about.

I do try hard to encourage young people to go on to College after school. For me that was the first time I got to study something I was interested in and it made a huge difference to how I viewed education. The trouble is so many young people are put off by their school years that they don't go on to experience a different side of formal education.

It has to be said though - what a nightmare for your teachers knowing who your Dad is!

Good luck with the Yoga Booty Ballet!!

[Maya Frost]

Thank you so much for sharing your story, Kate! It's refreshing to hear your honesty about your own schooling and your choice to go in a different direction.

The truth is that many students are finding their passions by taking a different route (including my own four daughters, ages 18, 19, 21 and 22) and being open to new experiences (yes, including Yoga Booty Ballet and sewing!) allows you to explore areas you might not find in a typical college catalog.

Though I think that a college degree is valuable (especially to those who are making their choices intentionally!), there are all kinds of ways to get educated. Cheers to you for taking the time to figure out what's best for YOU--and to your parents for supporting your efforts to learn on your terms and time lines.

[soultravelers3]

I am so happy that Maya Frost's blog led me to this post! I have long been a huge fan of your father's and look forward to the book. I have this video as one of my favorites on our soultravelers3 Youtube Channel!

I am also a fan of award winning teacher John Taylor Gatto and his writing like this one on why schools do not educate:

http://www.naturalchild.com/guest/john_gatto.html

I also like this quote by Dr Moore:

"We should not be shocked then by the Smithsonian Report on genius which offered a three-part recipe for high achievement, consisting of 1) much time spent with warm, responsive parents and other adults, 2) very little time spent with peers, and 3) a great deal of free exploration under parental guidance."

I am grateful that your inner explorer and teacher survived through those sad years of "schooling" and give credit to you and your parents for that.

I can relate as I was a straight A student who learned almost nothing in my first 12 years of school and it felt mostly like a prison. There is a huge revolution going on with education today and it is way over due.

We believe in self led, experienced based, fun, life long learning, so have decided to travel the world slowly with our young child on an open ended world tour. Three years into this life-as-a-family-field-trip, I can say it is the best decision we ever made!

Trust yourself! Thanks for sharing!

[Mike Amos-Simpson]

@soultravelers sounds like you learned enough to get straight A's?!

I'm a little jealous of your self led, experience based, fun, life long learning journey. I hope one day to do something similar albeit likely considerably shorter before our boys get too old to tolerate having to be with their parents for lengthy periods!