Are Schools Still Killing Creativity?
Revisiting Ken Robinson's Revolutionary TED Talk
As a psychologist and educator with nearly 20 years in the field, I've witnessed countless trends come and go in the system. But one perspective has remained consistently relevant throughout: Sir Ken Robinson's revolutionary ideas on creativity in education.
His 2006 TED Talk, "Do Schools Kill Creativity?" has garnered over 75 million views, making it one of the most-watched TED Talks of all time. Yet despite its popularity and profound message, I find many of today's educators and parents are unfamiliar with Robinson's insights—insights that could transform how we approach learning and development.
The Talk That Changed How We Think About Education
When Robinson took the TED stage in 2006, he delivered a message that still deeply resonates with our collective intuitions and observations. With wit and devastating clarity, Robinson laid bare fundamental flaws in our approach to education.
His central thesis was simple yet profound: creativity is as important as literacy and should be treated with the same status in our educational systems. Yet instead of nurturing this essential capacity, our schools systematically undermine it.
Robinson argued that children start life with boundless creative potential. They take risks, they're not afraid to be wrong, and they use their imaginations freely. But as they progress through formal education, this natural creativity is gradually "educated out" of them.
"If you're not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything original," Robinson observed. "And by the time they get to be adults, most kids have lost that capacity. They have become frightened of being wrong."
As someone who evaluates children's cognitive and behavioral patterns at all ages, I've seen this transformation happen countless times—creativity gradually replaced by conformity, as students learn that coloring outside the lines (literally and figuratively) leads to lower grades and poorly formulated corrective feedback.
The Hierarchy Problem
Perhaps Robinson's most cutting insight was his observation about the hierarchy of subjects in schools worldwide:
Mathematics and languages sit at the top
Humanities occupy the middle ground
The arts are relegated to the bottom
This hierarchy, Robinson pointed out, was designed for industrialism, prioritizing skills needed for industrial work while devaluing creative and artistic abilities. The tragedy of this system is that countless talented individuals never discover their true gifts because they're judged against this narrow view of intelligence and ability.
I see the casualties of this hierarchy every week—students whose strengths and abilities don't align with standardized curricula, labeled as having "learning disabilities" when their real disability is being forced into an educational model that doesn't recognize their intelligence.
The Gillian Lynne Story and A Modern Parallel
Robinson famously shared the story of choreographer Gillian Lynne, the creative genius behind "Cats" and "Phantom of the Opera." As a child in the 1930s, Lynne was thought to have a learning disorder because she couldn't sit still and did poorly on tests. A doctor recognized that she wasn't disordered—she was a dancer who needed to move to think.
Just recently, I had a strikingly similar experience with seven-year-old Sophia (not her real name) and her mother. Sophia had been diagnosed with ADHD. Her teachers reported that she couldn't focus in class, was constantly drawing instead of working on assignments, and seemed to daydream excessively.
When Sophia's mother brought her to my office, I noticed something immediately. While her mother and I talked, Sophia wasn't fidgeting aimlessly. She was creating intricate, story-based drawings with remarkable detail and imagination.
Rather than immediately discussing medication and assessment options, we looked at some of Sophia's school work. On standardized worksheets, Sophia's performance was indeed scattered and incomplete. But in the margins of every page were elaborate, tiny drawings that told complex stories.
"Your daughter isn't suffering from attention deficit," I explained to Sophia's mother. "She has attention surplus—for things that engage her creative mind. She's not thriving in an environment that requires her to suppress that creativity for hours at a time."
Working with Sophia's classroom teacher, we implemented a program that incorporated visual storytelling into her learning process. Six months later, Sophia's academic performance has improved dramatically, and her "behavioral issues" have largely disappeared.
We didn't fix Sophia. We fixed the approach to teaching her.
The Problem Has Worsened
When I was completing my training in education years ago, while my own children were small, I naively assumed that Robinson's talk would permanently change educational thinking. I thought every educator had seen his video and absorbed its message.
I was wrong.
The problem of over-diagnosis and the suppression of creative approaches to learning hasn't improved—it's gotten worse. Between 2003 and 2023, the diagnosis of ADHD in children increased by over 30%.1
I estimate that at least a quarter of these children, like Sophia, might simply be creative minds trapped in uncreative educational environments.
The standardization of education has only intensified. With increased emphasis on testing and measurable outcomes, the arts continue to be marginalized, creative teaching methods are constrained, and children who don't fit the mold are too often viewed as problems to be fixed rather than unique minds to be nurtured.
Robinson's Continuing Legacy
Though Sir Ken Robinson passed away in 2020, his ideas continue to challenge and inspire. For those unfamiliar with his work beyond the famous TED Talk, Robinson authored several books that expand on his educational philosophy:
"The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything" (2009) - This book explores the concept of "the element"—the point where natural talent meets personal passion, an invaluable framework for helping young people understand their own cognitive and creative strengths.
"Finding Your Element: How to Discover Your Talents and Passions and Transform Your Life" (2013) - A practical guide that helps readers identify their talents and passions, and a useful tool for parents of teenagers struggling with educational engagement and future planning.
"Creative Schools: The Grassroots Revolution That's Transforming Education" (2015) - This work outlines practical solutions and real-world examples of innovative approaches to education. It should probably be required reading in the professional development of any serious school psychologist or administrator/executive.
"Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative" (2011) - Robinson's deep dive into the nature of creativity itself has the potential to deeply inform much of our approach to cognitive assessment, helping us to recognize forms of intelligence that standardized tests often miss.
"You, Your Child, and School: Navigate Your Way to the Best Education" (2018) - A concise plan of action for parents struggling to advocate for their creative children within rigid educational systems.
Each of these works builds upon the foundation established in his TED Talk, offering practical approaches for educators, parents, and professionals who are committed to educational reform.
Can We Make a Difference This Time?
As both a psychologist and someone who works within the educational system, I see both the entrenchment of old problems and new opportunities for change. The landscape has evolved—technology offers new possibilities for personalized learning, and the pandemic forced us to reconsider many educational assumptions.
But the fundamental challenge remains: How do we create educational environments that nurture rather than suppress creativity?
For mental health professionals, educators, and parents, I offer these starting points based on both Robinson's work and my own experience:
Question the hierarchy: When arts programs face budget cuts while test prep expands, speak up about the imbalance and its psychological effect on students.
Look beyond diagnosis: When a child doesn't fit the educational mold, consider whether the problem might be with the mold rather than the child. Ask: "What would happen if we adapted to this child's approach to learning rather than demanding they adapt to ours?"
Value diverse intelligence: Recognize and celebrate different forms of intelligence and creativity. In assessments, work to explicitly identify creative strengths alongside traditional cognitive measures. All children want to be competent, and it is the job of the professionals in the room to figure out how they might get there.
Create space for creativity: Even within standardized curricula, find opportunities for students to exercise their creative capacities. The psychological benefits of creative expression are well-documented.
Share Robinson's message: Introduce colleagues, parents, and educational decision-makers to Robinson's work. And seek out the next generation of thinkers doing such work today.
A Revolution Still Waiting to Happen
Nearly two decades after Robinson asked whether schools kill creativity, the question remains painfully relevant. The educational revolution he envisioned—one that places creativity alongside literacy in importance—has yet to fully materialize.
But revolutions don't happen overnight. They begin with changed minds and small actions that gradually reshape systems. Perhaps this time around, armed with Robinson's insights and the growing evidence supporting them, we can make a lasting difference.
As Robinson himself said:
"The fact is that given the challenges we face, education doesn't need to be reformed—it needs to be transformed."