I agree that education puts children into conventional thinking and diminishes creativity or great ideas. However, I think education and schools are needed to learn how to live in our society. From these two opinions, education has to be change, but not to disappear.

First, same as Ken Robinson’s opinion, education is surely an enemy for children to innovate or to find new ideas, because teachers teach them what is thought as a correct idea in the present society. They have to endure to study old-fashioned ideas, to answer the “correct” ideas, or to feel shamed if they said their own thinking which was different from the “corrects”.
For example, in Japanese schools, students study a formula to solve problems of mathematics, and solve them by only using the formula, like a routine.
But as a matter of fact, there is not absolutely correct formula or answer in the world, because everything is changing.
For instance, 20 years ago, when I was born, nobody thought it would be possible to connect and communicate with people over the world in the future. But now, via Internet, we can connect with people even if they are at the opposing side of the earth, by their own small computers called “smartphones”.
Smartphone is a technology which was unthinkable just 5 years ago. We do not know what happen in the future. To make innovations like smartphones, education seems to not have any help for innovators because teachers cannot teach ideas which will be thought as correct ideas in the future. Education teaches students just what is correct or incorrect.

Second, although education is not good for creativity, education also helps creativity by these three things: teaching way to think, giving useful knowledge, and learning communication with others.
First and second reasons seem to be inconsistent with Robinson’s opinion, that education breaks creativity by giving ordinary ideas. However, without any foundation of thinking, children cannot have their ideas and express them, Innovation without any help or knowledge is impossible.
Third reason is connected to live in this society. There are many rules which must be obeyed to communicate with the others or to live with them. These are called morals, ethics or common senses. If we behave without the any rules, we will fight with the others.
These things are what we mainly learn in the schools. Children must learn them to become a member of society, and then they can create their new ideas to the world.

In conclusion, we have to remain the modern education to learn not only foundations of ideas, but also communication. Besides, schools should add a new system to the education, which enables children to think and communicate freely, to make new ideas. The balance between the two is a big problem, so I want to think about it next opportunity.
Thank you for your listening.

(Final audio essay by Jo, autum, 2014)