Table of Contents Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Acknowledgements Introduction CHAPTER ONE - The Element CHAPTER TWO - Think Differently CHAPTER THREE - Beyond Imagining CHAPTER FOUR - In the Zone CHAPTER FIVE - Finding Your Tribe CHAPTER SIX - What Will They Think? CHAPTER SEVEN - Do You Feel Lucky? CHAPTER EIGHT - Somebody Help Me CHAPTER NINE - Is It Too Late? CHAPTER TEN - For Love or Money CHAPTER ELEVEN - Making the Grade Afterword Notes Index VIKING Published by the Penguin Group Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P 2Y3 (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd) Penguin Books Australia Ltd, 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd) Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi - 110 017, India Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd) Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England First published in 2009 by Viking Penguin, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc 5/446 Copyright © Ken Robinson and Lou Aronica, 2009 All rights reserved Artwork on page 65: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)-ESA/ Hubble Collaboration Acknowledgment: D Gouliermis (Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg) All other artwork: NASA/JPL-Caltech LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING IN PUBLICATION DATA Robinson, Ken, date The element: how finding your passion changes everything / Ken Robinson with Lou Aronica p cm Includes bibliographical references and index eISBN : 978-1-440-65618-7 Self-actualization (Psychology) Self-realization Creative ability in children School failure I Aronica, Lou II Title BF637.S4R592 2008 153.9—dc22 2008033974 Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, 6/446 mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law Please purchase only authorized electronic editions and not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrightable materials Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated http://us.penguingroup.com To my sister and brothers, Ethel Lena, Keith, Derek, Ian, John, and Neil; to our extraordinary Mum and Dad, Ethel and Jim; to my son, James, and my daughter, Kate, and to my soul mate, Terry This book is for you For all your many talents and for the endless love and laughter we put into each other’s lives It’s when I’m with you and the ones you love that I really am in my Element Acknowledgments They say it takes a village to raise a baby Rearing a book like this takes a small metropolis I know I have to say I can’t thank everyone, and I really can’t I have to single out a few people, though, for special service awards First and foremost, my wife and partner, Terry This book simply wouldn’t be in your hands but for her Its origins were in an off-the-cuff remark I made at a conference a few years ago I had just told the Gillian Lynne story, which now opens chapter of the book In passing, I said that one of these days I was going to write a book about stories like that I’ve since learned not to say these things out loud in front of Terry She asked me when did I have in mind “Soon,” I said, “definitely soon.” After a few months had passed, she started it herself, wrote the proposal, worked on the ideas, did some of the initial interviews, and then found the agent, Peter Miller, who was to help make it happen With the foundations laid so solidly, and the escape routes closed so firmly, I finally kept my word and got on with the book I want to thank Peter Miller, our literary agent, for all his great work, not least in bringing Lou Aronica 9/446 and me together I travel a lot—too much, really—and producing a book like this needs time, energy, and collaboration Lou was the ideal partner He is seriously professional: sage, judicious, creative, and patient He was the calm center of the project as I orbited the earth, sending notes, drafts, and second thoughts from airports and hotel rooms Between us, we also managed to steer a successful course between the often comic conflicts of British and American English Thank you, Lou My son, James, gave up his precious, final student summer to pore over archives, journals, and Internet sites, checking facts, dates, and ideas Then he debated virtually every idea in the book with me until I was worn out Nancy Allen worked for several months on research issues under increasingly tight deadlines My daughter, Kate, had a wonderfully creative collaboration with Nick Egan to produce a unique Web site that shows all the other work we’re now doing Our assistant, Andrea Hanna, worked tirelessly to orchestrate the myriad moving parts in a project like this We wouldn’t still be standing up without her As the book was taking shape, we were extremely fortunate to have the wise and creative counsel of our publisher, Kathryn Court, at Viking Penguin Her 10/446 benign form of intimidation also ensured that we got the book finished in decent time Finally, I have to thank all of those whose stories illuminate this book Many of them spent precious hours, amid very busy lives, to talk freely and passionately about the experiences and ideas that lie at the heart of The Element Many others sent me moving letters and e-mails Their stories show that the issues in this book reach into the core of our lives I thank all of them It’s usual to say, of course, that whatever good things other people have contributed, any faults that remain in the book are my responsibility alone That seems a bit harsh to me, but I suppose it’s true 432/446 in Britain conformity in cram schools creativity drained by curriculum in elemental higher education and intelligence lack of interest in pedagogy practical training in quality assurance in reforming Reggio approach teaching transforming Egan, Nick Einstein, Albert Element barriers to finding groupthink vs personal constraints social barriers what it is and the zone 433/446 Emerson, Ralph Waldo, Self-Reliance encouragement enjoyment, elements of Enlightenment Epicurus epiphany stories eugenics movement Evans, Bill evidence, scientific expectations fandom fast-food model fear of disapproval Feynman, Richard fields Fischbach, Gerald fish, swarming Fleetwood, Mick Fleetwood, Sally Fleetwood, Susan Fleetwood Mac flow Fordyce, Michael Franklin, Benjamin 434/446 Freed, Alan Frost, Robert Fuller, R Buckminster Fury, Peggy Gardner, Howard Gerver, Richard Geurts, Kathryn Linn, Culture and the Senses Gielgud, Sir John Gilmour, David Goleman, Daniel Goodwin, Doris Kearns, Team of Rivals Grace Living Center, Tulsa Graham, Benjamin Grangeton, England Gray Panthers Great Groups Green, Peter Greenfield, Susan Groening, Matt groupthink growth and development Guthrie, Woody Hadid, Zaha Halberstam, David 435/446 Hanna, Andrea happiness Harkness, Timandra Harris, Judith Rich Harrison, George Harvard Mentoring Project Harvey, Jerry B Hendrickson, Susan Hermann Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI) heroes Hewlett, Bill Hollywood filmmaking Hoodwatch Movement Organization Hoover, Elizabeth Hopper, Dennis Horowitz, Vladimir Hosseini, Khaled, The Kite Runner Hubble telescope Huffington, Arianna Stasinopoulos Hunt, Albert imagination Industrial Revolution insects, swarms of insight intelligence 436/446 artificial and the brain and creativity distinctiveness of dynamic features of IQ measurement of swarm varieties of International Telementor Program intuition Isaacson, Walter James, William Janis, Irving Jay-Z (Carter) Jeffers, Susan Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway® Jenks school district, Tulsa Johnson, Craig Jones, James Earl Katzman, John Kelly, Wynton 437/446 kinesthetic sense (proprioception) Kuhn, Maggie language Laurance, Ewa Leadbeater, Charles Lemaire, Alexis Lennon, John Leonard, Dorothy life-changing connections life expectancy Lincoln, Abraham Lipski, Don Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts (LIPA) Lloyd Webber, Andrew Lodge, Henry logic Loren, Sophia Lovelace, Richard Lowenstein, Roger luck and aptitude and attitude bad, turned to good and blindness 438/446 and chance characterizations of and perception Lynne, Gillian Lynne, Jeff Magellanic Cloud Malaguzzi, Loris poem Mandela, Nelson Margaret Beavan School Mary Columba, Sister Maslow, Abraham Mayall, John McCartney, Paul McVie, John meditation Megara school memory mentors encouragement facilitating life-changing connections as personal heroes recognition 439/446 roles of stretching two-way street of Michelangelo Michelin model Miller, Paul mind mapping Minsky, Marvin Moses, Gerard Moses, Grandma Murray, Chick Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Neils, David nervous system neurogenesis New Christy Minstrels Newman, Paul Newton, Sir Isaac No Child Left Behind O’Keeffe, Georgia Olivier, Sir Laurence Olympic Games opportunity 440/446 Orbison, Roy Ostin, Mo Packard, David pain (nociception) Park, Denise Parks, Gordon Parks, Rosa passion peer groups Pei M perception Peripatetic school personal circles of constraint personality types perspective Peterson, Suzanne physical disabilities physical proximity Picasso, Pablo Pilcher, Helen Pittman, Wiley planets, sizes of Plato Polanyi, Michael 441/446 polio epidemics population growth positive psychology Potts, Paul Presley, Elvis Pro-Am Revolution Public/Private Ventures Pythagorean brotherhood Rapaille, Clotaire Ray, Brian Ray, Jean recognition Reese, Pee Wee reframe, ability to revelation Richard, Cliff Rindt, Jochen Ringgold, Faith Robbins, Anthony Robinson, Ian Robinson, Jackie Robinson, James Robinson, Kate Robinson, Neil 442/446 Robinson, Terry Room to Read Russell, Bertrand Ryan, Meg Salk, Jonas Samuelson, Paul Sassoon, Vidal SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) schools, see education system scientific method Scorsese, Martin Scott, Sir Ridley Seles, Monica self-discovery self-fulfilling prophecies self-reliance Seligman, Martin Seward, William H Seymour, Tim Shakespeare, William, Hamlet Silicon Valley size, and imagination social barriers social identity theory 443/446 social movements Socrates’ circle Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr Sorkin, Aaron Stanford-Binet test Stanton, Edwin M Starr, Ringo Stasinopoulos, Arianna (Huffington) sterilization laws Sternberg, Robert Store, Ron Strafford, Charles stretching Swap, Walter swarming behavior swimming against the tide synergy synesthesia Tajfel, Henri taking things for granted Tandy, Jessica Tao, Terence Taylor, Mick teachers, inspirational 444/446 technology, pace of change in temperature (thermoception) Terman, Lewis thinking outside the box Thurber, James time Toffler, Alvin, Future Shock transformation Traveling Wilburys tribe, finding your affiliation with as circle of influence crowd vs distinctiveness of diversity in domains and fields dynamics of fandom inspiration of physical proximity in self-discovery in spectators synergy of Trop, Gabriel Turner, John 445/446 vestibular sense (equilibrioception) visual perception Waronker, Lenny Waters, Miles Wheeler, John Williams, Dudley Wilson, John Winwood, Steve Wiseman, Richard The Luck Factor Wood, Christopher “Tiff,” 212 Wood, John Wright, Wilbur Yeats, W B Zdanivsky, Brad Zinn, Howard zone: authenticity in being in being yourself in energy in freedom in 446/446 meta-state of outside the box time in