The late education thinker Sir Ken Robinson believed modern schooling stifles the creative spirit every child is born with. He argued that from a young age, children are naturally curious, unafraid to make mistakes, and quick to experiment — whether through doodling, dancing, or asking odd questions. But traditional schools, built on an industrial-era model, condition students to avoid errors, follow fixed curricula, and strive for standardized academic excellence. Over time, this suppresses spontaneity, risk-taking, and imagination.

Robinson pointed out a global hierarchy in education: mathematics and languages dominate, the humanities follow, and the arts (music, drama, dance, creative writing) sit at the bottom. This ranking reflects not innate value, but outdated assumptions about “useful” subjects. As a result, many children with creative instincts in music, performance, storytelling or design grow up believing their talents do not matter — simply because they don’t fit conventional academic molds.

He maintained creativity should be treated as seriously as literacy or numeracy — not a marginal “extra.” Real education, he said, would nurture diverse talents, encourage experimentation and embrace failure as part of learning. If schools don’t change, we risk turning original thinkers into conformists and losing the creative potential of entire generations.