Stop Stealing Dreams is a must-read e-book by my favorite change agent Seth Godin. He writes:

The economy has changed, probably forever.

School hasn't.

School was invented to create a constant stream of compliant factory workers to the growing businesses of the 1900s. It continues to do an excellent job at achieving this goal, but it's not a goal we need to achieve any longer.

In this 30,000 word manifesto, I imagine a different set of goals and start (I hope) a discussion about how we can reach them. One thing is certain: if we keep doing what we've been doing, we're going to keep getting what we've been getting.

Our kids are too important to sacrifice to the status quo.

I think he hits the nail on its head - read this short book and share it with as many people as possible. We need to get this fixed - let's get working on change.

Creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson is one of those challenging the way we're educating our children. He champions a radical rethink of our school systems, to cultivate creativity and acknowledge multiple types of intelligence. Among his many public talks, he gave a lecture on rethinking education which has recently been animated by the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA). Astoundingly good.