0:00:02.183,0:00:03.802
Thank you very much.

0:00:05.105,0:00:09.506
I moved to America 12 years ago[br]with my wife Terry and our two kids.

0:00:09.530,0:00:12.316
Actually, truthfully, we moved[br]to Los Angeles --

0:00:12.340,0:00:15.764
(Laughter)

0:00:15.788,0:00:18.122
thinking we were moving[br]to America, but anyway --

0:00:18.146,0:00:20.081
(Laughter)

0:00:20.827,0:00:25.085
It's a short plane ride[br]from Los Angeles to America.

0:00:25.109,0:00:26.751
(Laughter)

0:00:27.304,0:00:29.035
I got here 12 years ago,

0:00:29.059,0:00:32.845
and when I got here,[br]I was told various things,

0:00:32.869,0:00:35.916
like, "Americans don't get irony."

0:00:36.628,0:00:38.768
(Laughter)

0:00:38.792,0:00:41.014
Have you come across this idea?

0:00:41.038,0:00:42.197
It's not true.

0:00:42.221,0:00:44.983
I've traveled the whole length[br]and breadth of this country.

0:00:45.007,0:00:47.633
I have found no evidence[br]that Americans don't get irony.

0:00:47.657,0:00:50.234
It's one of those cultural myths,

0:00:50.258,0:00:52.146
like, "The British are reserved."

0:00:52.480,0:00:54.369
(Laughter)

0:00:54.393,0:00:56.099
I don't know why people think this.

0:00:56.455,0:00:58.942
We've invaded every country[br]we've encountered.

0:00:58.966,0:01:01.250
(Laughter)

0:01:02.818,0:01:05.102
But it's not true Americans[br]don't get irony,

0:01:05.126,0:01:07.598
but I just want you to know[br]that that's what people

0:01:07.622,0:01:09.432
are saying about you behind your back.

0:01:09.456,0:01:12.392
You know, so when you leave[br]living rooms in Europe,

0:01:12.416,0:01:15.623
people say, thankfully,[br]nobody was ironic in your presence.

0:01:15.647,0:01:17.034
(Laughter)

0:01:17.058,0:01:19.595
But I knew that Americans get irony

0:01:19.619,0:01:23.344
when I came across that legislation,[br]"No Child Left Behind."

0:01:23.368,0:01:25.150
(Laughter)

0:01:25.174,0:01:28.775
Because whoever thought[br]of that title gets irony.

0:01:28.799,0:01:30.537
(Laughter)

0:01:30.561,0:01:32.019
Don't they?

0:01:32.043,0:01:37.842
(Applause)

0:01:37.866,0:01:40.838
Because it's leaving[br]millions of children behind.

0:01:41.413,0:01:44.725
Now I can see that's not a very attractive[br]name for legislation:

0:01:44.749,0:01:46.471
"Millions of Children Left Behind."

0:01:46.495,0:01:48.240
I can see that.

0:01:48.264,0:01:49.461
What's the plan?

0:01:49.485,0:01:52.249
We propose to leave[br]millions of children behind,

0:01:52.273,0:01:54.011
and here's how it's going to work.

0:01:54.035,0:01:55.421
And it's working beautifully.

0:01:55.445,0:01:56.452
(Laughter)

0:01:56.476,0:01:57.857
In some parts of the country,

0:01:57.881,0:02:00.838
60 percent of kids drop out[br]of high school.

0:02:01.677,0:02:03.344
In the Native American communities,

0:02:03.368,0:02:05.753
it's 80 percent of kids.

0:02:05.777,0:02:08.344
If we halved that number,

0:02:08.368,0:02:14.026
one estimate is it would create[br]a net gain to the U.S. economy

0:02:14.050,0:02:18.087
over 10 years,[br]of nearly a trillion dollars.

0:02:19.280,0:02:20.833
From an economic point of view,

0:02:20.857,0:02:23.765
this is good math, isn't it,[br]that we should do this?

0:02:23.789,0:02:26.114
It actually costs an enormous amount

0:02:26.138,0:02:29.821
to mop up the damage[br]from the dropout crisis.

0:02:30.300,0:02:34.005
But the dropout crisis[br]is just the tip of an iceberg.

0:02:34.029,0:02:36.696
What it doesn't count[br]are all the kids who are in school

0:02:36.720,0:02:40.258
but being disengaged[br]from it, who don't enjoy it,

0:02:40.282,0:02:42.826
who don't get any real benefit from it.

0:02:43.622,0:02:46.590
And the reason is not[br]that we're not spending enough money.

0:02:46.614,0:02:50.079
America spends more money on education[br]than most other countries.

0:02:50.103,0:02:53.345
Class sizes are smaller[br]than in many countries.

0:02:53.681,0:02:55.943
And there are hundreds[br]of initiatives every year

0:02:55.967,0:02:57.603
to try and improve education.

0:02:58.244,0:03:01.595
The trouble is, it's all going[br]in the wrong direction.

0:03:02.765,0:03:07.340
There are three principles[br]on which human life flourishes,

0:03:07.364,0:03:11.351
and they are contradicted[br]by the culture of education

0:03:11.375,0:03:13.628
under which most teachers have to labor

0:03:13.652,0:03:16.204
and most students have to endure.

0:03:17.207,0:03:23.479
The first is this, that human beings[br]are naturally different and diverse.

0:03:24.387,0:03:27.502
Can I ask you, how many of you[br]have got children of your own?

0:03:28.892,0:03:30.835
Okay. Or grandchildren.

0:03:31.905,0:03:34.807
How about two children or more? Right.

0:03:35.645,0:03:37.741
And the rest of you[br]have seen such children.

0:03:37.765,0:03:40.501
(Laughter)

0:03:40.525,0:03:42.015
Small people wandering about.

0:03:42.039,0:03:43.761
(Laughter)

0:03:43.785,0:03:45.612
I will make you a bet,

0:03:45.636,0:03:47.684
and I am confident[br]that I will win the bet.

0:03:47.708,0:03:49.527
If you've got two children or more,

0:03:49.551,0:03:53.356
I bet you they are completely[br]different from each other.

0:03:53.380,0:03:55.801
Aren't they?

0:03:55.825,0:03:57.727
(Applause)

0:03:57.751,0:04:00.330
You would never confuse them, would you?

0:04:00.354,0:04:02.394
Like, "Which one are you? Remind me."

0:04:02.418,0:04:04.196
(Laughter)

0:04:05.252,0:04:07.665
"Your mother and I need[br]some color-coding system

0:04:07.689,0:04:09.069
so we don't get confused."

0:04:10.052,0:04:12.971
Education under "No Child Left Behind"

0:04:12.995,0:04:16.574
is based on not diversity but conformity.

0:04:17.818,0:04:20.352
What schools are encouraged[br]to do is to find out

0:04:20.376,0:04:24.324
what kids can do across[br]a very narrow spectrum of achievement.

0:04:24.736,0:04:27.404
One of the effects[br]of "No Child Left Behind"

0:04:27.428,0:04:31.177
has been to narrow the focus[br]onto the so-called STEM disciplines.

0:04:31.201,0:04:32.811
They're very important.

0:04:32.835,0:04:35.074
I'm not here to argue[br]against science and math.

0:04:35.098,0:04:38.813
On the contrary, they're necessary[br]but they're not sufficient.

0:04:39.178,0:04:41.353
A real education has to give equal weight

0:04:41.377,0:04:45.090
to the arts, the humanities,[br]to physical education.

0:04:45.114,0:04:47.538
An awful lot of kids, sorry, thank you --

0:04:47.562,0:04:52.664
(Applause)

0:04:52.688,0:04:56.551
One estimate in America currently[br]is that something like 10 percent of kids,

0:04:56.575,0:04:58.066
getting on that way,

0:04:58.090,0:05:02.156
are being diagnosed[br]with various conditions

0:05:02.180,0:05:06.157
under the broad title[br]of attention deficit disorder.

0:05:06.502,0:05:07.702
ADHD.

0:05:08.234,0:05:10.017
I'm not saying there's no such thing.

0:05:10.699,0:05:13.130
I just don't believe[br]it's an epidemic like this.

0:05:13.154,0:05:15.946
If you sit kids down, hour after hour,

0:05:15.970,0:05:17.925
doing low-grade clerical work,

0:05:19.306,0:05:22.411
don't be surprised if they start[br]to fidget, you know?

0:05:22.435,0:05:23.863
(Laughter)

0:05:23.887,0:05:30.065
(Applause)

0:05:30.089,0:05:34.224
Children are not, for the most part,[br]suffering from a psychological condition.

0:05:34.248,0:05:36.237
They're suffering from childhood.

0:05:36.261,0:05:40.355
(Laughter)

0:05:40.379,0:05:43.287
And I know this because[br]I spent my early life as a child.

0:05:43.311,0:05:45.406
I went through the whole thing.

0:05:46.705,0:05:51.699
Kids prosper best with a broad curriculum[br]that celebrates their various talents,

0:05:51.723,0:05:53.336
not just a small range of them.

0:05:53.360,0:05:55.559
And by the way, the arts[br]aren't just important

0:05:55.583,0:05:57.193
because they improve math scores.

0:05:57.217,0:06:00.334
They're important because they speak[br]to parts of children's being

0:06:00.358,0:06:01.787
which are otherwise untouched.

0:06:02.312,0:06:04.120
The second, thank you --

0:06:04.144,0:06:08.205
(Applause)

0:06:08.562,0:06:12.701
The second principle[br]that drives human life flourishing

0:06:12.725,0:06:14.209
is curiosity.

0:06:14.512,0:06:17.876
If you can light the spark[br]of curiosity in a child,

0:06:17.900,0:06:21.068
they will learn without any further[br]assistance, very often.

0:06:21.563,0:06:23.524
Children are natural learners.

0:06:23.548,0:06:27.840
It's a real achievement[br]to put that particular ability out,

0:06:27.864,0:06:29.241
or to stifle it.

0:06:30.155,0:06:33.868
Curiosity is the engine of achievement.

0:06:34.392,0:06:35.745
Now the reason I say this

0:06:35.769,0:06:39.944
is because one of the effects[br]of the current culture here,

0:06:39.968,0:06:41.170
if I can say so,

0:06:41.194,0:06:44.077
has been to de-professionalize teachers.

0:06:44.876,0:06:50.188
There is no system in the world[br]or any school in the country

0:06:50.212,0:06:52.476
that is better than its teachers.

0:06:53.028,0:06:57.334
Teachers are the lifeblood[br]of the success of schools.

0:06:57.723,0:07:00.350
But teaching is a creative profession.

0:07:00.814,0:07:03.701
Teaching, properly conceived,[br]is not a delivery system.

0:07:04.174,0:07:07.222
You know, you're not there just[br]to pass on received information.

0:07:07.246,0:07:09.474
Great teachers do that,

0:07:09.498,0:07:12.543
but what great teachers also do is mentor,

0:07:12.567,0:07:15.595
stimulate, provoke, engage.

0:07:15.936,0:07:18.230
You see, in the end,[br]education is about learning.

0:07:18.881,0:07:21.971
If there's no learning going on,[br]there's no education going on.

0:07:21.995,0:07:23.968
And people can spend an awful lot of time

0:07:23.992,0:07:26.565
discussing education[br]without ever discussing learning.

0:07:26.589,0:07:29.162
The whole point of education[br]is to get people to learn.

0:07:29.186,0:07:32.952
An old friend of mine --[br]actually very old, he's dead.

0:07:32.976,0:07:35.648
(Laughter)

0:07:35.672,0:07:38.149
That's as old as it gets, I'm afraid.

0:07:38.173,0:07:40.129
(Laughter)

0:07:41.960,0:07:46.713
But a wonderful guy he was,[br]wonderful philosopher.

0:07:46.737,0:07:49.012
He used to talk about the difference

0:07:49.036,0:07:52.927
between the task[br]and achievement senses of verbs.

0:07:53.818,0:07:56.141
You can be engaged[br]in the activity of something,

0:07:56.165,0:07:58.580
but not really be[br]achieving it, like dieting.

0:07:59.086,0:08:00.087
(Laughter)

0:08:00.111,0:08:01.841
It's a very good example.

0:08:01.865,0:08:03.212
There he is. He's dieting.

0:08:03.236,0:08:05.105
Is he losing any weight? Not really.

0:08:05.129,0:08:06.721
(Laughter)

0:08:06.745,0:08:08.212
Teaching is a word like that.

0:08:08.236,0:08:11.424
You can say, "There's Deborah,[br]she's in room 34, she's teaching."

0:08:11.902,0:08:13.751
But if nobody's learning anything,

0:08:13.775,0:08:17.590
she may be engaged in the task of teaching[br]but not actually fulfilling it.

0:08:18.419,0:08:21.384
The role of a teacher[br]is to facilitate learning.

0:08:21.408,0:08:22.655
That's it.

0:08:22.679,0:08:24.555
And part of the problem is, I think,

0:08:24.579,0:08:28.011
that the dominant culture[br]of education has come to focus

0:08:28.035,0:08:31.124
on not teaching and learning, but testing.

0:08:31.884,0:08:33.461
Now, testing is important.

0:08:33.485,0:08:35.200
Standardized tests have a place.

0:08:35.798,0:08:38.691
But they should not be[br]the dominant culture of education.

0:08:38.715,0:08:40.811
They should be diagnostic.[br]They should help.

0:08:40.835,0:08:47.835
(Applause)

0:08:48.247,0:08:52.769
If I go for a medical examination,[br]I want some standardized tests.

0:08:53.162,0:08:54.363
I do.

0:08:54.387,0:08:56.474
I want to know[br]what my cholesterol level is

0:08:56.498,0:08:58.855
compared to everybody else's[br]on a standard scale.

0:08:58.879,0:09:02.121
I don't want to be told on some scale[br]my doctor invented in the car.

0:09:02.145,0:09:03.533
(Laughter)

0:09:04.246,0:09:06.469
"Your cholesterol[br]is what I call Level Orange."

0:09:06.493,0:09:07.676
"Really?"

0:09:07.700,0:09:09.477
(Laughter)

0:09:09.501,0:09:11.144
"Is that good?" "We don't know."

0:09:11.168,0:09:12.722
(Laughter)

0:09:12.746,0:09:15.312
But all that should support learning.

0:09:15.336,0:09:18.844
It shouldn't obstruct it,[br]which of course it often does.

0:09:19.275,0:09:23.362
So in place of curiosity,[br]what we have is a culture of compliance.

0:09:23.975,0:09:29.475
Our children and teachers are encouraged[br]to follow routine algorithms

0:09:29.499,0:09:34.036
rather than to excite that power[br]of imagination and curiosity.

0:09:34.060,0:09:37.692
And the third principle is this:[br]that human life is inherently creative.

0:09:38.065,0:09:40.429
It's why we all have different résumés.

0:09:40.453,0:09:42.070
We create our lives,

0:09:42.094,0:09:44.673
and we can recreate them[br]as we go through them.

0:09:44.697,0:09:47.278
It's the common currency[br]of being a human being.

0:09:47.302,0:09:51.445
It's why human culture[br]is so interesting and diverse and dynamic.

0:09:51.469,0:09:55.306
I mean, other animals may well have[br]imaginations and creativity,

0:09:55.330,0:09:58.038
but it's not so much[br]in evidence, is it, as ours?

0:09:58.062,0:09:59.566
I mean, you may have a dog.

0:10:00.780,0:10:03.174
And your dog may get depressed.

0:10:03.644,0:10:06.216
You know, but it doesn't listen[br]to Radiohead, does it?

0:10:06.240,0:10:09.995
(Laughter)

0:10:10.019,0:10:12.924
And sit staring out the window[br]with a bottle of Jack Daniels.

0:10:12.948,0:10:17.121
(Laughter)

0:10:17.145,0:10:18.947
"Would you like to come for a walk?"

0:10:18.971,0:10:20.172
"No, I'm fine."

0:10:20.196,0:10:21.930
(Laughter)

0:10:21.954,0:10:25.771
"You go. I'll wait. But take pictures."

0:10:25.795,0:10:27.636
(Laughter)

0:10:27.660,0:10:30.409
We all create our own lives[br]through this restless process

0:10:30.433,0:10:32.529
of imagining alternatives[br]and possibilities,

0:10:32.553,0:10:34.995
and one of the roles of education

0:10:35.019,0:10:38.693
is to awaken and develop[br]these powers of creativity.

0:10:38.717,0:10:41.755
Instead, what we have[br]is a culture of standardization.

0:10:42.417,0:10:44.639
Now, it doesn't have to be that way.

0:10:44.663,0:10:46.248
It really doesn't.

0:10:46.637,0:10:51.317
Finland regularly comes out on top[br]in math, science and reading.

0:10:51.341,0:10:53.611
Now, we only know[br]that's what they do well at,

0:10:53.635,0:10:55.767
because that's all that's being tested.

0:10:55.791,0:10:57.649
That's one of the problems of the test.

0:10:57.673,0:11:00.411
They don't look for other things[br]that matter just as much.

0:11:00.752,0:11:04.078
The thing about work in Finland is this:

0:11:04.102,0:11:06.450
they don't obsess about those disciplines.

0:11:06.474,0:11:08.570
They have a very broad[br]approach to education,

0:11:08.594,0:11:11.964
which includes humanities,[br]physical education, the arts.

0:11:13.064,0:11:17.817
Second, there is no standardized[br]testing in Finland.

0:11:18.511,0:11:20.128
I mean, there's a bit,

0:11:20.152,0:11:22.438
but it's not what gets[br]people up in the morning,

0:11:22.462,0:11:24.009
what keeps them at their desks.

0:11:24.342,0:11:26.698
The third thing --[br]and I was at a meeting recently

0:11:26.722,0:11:29.263
with some people from Finland,[br]actual Finnish people,

0:11:29.287,0:11:34.159
and somebody from the American system[br]was saying to the people in Finland,

0:11:34.183,0:11:37.132
"What do you do[br]about the drop-out rate in Finland?"

0:11:37.782,0:11:40.188
And they all looked a bit[br]bemused, and said,

0:11:40.212,0:11:41.514
"Well, we don't have one.

0:11:42.522,0:11:43.885
Why would you drop out?

0:11:44.591,0:11:47.141
If people are in trouble,[br]we get to them quite quickly

0:11:47.165,0:11:48.633
and we help and support them."

0:11:48.657,0:11:50.224
Now people always say,

0:11:50.248,0:11:53.006
"Well, you know, you can't compare[br]Finland to America."

0:11:53.463,0:11:56.847
No. I think there's a population[br]of around five million in Finland.

0:11:57.230,0:12:00.185
But you can compare it[br]to a state in America.

0:12:00.815,0:12:04.225
Many states in America[br]have fewer people in them than that.

0:12:04.719,0:12:06.767
I mean, I've been[br]to some states in America

0:12:06.791,0:12:08.348
and I was the only person there.

0:12:08.372,0:12:10.175
(Laughter)

0:12:10.199,0:12:12.800
Really. Really.

0:12:12.824,0:12:14.778
I was asked to lock up when I left.

0:12:14.802,0:12:18.048
(Laughter)

0:12:18.897,0:12:22.806
But what all the high-performing[br]systems in the world do

0:12:22.830,0:12:26.694
is currently what is not evident, sadly,

0:12:26.718,0:12:28.959
across the systems in America --

0:12:28.983,0:12:30.250
I mean, as a whole.

0:12:30.703,0:12:32.012
One is this:

0:12:32.036,0:12:35.053
they individualize teaching and learning.

0:12:35.797,0:12:39.430
They recognize that it's students[br]who are learning

0:12:39.454,0:12:41.586
and the system has to engage them,

0:12:41.610,0:12:44.996
their curiosity, their individuality,[br]and their creativity.

0:12:45.305,0:12:46.931
That's how you get them to learn.

0:12:47.570,0:12:51.760
The second is that they attribute[br]a very high status

0:12:51.784,0:12:53.627
to the teaching profession.

0:12:54.353,0:12:56.985
They recognize[br]that you can't improve education

0:12:57.009,0:12:59.978
if you don't pick great people to teach[br]and keep giving them

0:13:00.002,0:13:02.199
constant support[br]and professional development.

0:13:02.501,0:13:05.195
Investing in professional[br]development is not a cost.

0:13:05.219,0:13:06.808
It's an investment,

0:13:06.832,0:13:09.577
and every other country[br]that's succeeding well knows that,

0:13:09.601,0:13:12.031
whether it's Australia, Canada,

0:13:12.055,0:13:16.482
South Korea, Singapore,[br]Hong Kong or Shanghai.

0:13:16.506,0:13:18.171
They know that to be the case.

0:13:18.195,0:13:19.561
And the third is,

0:13:19.585,0:13:23.315
they devolve responsibility[br]to the school level

0:13:23.339,0:13:24.592
for getting the job done.

0:13:25.243,0:13:27.348
You see, there's a big difference here

0:13:27.372,0:13:31.361
between going into a mode of command[br]and control in education --

0:13:31.385,0:13:33.113
That's what happens in some systems.

0:13:33.137,0:13:35.736
Central or state governments decide,

0:13:35.760,0:13:38.418
they know best and they're going[br]to tell you what to do.

0:13:38.799,0:13:42.294
The trouble is that education[br]doesn't go on

0:13:42.318,0:13:45.226
in the committee rooms[br]of our legislative buildings.

0:13:45.250,0:13:48.260
It happens in classrooms and schools,

0:13:48.284,0:13:51.333
and the people who do it[br]are the teachers and the students,

0:13:51.357,0:13:54.606
and if you remove their discretion,[br]it stops working.

0:13:55.117,0:13:57.791
You have to put it back to the people.

0:13:57.815,0:14:02.967
(Applause)

0:14:02.991,0:14:05.332
There is wonderful work[br]happening in this country.

0:14:05.918,0:14:07.475
But I have to say it's happening

0:14:07.499,0:14:10.041
in spite of the dominant[br]culture of education,

0:14:10.065,0:14:11.442
not because of it.

0:14:11.466,0:14:14.713
It's like people are sailing[br]into a headwind all the time.

0:14:15.070,0:14:17.708
And the reason I think is this:

0:14:17.732,0:14:19.740
that many of the current policies

0:14:19.764,0:14:23.885
are based on mechanistic[br]conceptions of education.

0:14:23.909,0:14:27.653
It's like education[br]is an industrial process

0:14:27.677,0:14:30.660
that can be improved[br]just by having better data,

0:14:30.684,0:14:33.600
and somewhere in the back of the mind[br]of some policy makers

0:14:33.624,0:14:37.734
is this idea that if we fine-tune it[br]well enough, if we just get it right,

0:14:37.758,0:14:40.019
it will all hum along perfectly[br]into the future.

0:14:40.576,0:14:42.291
It won't, and it never did.

0:14:43.805,0:14:47.732
The point is that education[br]is not a mechanical system.

0:14:47.756,0:14:49.555
It's a human system.

0:14:49.927,0:14:51.856
It's about people,

0:14:51.880,0:14:54.684
people who either do want[br]to learn or don't want to learn.

0:14:54.708,0:14:59.499
Every student who drops[br]out of school has a reason for it

0:14:59.523,0:15:01.820
which is rooted in their own biography.

0:15:01.844,0:15:03.422
They may find it boring.

0:15:03.446,0:15:05.142
They may find it irrelevant.

0:15:05.166,0:15:09.980
They may find that it's at odds with[br]the life they're living outside of school.

0:15:10.286,0:15:13.454
There are trends,[br]but the stories are always unique.

0:15:14.087,0:15:16.741
I was at a meeting recently[br]in Los Angeles of --

0:15:16.765,0:15:19.200
they're called alternative[br]education programs.

0:15:19.224,0:15:22.528
These are programs designed[br]to get kids back into education.

0:15:22.552,0:15:24.333
They have certain common features.

0:15:24.357,0:15:25.889
They're very personalized.

0:15:26.548,0:15:29.960
They have strong support for the teachers,

0:15:29.984,0:15:33.527
close links with the community[br]and a broad and diverse curriculum,

0:15:33.551,0:15:38.447
and often programs which involve students[br]outside school as well as inside school.

0:15:38.790,0:15:40.004
And they work.

0:15:40.674,0:15:44.347
What's interesting to me is,[br]these are called "alternative education."

0:15:44.371,0:15:45.419
(Laughter)

0:15:45.443,0:15:46.647
You know?

0:15:47.714,0:15:49.909
And all the evidence[br]from around the world is,

0:15:49.933,0:15:52.865
if we all did that, there'd be[br]no need for the alternative.

0:15:53.406,0:15:56.262
(Applause)

0:16:01.135,0:16:02.136
(Applause ends)

0:16:02.160,0:16:04.640
So I think we have to embrace[br]a different metaphor.

0:16:04.664,0:16:07.173
We have to recognize[br]that it's a human system,

0:16:07.197,0:16:11.053
and there are conditions[br]under which people thrive,

0:16:11.077,0:16:13.674
and conditions under which they don't.

0:16:13.698,0:16:16.945
We are after all organic creatures,

0:16:16.969,0:16:21.245
and the culture of the school[br]is absolutely essential.

0:16:21.269,0:16:23.344
Culture is an organic term, isn't it?

0:16:23.937,0:16:26.972
Not far from where I live[br]is a place called Death Valley.

0:16:27.627,0:16:33.267
Death Valley is the hottest,[br]driest place in America,

0:16:33.291,0:16:35.110
and nothing grows there.

0:16:36.219,0:16:38.306
Nothing grows there[br]because it doesn't rain.

0:16:38.664,0:16:40.280
Hence, Death Valley.

0:16:40.917,0:16:47.670
In the winter of 2004,[br]it rained in Death Valley.

0:16:48.064,0:16:51.201
Seven inches of rain fell[br]over a very short period.

0:16:52.010,0:16:56.705
And in the spring of 2005,[br]there was a phenomenon.

0:16:57.038,0:17:02.660
The whole floor of Death Valley[br]was carpeted in flowers for a while.

0:17:03.664,0:17:05.426
What it proved is this:

0:17:05.450,0:17:08.084
that Death Valley isn't dead.

0:17:09.424,0:17:10.693
It's dormant.

0:17:11.569,0:17:15.027
Right beneath the surface[br]are these seeds of possibility

0:17:15.051,0:17:18.589
waiting for the right conditions[br]to come about,

0:17:18.613,0:17:22.075
and with organic systems,[br]if the conditions are right,

0:17:22.099,0:17:23.974
life is inevitable.

0:17:24.290,0:17:25.661
It happens all the time.

0:17:25.685,0:17:28.246
You take an area, a school, a district,

0:17:28.270,0:17:31.674
you change the conditions, give people[br]a different sense of possibility,

0:17:31.698,0:17:34.816
a different set of expectations,[br]a broader range of opportunities,

0:17:34.840,0:17:38.126
you cherish and value the relationships[br]between teachers and learners,

0:17:38.150,0:17:40.341
you offer people[br]the discretion to be creative

0:17:40.365,0:17:42.184
and to innovate in what they do,

0:17:42.208,0:17:45.645
and schools that were once[br]bereft spring to life.

0:17:45.669,0:17:47.154
Great leaders know that.

0:17:47.662,0:17:49.763
The real role of leadership[br]in education --

0:17:49.787,0:17:51.884
and I think it's true[br]at the national level,

0:17:51.908,0:17:53.878
the state level, at the school level --

0:17:53.902,0:17:57.376
is not and should not be[br]command and control.

0:17:58.302,0:18:02.525
The real role of leadership[br]is climate control,

0:18:02.549,0:18:04.828
creating a climate of possibility.

0:18:04.852,0:18:07.282
And if you do that, people will rise to it

0:18:07.306,0:18:10.515
and achieve things[br]that you completely did not anticipate

0:18:10.539,0:18:12.482
and couldn't have expected.

0:18:12.506,0:18:14.859
There's a wonderful quote[br]from Benjamin Franklin.

0:18:14.883,0:18:17.462
"There are three sorts[br]of people in the world:

0:18:17.486,0:18:20.002
Those who are immovable,

0:18:20.026,0:18:21.249
people who don't get it,

0:18:21.273,0:18:23.144
or don't want to do anything about it;

0:18:23.168,0:18:24.880
there are people who are movable,

0:18:24.904,0:18:26.524
people who see the need for change

0:18:26.548,0:18:28.848
and are prepared to listen to it;

0:18:28.872,0:18:30.699
and there are people who move,

0:18:30.723,0:18:32.479
people who make things happen."

0:18:32.796,0:18:36.718
And if we can encourage more people,[br]that will be a movement.

0:18:37.339,0:18:39.502
And if the movement is strong enough,

0:18:39.526,0:18:42.251
that's, in the best sense[br]of the word, a revolution.

0:18:42.866,0:18:44.423
And that's what we need.

0:18:44.447,0:18:45.656
Thank you very much.

0:18:45.680,0:18:49.545
(Applause)

0:18:49.569,0:18:50.795
Thank you very much.

0:18:50.819,0:18:53.396
(Applause)