I don’t know how many times I’ve heard a teacher say, “We have to learn this because it’s on the test but you won’t need it for anything else.”

He's not speaking with anger, he's speaking with passion!

this came out almost six years ago. Everything he said applies to schools half a decade later...

I used to love learning, but tests and assignments have taken away that desire to learn.

We’ve stopped educating for life, and started teaching for tests.

"Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all" -Aristole

It makes me angry that this video is 5 years old and NOTHING has changed

He also forgot this: If you're one of the best and brightest, school slows you down and tells you that you're moving too quickly

This guy should be the U.S. government's Secretary of Education...

My fourth grade teacher told my parents I had a learning disability. I got my PhD in biochemistry 4 years ago :)

You know you're done with school when you ask yourself questions like *"How is this helping me with what I want to become"*

Me: I've been drawing all my life and I truly aspire to become an artist School: do you know how to do this overly complicated algebra equation? Me: no?... School: guess you can't be an artist then

I just find it so mind-blowing that if you're bad at science or math, people say you're not trying hard enough, but if you're bad at things like art, they'll just say, "Don't worry, it's just not your thing."

“Don’t let schooling get in the way of your education” -Einstein

School: You need to get at least 10 hours of sleep each day. Also School: Okay here is another 40 bajillion hours of homework that you need to finish tomorrow.

This dude is probably the favorite teacher at his school

You want to make sure students are getting enough sleep? Stop allowing teachers to give 2-4 hrs of homework per day per class. Especially when you have 6 classes and homework for almost every class.

Finland has no standardized testing and their students score the highest in the world consistently. Very well stated

I was always told that I was smart, yet my grades don't show that. They're riddled with C's, D's, and F's. Yet for some reason I can out think many people and come up with solutions faster, get around obstacles, and even get a win for a group project if I know what I'm doing. I contain random information in my head that at first glance seems irrelevant but then turns out to help in some situation... and yet, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna be a college dropout by the end of the year. And I've always been told that if I drop out, I'm not going to do anything worthwhile. And I can actually afford a textbook. Seeing kids who are worlds smarter than me get treated like they're not worth help makes me realize that the "No Child Left Behind" was just a marketing strategy.

What we need to actually learn: *How to pay taxes, Applying for college, Surviving in the wild, Surviving in society* Schools: Calcite reacts to Hydrochloric Acid

This man needs to become the Secretary of Education!

He sounds angry, as we all should be.. lets wake up

I failed alot of my subjects at high school including maths but in my free time, I programmed computer games at the age of 12. I was told I needed to be good at maths to write software (It's a lie). Even though I failed alot of high school, i'm now a successful 6 figures in the bank software programmer.

Man, you can see how heartbroken and frustrated he is about the situation...

My heart is breaking at the moment. I taught for 25 years. This is all true. Something needs to change, because we are destroying our children and wearing down our teachers. We need to bring back the joy of learning and the individuality and creativity of teaching.

God bless this guy. Someone with balls to say the truth. Fuck the school system. It's all a fucking business.

"I wasn't taught how to pay tax, but I can remember loads of Shakespeare's classics." ~ David from Boyinaband, "Don't Stay in School".

I never let my schooling get in the way of my education. -Mark Twain

The only thing missing from this talk was a mic drop.

how school works 1. Wake up *EARLY* 2. Get ready 3. Go to school for 8 hours and get _"Taught"_ useless information you'll forget by the next week 4. Take tests and regurgitate the useless information 5. Go home 6. Regurgitate MORE useless information 7. Go to bed *REPEAT FOR 12+ YEARS*

School system sucks, they literally base someone in their abilities and personality. I remember back in Kindergarten, I was supposed to be in 1st Grade but then I got held back and repeated Kindergarten again (even though I graduated Kindergarten already) because they said I was smart and all but I'm way too "quiet" *smh*

This guy is the greatest. I had him in high school and he always believed in me. He never gave up on us as his students. 10/10

It's 2019. This should really spread to more people, because this is important to shaping the future. Besides, if a few kids hate school, it's normal. But if 95% of students hate school, that should be a pretty clear sign that something is not right.

When i am in school...i feel like *i am not living i am existing*

The real problem with education in North America is that failure is what is used to motivate students to learn, as opposed to learning for the sake of learning. At the end of the day students are taught to care only about what letter they see on their test paper and therefore have no real desire to learn anything new. If the education system was structured in a way that allowed students to learn without threatening them with failure, then students would actually have a thirst for knowledge and a desire to learn, making school seem like less of a burden.

God is this relatable. I’m getting tested for ADHD tomorrow, and I was diagnosed with severe depression, and a general anxiety disorder last year. I’ve been struggling with those issues for my whole life, and ultimately it’s not down to anyone- it’s simply who I am and the context I live in colliding with each other. My whole family is filled with talented, intelligent people- my parents both got graduate degrees at prestigious colleges, and my dad has a PhD. All of my immediate family are professionals, working extremely hard- good for them, but this meant I had no model of a successful outsider. I grew up believing that not only did I need college to live a life where I wouldn’t panic about affording something better to eat than beans and rice, but also believing I would enjoy college. That it would be the place where I could fully become the person I’m dying to be. After three years wasting money, getting steadily less and less willing to even live, I decided to do something else. I started to notice that even the people who wanted to be professionals, were dreading the day that they graduate. They were all sticking to something that made them hate themselves and treat others poorly for temporary relief. There were obviously many many others that loved their time in college- but among the people I knew, they only continued in the hope things would magically work out. Like they’d been double dog dared to quit, and no way they’d let themselves do that. I got treatment and dropped out of school last year. All this focus on succeeding like I’m told, has squashed the potential I’ve had in so many others areas. I didn’t paint for five years, I was too stressed to even think about art as something I wouldn’t fail at- even though it’s the only thing I consistently succeed in. I alienated myself from myself in order to be a smidge calmer about how little I wanted to go to school. I stopped myself from being friends with people who weren’t ‘college worthy’ so I wouldn’t catch their ‘failure.’ I grit my teeth through classes where I was bullied by teachers. I suffered through so many classes where I was told I’m worthless for not passing. I stuck with friends who defined me as the person they couldn’t be if they wanted to live a stable, happy life. For years, I convinced myself the only time where I felt respected and fulfilled was when I stuck to a 16 hour schedule of languages, classes, reading, and chores. I didn’t last a month, and being so young, I took that to mean I was never going to have stability and comfort in life. All of this impacted me to my core, and made me the person who I am. But the negatives of it all continue to inform thought patterns that stop me from pursuing what I know I actually want to do. And I’m a lucky one- there’s so many millions of kids who internalize the messages society, parents, peers give them, and don’t discover a new path until decades later. It’s truly shameful what we do to kids in America. We wring them dry and leave them little to find joy in. Then we continue telling them they’re doing something wrong, and if they just tried ‘this’ instead they’d be better off. Eventually people turn to whatever will just help them get through a day- addictions, drugs, working too hard, abusing and manipulating others. And we act like none of us had a part in any that. Here’s a question: how many people reading this have stood by silently while someone’s been abused? How many times have we given advice that didn’t even help us? How many times in the past year have you assumed homeless persons are just failures, worthless, not even worth a quick hello even if it means uncomfortably denying them charity. These all connect together subtly. We build a context where there is NO way to live lives according to our own definitions of success. Then we adopt society’s version as our own, and wonder what happened to all those passions we used to have. Some of us leave to another place, another country, to build a new life somewhere that might be a different kind of damaging. But for most of us we just have to struggle through and live our lives on American terms, and try to make it our own. Often we don’t recognize it, because to focus on our own long term happiness for once, would be selfish or irresponsible. And that’s the least of it if you have real tangible commitments and responsibilities. Nonetheless it’s admirable that we’ve all gone through something like this, and continued to try making it work for us. Maybe that’s a sign something will change for the better. The truth is, the society were building at the top, is completely mismatched from the reality those without power live with. We’re all told this story about an abstract version of ourselves, a person that would exist if we just did we were told. But it doesn’t make practical sense for most of us because it’s divorced from who we actually are and want to be.

Me: How do I apply for a job? School: Take this recorder Me: How do I do taxes? School: HOT. CROSS. BUNS.

I remember when i wanted to be an inventor. Now i just want to pass algebra 2.

my science teacher doesn’t even explain to us. she literally puts the work on the board then goes to the back to eat or something. really amazing teacher, huh?

Let’s be honest, how many of us even remember anything we learned in highschool?

He didn't stutter once, he didn't miss a beat. This dude is remarkably talented, and he spoke such revolutionary words. One day I will spawn a child. But that day will not come until this man's message has been enacted.

Am I the only one who thinks that school makes learning not fun because learning isn’t supposed to involve anxiety about living in a box

It's impossible to have fun and do my homework, and get 8 hours of sleep.

It's really sad that this is from 2014 and the school system seems to have only gotten worse. :(

This was made four years ago and nothing has changed.

I started crying when he was talking about the kids with the low test scores who have other life factors affecting their ability to test well. I had a friend who almost committed suicide because the public education system told them they "aren't trying hard enough" and "won't be sucessful" because of how they look on a piece of paper. Even me who is typically a "top 90th percentile" student in most subjects, I end up feeling like I fail if I don't meet that expectation, that my parents won't be as happy, and it grew into full blown depression for my late elementary and middle school years. What use is knowing how to write a perfect essay when you are dead?

When i complain my parents i m stressed at school they always tell me about the kids who are not getting proper education It Just pisses me off ...

I'm 2.5 minutes into this video and I feel myself getting glassy-eyed. You can tell this guy has seen this system and culture fail so many students with potential and he is passed the point of frustration. He is genuinely passionate about this topic.

You go to school to learn school. Our children are being trained and not educated. The system is designed for students to get jobs. They need tools right now. Don't tell me what to think. Show me how to think. The world is changing at a rapid pace. Schools have not kept with the times. The time is now.

Our current public school system is simply teaching kids well into their college years how to remember and regurgitate information on a test without retaining anything.

17 minutes of zero fillers, zero pauses and almost zero stutters, this is a damn excellent speech. I see the laughs and smiles as his way to distract himself from the frustration that he is looking at his passionated subject being brutally butchered and deteriorated while himself cant do much to help.

As an engineer, we measure performance of things using the average taken from numbers of trial. But to be graduated as engineer, they measure our performance from one-shot test.

School doesn't require you to think anymore, it requires you to memorize and regurgitate the same information as everyone else

I am an inner city teacher, on the verge of quitting until I heard this. I have a heart for my students but couldn't put my finger why I hated my job until now. I was wrongfully conditioned to believe scores reflected my, and my students success. I completely forgot they are people who don't necessarily express their ambitions through studies. Thank you for saving me from making the biggest mistake of my life.

When I was in school, I tested into GT STEM classes and missed the score to get into GT Humanities THREE TIMES. I am now in school to Double Major in English and Art to write and illustrate novels. My college math class was the most stressful class of my college career due to my test anxiety that started in the 4th grade. The current school system DOES NOT WORK. It impedes our students ability to follow the path that suits them and labels them and the teachers that guide them most as the problem. Let's fix this.

I spend a lot of my free time learning about things that interest me. I love to come up with ideas on how to better things and I can express those ideas however I want. At school, it feels like that part of my brain has shut off due to my anxiety of getting something wrong.

I seroiusly wish he was my teacher. I would love his class. "These are human beings!"

It's been four years and it isn't any better. I'd like to know what he thinks now.

It makes me so sad this came out 6 years ago and nothing has changed.

The best experience I ever had as a teacher was when I was hired by a homeschool group to play Dungeons & Dragons with a small bunch of 9-12 yr old boys. When we started out, the kids had little interest in reading or math. By week 2 they had read through the rulebooks, and were discussing things like bell curves. Math and reading scores skyrocketed. On top of that, they started to develop interpersonal skills, with brothers who usually fought communicating and becoming protective of each other.. And they developed problem-solving skills. So yeah, teaching needs to be relevant. Find what gets the kids motivated and RUN with that. But if the schools are just "teaching to the tests" they can't do that..

I'm surprise he still has a job. A teacher speaks like that now a days and he gets..."pull in for questioning" and ostracized by peers and administration.

I am being train and educated to be an educator at this moment and this toxic culture is implemented still, in our education system. It has been more than 6 years since they've released this talk and there are hardly any changes.

and the only time they do focus on why kids are failing its always because "you're on your phone too much"

The biggest problem with the school system is that we punish by lowering their quality of life. Didn't get good grades? Go to the neighborhood school where bullying is common and the quality is poor. Forgot your book? Markes down your grades, and no, you can't get it from your locker to actually learn. Students shouldn't be competing for a good school because school is a _service_ , not a job. You don't compete to which restaurant you go to eat at. The service competes for your payment. Problem is, you pay for the service before you get to choose what you want, so there is no need for schools to be high quality other than to bait middle schoolers into paying for extracurricular services to _maybe_ get into a good highschool.

Every time I'm in math class I always wanted to ask my teacher "what does algebra have to do with my passion for art and writing?" I asked my mom "why do I need to learn something I'm not interested in?" I asked myself and my sister "why do I need to go to school even thought some of the things they teach us aren't even useful in the future?" I mean they don't even teach us how to pay taxes I've always told my friends that "School isn't about learning and knowledge anymore it's all About grades and getting into the next grade"

This video is 8 years old and still nothing has changed. It only takes 3.5% of the population to succeed in a revolution. We need more teachers, parents, and policy officials with this type of passion to come together to demand change for the future of our children and our world.

Modern education in a nutshell Student : *fails* School : • This student has a learning disability •This student won't be successful in the future • This student isn't trying hard enough I mean, no wonder anxiety nowadays is so common. The place where you are supposed to learn, gives you a 'failure' label and tells the parents that the child isn't trying hard enough. Have people actually thought about how the child actually tries so hard but fails regardless.

My freshman year into Mr. Katz class he called us his experiment. At first I thought who is this guy, my first day in his class and we were his "experiment". What I didn't realize was that he was one of the most understanding teachers I did have. Even after failing a test, we were given the chance to pick up our grades just by explaining why we got each problem wrong (of course it was a lot of work, but boy was it genius) I was thankful for this because not only did I learn from my mistakes but I realized is that practice helps. Meaning if I did all my homework, Id do better on test, but only because I got my practice in. Thank you Mr. Katz for not just being a teacher and giving your students a grade.. but for going above and beyond and wanting your students to learn. Because that's all that matters. I hope your voice is heard. I am now a high school graduate and till this day my favorite math teacher would have to be the famous Mr. Katz

I remember my 5th grader teacher explaining why the rules are so strict: because in middle school that's how it is My middle school teachers on why the rules are so strict: because in high school they have high standards My high school teachers on why the rules are so strict: because in college they require the highest standards of behavior and rigor My college professors: *literally don't care if I show up* I did not get an education until college, when the standards were laxed. (but still, it was very corrupted with tests and lectures instead of discussion, exploration, and discovery). I feel like school killed my motivation to learn and to read. Maybe not intentionally, but it feels like it's all to make us into obedient workers who are used to tolerating unending boredom, conditions we hate, and willingness to take orders and compromise ourselves for approval. That is what counts. It isn't education, it's vocational training, or vocational breaking-in.

One of the best TED talks, and unfortunately 100% valid in 2021. Also valid for a majority of countries outside of the US (though mostly not that extreme)...

I couldn't agree with this more. I'm an AP/Honors student so my classes are predominantly with higher achieving students, and it seems as if everyone is more worried about GPA and SAT scores than actually learning.

It's gotten worse and we are now going into 2020. So sad.

Man I would like to have this guy as a teacher.

i am so glad someone put everything i felt into one video where other people can understand it.

What he said about art subjects is entirely true. I've been heading towards an artistic field of work all of my life, I've talked with professionals and was shown possibilities and jobs revolving around art. School, on the other hand, has completely removed art, music and theatre as subjects. They don't exist. In my school, they just don't exist anymore, and the tragically ironic thing is that I live in Greece, a country famous for it's ancient history. So, in the ancient educational system in Greece, art was as important as mathematics because it was considered food for psychological intelligence. In today's time, we praise and admire the mental state of these ancient people and tell ourselves we should be proud of our ancestors, while completely ignoring their notions and discoveries. Instead we are too busy learning ancient Greek like it's being spoken outside.

I had my whole school grades and life ruined bc I had undiagnosed crippling social anxiety. No one bothered to care even tho it was so obvious

Loved this TED talk, especially how it addressed the toxicity of our cultural values. On this topic, can we talk about "gifted kid burnout" for a second? I know there's a lot of vitriol surrounding this phrase, so I want to preface this by saying I do NOT believe in the superiority of "intellectually gifted" children- but I do believe there's some legitimacy to the phenomenon. When I was in elementary and middle school, I was labeled a "gifted child". I scored in the 99th percentile on standardized tests for years, was put in advanced classes, met weekly with "like-minded" students in the gifted program. I was fed the constant narrative that I was special, different, and that validation became like a drug. I cannot describe how intense my fear of failure became- any struggle meant I was lesser, not as gifted, not as special. When we quantify success for our children, they grow up holding a measuring stick. It's wrong.

I'm so glad that my school had Consumers math as a math credit. We learned about loans, budgeting, taxes, how to have discussions with other people, and other stuff I don't remember at the moment. My school district actually cared and I wish everyone could have had that experience.

That speech had heart.

You can’t judge a fish by it’s ability to climb a tree, but I feel like I can’t even swim.

School: you do so well on tests, why can’t you do your homework Me: (shoving my anxiety and possible adhd into the corner) oh I just forget about it haha, ya know me dur dur dur 😅

Man, it was a breath of fresh air to hear this dude. As a product of this broken system, it teaches you very few things about the actual world, even all the way THROUGH college.

The public school system needs more teachers like this, passionate professionals who care about ALL their students, not just the top elite.

This guy knows exactly what he is talking about. I'm only a 6th grade student and I have noticed this problem throughout my entire education. School has been transformed from a place of learning to a place of manipulation, control, and profit. What really sucks is that this video, this speech was given four years ago and, at least where I live, nothing has changed. We as people need to take this guy's wise words and spread his message, or nothing will ever change. This is no way to educate people, if it is meant to control them for profit.

This is one of the single greatest arguments and speeches I have ever heard about the core failures and challenges about our educational system.

As a creative person, school literally made me sick. I got flu-like sickness every other week, and it stopped as soon as I left school.

I learn more in youtube than in school

Not to mention all the emotional abuse these kids receive from other kids that is not addressed that will literally last t their whole life.

That’s why the saying “curiosity killed the cat” killed the world

Please open a school Mr Katz. Every teacher will want to work there, including me!! Keep fighting for all students to achieve. 👏🏻👏🏻

He spoke with so much passion. I saw fire in his eyes.

His idea for a home ec class is BRILLIANT

Me: I want to be an engineer for a SpaceX, or NASA. School: Cool, do you know how to format and write a 10 page essay and write classical literature? No... Why would I need to kno- School: Too bad, no dream job, miserable life for you.

School: Happiness +125 Press "x" to doubt.

It's kinda sad that it's been 5 years and nothing has even changed.

Everybody who points out that its been four years since this was posted and nothing has improved, I would like to point out that John Holt wrote in the mid 60s that we needed much less standardized testing and that students rarely remembered or could apply what little they may have learned. These problems are much older than 4 years.

FOCUS ON THE THINGS STUDENTS ARE GOOD AT!!!

Teaching used to be a noble profession. I also want to become a teacher, and this talk is so relatable that is hard to put into words. His passion for teaching and changing the education system was clear, and we need more of him in every country.

My parents want me to get all A's in every subject, and I complain when I have a B+ or two, when everyone else is so happy when they finally get a B or B-. So I freak out when I'm confused or don't know the subject, and worry that the grade on one paper will ruin my grade for that class. I just feel stressed out for that one thing itself, and then I live a demanding sport (swimming) and do other sports as well, were I should be one of the best people there. I never feel like I am. Because others gave me standards, I made standards of my own for myself. And I feel like no matter how hard I try, I still won't make it, and see myself as one of the WORST people there. I know this REALLY of topic, but I needed this off my chest. Sorry.

what the hell....why does this video have so very little views when its been up for over a year now. and the room is so empty too! KZfaq shouuld place this video on their homepage in education section. it's vitally important for the future of the states.