I think it’s important to take a look into an aspect of sociology that carries heavy implications for all humans: education.  Education is the process of receiving or giving systematic instruction, especially at a school or university. Formal education started off only being for the privileged, but as the world population grew, its importance grew as well. From my own research, I have noticed a trend in how education directly correlates to contemporary society. For example, the current educational system used in the US and throughout most of the world was first formed in Great Britain as a direct response to the Industrial Revolution. Before this time, many families lived an agrarian lifestyle in small towns away from cities. Once the Industrial Revolution hit, it brought new laws, technologies, and industries, and forced families to abandon their old way of living for life in the city. Mills and big cities became synonymous, and the owners of these mills took advantage of the abundance of cheap labor to achieve incredible profits. This period is also responsible for instituting the modern day exploitation of workers (unions and socialism were both born at this time). In order to preserve these changes, it was essential that the education system adapt to the new needs of society. An efficient system cannot work if its internal components do not know their function.

Times have drastically changed since the 19th century, so it is not surprising that there are calls for a more modern approach to education. We are at a pivotal time in human history where the next 10 years are going to be drastically different than the previous 50. Society must change and adapt to these prospective changes and I believe education is the root of implementing this change. The following is a talk given by Sir Ken Robinson, who believes our current education system is killing creativity.