Ted Talks episodes that should interest educators

In the past decade, Ted Talks has been in the forefront of providing both novel and uncomplicated insights on different fields, careers, and passions.  Its guest lecturers are respected experts and trailblazers.  Let’s look at some of the best Ted Talks connected to education.  All of these should be available on YouTube, so you can appreciate the unique take and insights yourselves.  

Image source: pbs.org

This talk by Ramsey Musallam, a high school chemistry teacher, ventures into the importance of cultivating curiosity in kids.  He offers three basic rules for getting those creative juices flowing and using imagination to get students to look forward to going to school.  

This episode is concerned with that often-elusive word “grit,” which math teacher Angela Lee Duckworth explains as equivalent to living life like a marathon, not a sprint.  This metaphor and perspective should motivate students and professionals alike to reach success.  

Microsoft’s Bill Gates joined Ted Talks to emphasize the importance of receiving feedback, offering both advice and technology options for concrete, smart, and constructive criticism that should get educators to improve their teaching methods.

Finding good synergy between the sciences and the arts is key to creating bold thinkers, according to veritable renaissance woman Mae Jemison.  She uses her own life narrative to urge educators to aspire for interdisciplinarity and treat intuition and logic as inseparable.

Image source: youtube.com