“Our task is to educate their (our students) whole being so they can face the future. We may not see the future, but they will, and our job is to help them make something of it.”
– Sir Ken Robinson, The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything
As the new school term begins for primary school children in Luxembourg, I find myself returning once again to the wisdom of the late Sir Ken Robinson. His call to transform education, away from standardization and towards nurturing creativity and individual talents, feels more urgent than ever, given the uncertain, complex, and fast-changing world our children’s generation is stepping into.
Robinson reminded us that human flourishing is an organic process, best supported by creating the right conditions rather than imposing rigid structures. Education, in this view, is less about filling children with information and more about cultivating curiosity, adaptability, and resilience. This perspective is echoed by contemporary thinkers like Yong Zhao, who has argued that education systems must evolve to foster creativity, entrepreneurial thinking, and global competence if we want young people to thrive in the 21st century.
For my own 11-year-old, now entering her final year of primary education, my hope is simple: that she doesn’t lose her creativity or her innate curiosity to learn. This is the age where, in Luxembourg, children face the first formal selection between “classic” and “general” tracks, a process that can easily be experienced as sorting into “good” or “less good” groups, even if – unlike earlier- both groups today can lead to university studies. But there seem to still be a stigma attached to not being in that classical group. My wish for her, and her classmates, is that they resist the old-fashioned belief that there is a single “right” or “wrong” way to learn.
Research on motivation and learning supports this. Psychologists Edward Deci and Richard Ryan, through their work on Self-Determination Theory, have shown that curiosity and intrinsic motivation flourish when environments support autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Environments that emphasize external judgment, rigid measurement, or narrow definitions of success often stifle precisely the qualities, creativity, collaboration, problem-solving, that future societies and economies will need most.
This is not just about children. The same principles apply to adults navigating careers, transitions, and lifelong learning. The world is too complex for linear paths. What matters most, at any age, is discovering what sparks our curiosity and finding environments that nurture, rather than suppress, that spark.
So, as my daughter begins this important year, I hold onto Sir Ken Robinson’s reminder: education is about more than preparing for tests or fitting into boxes. It’s about preparing whole human beings to shape a future we cannot yet see.
Happy school start to all children, and to their sometimes overly stressed parents. May this year bring curiosity, creativity, and courage to explore beyond the lines.
