( CNN ) -- In 2006 I spoke at TED about developing children 's natural powers of creativity and imagination . Returning to TED in 2010 I wanted to focus on the need for a radical shift in education more generally . Reforming education is rightly seen as one of the biggest challenges of our times . In my view , reform is not enough : The real challenge is to transform education from a 19th century industrial model into a 21st century process based on different principles . Current systems of education are based on the manufacturing principles of linearity , conformity and standardization . The evidence is everywhere that they are failing too many students and teachers . A primary reason is that human development is not linear and standardized , it is organic and diverse . People , as opposed to products , have hopes and aspirations , feelings and purposes . Education is a personal process . What and how young people are taught has to engage their energies , imaginations and their different ways of learning . Learn more about Ken Robinson at TED.com . In the talk I gave at this year 's TED conference , I made a passing reference to fast food . Let me elaborate briefly . In the catering business , there are two main methods of quality assurance . The first is standardizing . If you have a favorite fast food brand , you can go to any outlet anywhere and know exactly what you will find : same burger , fries , cola , décor , and attitudes . Everything is standardized and guaranteed . By the way , this `` cheap '' food is also contributing to the most costly epidemic of diabetes and obesity in human history . But at least the standards are guaranteed . The other method of quality assurance are the star ratings guides , like Michelin . These methods do not prescribe what 's on the menu , when restaurants should open , or how they should be decorated . They set out criteria of excellence and it 's up to each restaurant to meet them in their own way . They can be French , Mexican , Italian , Indian , American or anything else . They can open when they choose , serve what they like and hire whom they want . In general they are much better than fast food and offer a higher standard of service . The reason is that they are customized to local markets and personalized to the people they serve . Education reform movements are often based on the fast-food model of quality assurance : on standardization and conformity . What 's needed is a much higher standard of provision based on the principles of personalized learning for every child and of schools customizing their cultures to meet local circumstances . This is not a theory . There are schools everywhere that demonstrate the practical power of these principles to transform education . The challenge is not to take a single model to scale but to propagate these principles throughout education so that teachers , parents , students and principals develop their own approaches to the unique challenges they face in their own communities . Standardization tends to emphasize the lowest common denominator . Human aspirations reach much higher and if the conditions are right they succeed . Understanding those conditions is the real key to transforming education for all our children . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Ken Robinson .
Sir Ken Burns : School design is often a process of establishing standards and uniformity . Industrial model for schools provides standards but no room for experimentation . He says for creativity to thrive , it must meet individual and community needs .