They inspire us, make us laugh, sometimes make us cry. They manage to always entertain or inspire. So we decided to put together a list of some of our favorite Ted talks that focus on the power of learning and the importance of education.
"Child prodigy Adora Svitak says the world needs "childish" thinking: bold ideas, wild creativity and especially optimism. Kids' big dreams deserve high expectations, she says, starting with grownups' willingness to learn from children as much as to teach.A prolific short story writer and blogger since age seven, Adora Svitak (now 12) speaks around the United States to adults and children as an advocate for literacy."
Warning: this video contains some adult language
"By turn hilarious and haunting, poet Shane Koyczan puts his finger on the pulse of what it's like to be young and different. "To This Day," his spoken-word poem about bullying, captivated millions as a viral video (created, crowd-source style, by 80 animators)."
Warning: this video contains adult language and content
"Kakenya Ntaiya made a deal with her father: She would undergo the traditional Maasai rite of passage of female circumcision if he would let her go to high school. Ntaiya tells the fearless story of continuing on to college, and of working with her village elders to build a school for girls in her community. Its the educational journey of one that altered the destiny of 125 young women."
"Young poet, educator and activist Malcom London performs his stirring poem about life on the front lines of high school. He tells of the oceans of adolescence who come to school but never learn to swim, of masculinity mimicked by men who grew up with no fathers. Beautiful, lyrical, chilling."
"At age 12, Freeman Hrabowski marched with Martin Luther King. Now he's president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), where he works to create an environment that helps under-represented students -- specifically African-American, Latino and low-income learners -- get degrees in math and science. He shares the four pillars of UMBC's approach."