imagine yourselves last night perhaps
some of you saw the minute hand of your
bedroom clock slowly crawl over the 12
it's the end of the day and over to the
next one to 12 o'clock the beginning and
the end the divider of night and day why
12 o'clock out of a day full of 24 hours
why have it served as the beginning and
the end
12 o'clock has been serving as a
standard for many things yet how many of
these previous questions have you ever
asked yourselves persistently stretching
to meet the hour hand the minute hand
rarely aligns the most noteworthy
alignment mean 12 o'clock it may not
seem like much until you try to picture
the things that are lying perfectly in
life take a look at the people around
you go ahead look do you think you could
put on as much effort as then minute
hands ticking away continuously trying
to meet their expectations bear very on
12 o'clock probably not which is why
perfect alignment like 12 o'clock well
most likely never happened for many
people despite this people attempt to
line others under the same 12 o'clock
you see
aside from alignment there's something
else that 12 o'clock symbolizes the
attempt to make alignments 12 o'clock is
a standard amongst the numerous others
that most people live under what I mean
by live under is that people set their
lives according to the ones who follow
standards the mainstream why because
that
mainstream provides them a sense of
security and seems like the reasonable
thing to do since so many others are
doing the same and chances are what the
majority is doing is always reasonable
right well then let's explore a bit more
by taking a look at this very place
you're in school take a moment to think
about your school days from the moment
you step through those doors you are put
under a standard the first standard you
may encounter may be coming in to class
before the bell then there's the
standard behavior that you are expected
to follow as you go on throughout your
day you spend the day jotting down notes
and listening to lectures in preparation
for a standardized test that tests hopes
to assess you on a standardized scale
standards here and standards there you
can't avoid them
they're everywhere then there must be
some common ground in between us in
order for an enforcement of these
standards to work and in most cases
there is but is that really because
there are so many people who share
similarities or are those similarities
the result of living under the same
standards and striving towards the same
12 o'clock for so long when you think
about it we do not decide upon 12
o'clock becoming a standard and yet here
we are following it perhaps these
standards are followed and can be
enforced
not because you're similar from birth
but because you were made similar and
steered on to the specific path the
specific way of thinking and living
whichever it may be whether it's
standards making us similar or Aras and
Larry
becoming the base of standards the
important thing is the power these
standards hold should not be
underestimated whether we are conscious
of it or not
standards play a major part in our lives
they are more than just a guideline to
keep the individual in line they control
us you might be thinking wait a second
if I'm the one who decides to follow a
standard then how could you say that
standard is controlling me let's take
another look at school it is possible to
choose not to take standardized tests
and follow standardized rules but the
problem is could you withstand the
consequences without taking the
standardized test could you easily
pursue the future you desire without
following the standardized rules would
you be able to easily create trust
between your peers and it goes beyond
school even even for us without
following the standard audience
etiquette maybe your consequence would
be a longer speech from me though no one
can force you to follow standards they
can show you what happens when you don't
follow them in fact most systems are
wired so that you'd be going against
standards at your own expense let me
show you how the standards in it in
particular affect us the standards
children meet in education are one of
the most important as they play an
impact on them throughout their lives
but before I move on let me first take a
moment to clarify some terminology as I
mentioned how standards control us by
making us take a specific course of
actions some of you may be wondering if
laws and regulations could also fall
under this category standards are not to
be confused with laws and regulations
however as they do not carry the direct
force of the law
in other words not following a standard
would not result in the commitment of a
legal action without being clarified
let's get back to analyzing the impact
of standards in education on students
despite all the major breakthroughs in
technology and change that has happened
during the last centuries the way
students are educated has gone through
little change in comparison students are
still expected to memorize massive
amounts of information that will appear
on tests it has reached the point where
you could say that schools are not based
on students but on test takers and
because of such structure students in
return tend to focus a lot on
information that will appear on tests
and little other things taught that will
not the main skills students learn from
school becomes memorization they learn
how to memorize things quicker and more
efficiently and until recently the
education system in South Korea divided
students into verbal and quantitative
classes as they entered high school this
division alone signifies that schools
are not aiming to create individuals
that are ready to tackle on life's
problems by coming up with creative
solutions or have them cultivate
numerous viewpoints that can be achieved
by learning subjects of different
characteristics rather they are trying
to make them efficient and only a
certain area limit their thinking and
have them contribute to the development
of their future workforce in only a
certain sector the obedience and falling
of standards students become used to
during their school days makes them easy
to control as they are placed under new
standards that society gives them then
what can we do for most of us not buying
a standard but only result in our lives
I'm not suggesting that you start
refused taking tests and start breaking
rules nor am I saying
and you should view the education system
negatively for refusing to see the
differences between individuals and
putting them under standards in the
first place what I want each one of you
to do is to make sure that you are the
one in control be aware that you are
under standards and influenced by them
students if the education system isn't
really making sure that you learn
important skills outside of memorization
then that needs to change teachers if
your tests require that students few
works of literature from a fixed view
point that is predetermined and rejects
their own point of view then that needs
to change the future of Education lies
in the present though it may not be able
to become revolutionized we can all
pitch in by making sure that we stay in
control by starting with education we
can guide others so that they aren't
blinded by standards we can prevent
people from becoming accustomed to
accepting standards without thinking
about them first and most of all we can
help them stand up to standards when
necessary understand the power standards
hold on you the power they play on our
lives and if there seems to be a problem
with the way they're leading you then go
ahead and make the change instead of
trying to align yourself with standards
meet in the middle though the way
standards will impact us later on cannot
be predicted by thinking twice the
negative results can't be prevented so
the next time you lie in bed look around
you
watch that minute hand once more is it
still heading towards 12 o'clock
it's 12 o'clock still a standard for you
if not you know what to do get out of
bed and try standing up to standards
thank you
[Applause]