In 2005, he was named as one of Time/ Fortune/ CNN's 'Principal Voices'. He received the Athena Award of the Rhode Island School of Design for services to the arts and education, the Peabody Medal for contributions to the arts and culture in the United States, the LEGO Prize for international achievement in education, and the Benjamin Franklin Medal of the Royal Society of Arts for contributions to cultural relations between the United Kingdom and the United States. He has received honorary degrees from the Rhode Island School of Design, Ringling College of Art and Design, the Open University and the Central School of Speech and Drama, Birmingham City University and the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts. įor twelve years, he was professor of education at the University of Warwick, and became professor emeritus. During this period, Robinson chaired Artswork, the UK's national youth arts development agency, and worked as advisor to the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. The project worked with over 2,000 teachers, artists and administrators in a network of over 300 initiatives and influenced the formulation of the National Curriculum for England. Career and research įrom 1985 to 1988, Robinson was director of the Arts in Schools Project, an initiative to develop the arts education throughout England and Wales. He then studied English and drama (Bachelor of Education – BEd) at Bretton Hall College of Education (1968–1972) and completed a PhD in 1981 at the University of London, researching drama and theatre in education. He attended Margaret Beavan Special School due to the physical effects of polio, then Liverpool Collegiate School (1961–1963) and Wade Deacon Grammar School, Cheshire (1963–1968).

Robinson contracted polio at age four and spent 8 months in hospital. After an industrial accident, his father became quadriplegic. One of his brothers, Neil, became a professional footballer for Everton, Swansea City and Grimsby Town. Early life and education īorn in Liverpool, to James and Ethel Robinson, he was one of seven children from a working-class background. Originally from a working class Liverpool family, around September 2001 Robinson moved to Los Angeles with his wife and children to serve as Senior Advisor to the president of the J. In 2003, he was knighted for services to the arts. He was director of the Arts in Schools Project (1985–1989) and Professor of Arts Education at the University of Warwick (1989–2001), and Professor Emeritus after leaving the university. Sir Ken Robinson (4 March 1950 – 21 August 2020) was a British author, speaker and international advisor on education in the arts to government, non-profits, education and arts bodies. A revaluation of the role and functions of drama teaching in secondary education, with reference to a survey of curricular drama in 259 secondary schools (1981)

The element by ken robinson