“Our current educational system was constructed with goals inspired by the enlightenment during the economic, industrial revolution to meet the desires of a successful factory education. But this system, which introduced standardization, is not suitable to train students for the large amount of opportunities that they are encouraged to pursue today.” -Lourdes Rodriguez

Lourdes Rodriguez is a ninth-grade student at Mountain Brook Junior High. Her interests include playing guitar, writing papers, and helping others. Many of Lourdes’s teachers note that Lourdes always takes her time with her work, and as a result, she is always the last one to turn something in, and yet, she always produces work of the highest quality. This trait, this desire to take things slowly, this need to think deeply, led Lourdes to wonder what efficiency means in the 21st-century classroom where students are encouraged to rush, multitask, and be as efficient as possible.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx