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Filmed July 2009 at TEDGlobal 2009 Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: The danger of a single story. Our lives, our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice - and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding.

There's a TED Talk I've been showing my students for the last couple of years called "The Danger of a Single Story" by Chimamanda Adichie. In this amazing TED Talk, Adichie warns us how stereotypes are formed, prejudices take root, and discriminatory behaviors occur when "one story" is told about a group of people with whom we have limited contact or understanding. Although it is convenient to accept a single narrative as a "universal truth" to be applied to all members of a group, it is very dangerous. So dangerous and powerful, in fact, that entire genocides have been committed using this very tactic.

In this talk from RSA Animate, Sir Ken Robinson lays out the link between 3 troubling trends: rising drop-out rates, schools' dwindling stake in the arts, and ADHD. An important, timely talk for parents and teachers.