Progressive educationalists like Robinson frame existing knowledge as the enemy of new ideas. But at the most basic level, all of our new ideas are made up of old ones…to create a smartphone, you need to know about computers and phones.
I need to review Robinson's work, but this statement doesn't match with what I recall of his work.
Classical education does require memorization of some aspects. The creativity is in seeing connections, and putting information together in new and interesting ways.
Creation - of any type - cannot happen without raw material.