The world is changing rapidly, creating unknown challenges, opportunities and unpredictability. We, as educators, are trying to educate a generation without being aware of the different kind of jobs which will be available 10 years from now, yet we are trying to reform, improve and work on an attainable solution. We are well aware that these challenges will require new thinking and collective action.

Schools of tomorrow need to be different… even at the present moment one can see students struggling at school, where the focus remains on   what a child scores in his tests/exams.

What we teach is sometimes dictated to us. How we teach though, should never be dictated to us. Many have heard the term in relation to teaching students “Engage me or enrage me.” What can we do that will engage students and what can we do to make sure we do not enrage them. Regarding the use of different technologies in school:

1) The tools are not the things that have the power to change education, it is the teachers that have the passion and ability to use the tools effectively, that will make the difference.
2) What is the tool we will be using in the future? Furthermore, should we be concerned with what the next gadget will be or should we simply utilize what we have today effectively?

There is a greater demand for critical thinking and problem solving skills and students will need ‘21st century skills’ to be successful.

The importance of content in the development of thinking creates several challenges for the 21st century skills movement. Children need exposure to varied examples before they fully understand a concept and they can successfully apply that understanding to newer situations. Another challenge is that we don’t yet know how to teach self-direction, collaboration, creativity, and innovation, the way we know how to teach long division.

How can we teach these skills? Classrooms should be more interactive and group work needs to be encouraged as it develops long lasting learning of skills needed to work in any organization. There should also be more emphasis on teachers training. We must have a plan by which teachers can succeed where previous generations have failed.

Advocates of 21st century skills favour student-centred methods-for example, problem-based learning and project-based learning-that allow students to collaborate, work on authentic problems, and engage with the community. These approaches are widely praised and yet, teachers don’t use them. Even when class sizes are reduced, teachers do not change their teaching strategies or use these student-centred methods.

Most of the teachers are unable to use these methods though they are aware of its effectiveness as they pose huge classroom management problems. When students collaborate, one expects a certain amount of noise in the room, which could devolve into chaos. These methods also demand that teachers be knowledgeable about a broad range of topics and are prepared to make spur of the moment decisions as the lesson plan progresses.

These challenges raise important questions about whether the design of today’s schools is compatible with the goals of the 21st century skills movement.

What teachers need is much more effective training and support than they receive today, including specific lesson plans that deal with the high cognitive demands and potential classroom management problems of using student-centred methods.

There is little point in investing heavily in curriculum and human capital without also investing in assessments to evaluate what is being accomplished in the classroom.

Much of what we’re teaching is doomed to be obsolete at a far more rapid rate than ever before. We have this enormous bank of outdated knowledge in our heads, in our books, and in our culture. Now, because everything changes rapidly, the amount of outmoded knowledge that we have — and that we teach — is greater and greater. We’re drowning in obsolete information.

Do you think that we need textbooks at a time where anything is available at the click of a mouse and also when   textbooks are the same for every child? My argument is why should all kids in a classroom use the same book though they have different interests and abilities? One kid may be interested in Art and another in Medicine but they are studying the same thing.

I just feel it’s inevitable that there will have to be change. The only question is whether we’re going to do it starting now, or whether we’re going to wait for a catastrophe.

 

Mrs. Shalini Nambiar

Dy Director Education

GEMS Education