Is this the future of education?

What trends are shaping the future of education? What global influences are weaving their way into the very fabric of our education system? Are these trends an accurate prediction of the future, or fanciful musings of industry? So many questions, but is there really one answer?

According to the NMC Horizon Report, there are two long-term trends: rethinking how schools work in order to improve student engagement and therein innovative thinking, as well as a focus on deeper learning approaches such as problem or challenge based learning. (2015) Both of these can only be positive but also reflect the changing needs of education. The one common factor is that the child has become the central focus, and is now more than ever entering into a partnership with their educators, driving and focusing the learning.

The current struggle education is facing is WHAT will our students need in the future. With the speed technology and our industry is evolving, the possibility is real that by the time students leave the education system much of what they have learnt to use may have become obsolete or outdated.

Teachers are having to constantly re-evaluate how and what they teach. Our students are coming through as emerging or developing digital citizens and if we want to engage and develop their potential we need to be prepared to learn and use these tools.

How has this come about? Technology and change is increasing in speed, developing and evolving like the “surfer” riding wave of education. It is gathering speed, drowning things too slow to get out of its way and surging towards new shores in the future. Not only do we as teachers need to insure we are not drowned, we need to be riding that wave, teaching our students how to surf the tides of change.

Global trends do influence education, as it is for many the very purpose they are in the education system. To learn the skills and gain the knowledge to gain employment within an industry of choice. So it stands to reason, that as these industries change, their needs change, so must how and what we do within education to insure they are able to meet these needs.

 It is because of these changes it really is nigh on impossible to predict what students will need for the future as innovation and creativity are shaping the future. So what do we do? We teach Inquiry based learning, where students learn to become critical thinkers, question what is, and problem solve what could be. Where collaboration is power and communication key. Innovation and negotiation are integral parts of completing an assignment. Students need to be risk takers, curious and brave as this is there future. There is no one solution, no one key to the future, more and more students of today will not only be shaping tomorrow, they are doing away with the key!

So what does this mean for us, the educators, trained in the curriculum and traditional methods of education? It means my friends we too must ride the wave, if you don’t know how to surf, it’s time to learn!

I personally am very proud to be in the New Zealand education system. They are striving towards the 21^st century, using inquiry based learning as a way of preparing our students for the future.

It is time for change, and as rather dramatically shown in the attached youtube clip, education must change if it is to meet the needs of our 21^st century learners. The people vs the school system

References

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https://www.google.co.nz/search?q=surfing+the+waves+of+change&espv=2&biw=982&bih=963&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiw49zO6uHPAhWr3YMKHbJeDfgQ_AUIBigB&dpr=1

Johnson, L., Adams Becker, S., Estrada, V., and Freeman, A. (2015) NMC Horizon Report: 2015 K-12 Edition. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium. Retrieved from http://cdn.nmc.org/media/2015-nmc-horizon-report-k12-EN.pdf

Ea, Prince. The People vs the School System (2016) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqTTojTija8