Brighter Future for Education with Meta-Learners & Critical Thinkers
We need to be able to differentiate between the fad ideas that give the illusion of progress, and the real learning theories that matter; not just in schools but as a way of life because learning doesn't start when you enter a school only, and it most definitely does not and should not stop once the student steps out of the school boundaries.
Current Outlook
The current traditional classrooms are highly dependent on the "Monological" approach to teaching and learning, where the teacher is the final and the only authority the classroom. These traditional methods require the teachers to cram their students with as many concepts as possible in a very short and limited time period, as mandated by the popular mainstream curricula guidelines. The system is authoritarian, stagnant and non-interactive. The didactic approach to teaching needs to be replaced.
I hope that the future of the education holds a more promising approach to learning where the students and the tutors are engaged in active discussions, where the voice of the students is heard in a dialogical class, and slowly progress towards a more refined approach where the students and the tutors work together through a Trilogical pedagogy and create knowledge artifacts. The most important aspect that I hope will develop over time is 'Students' taking control of their learning process and pursue what interests them to be more efficient members of the society.
Need of the Time
For far too long the students have been expected to conform to the traditional class room standards, and silenced into obedience without having the liberty to identify and analyse their own learning styles and thought processes. We need "Meta-Learners", learners with "Metacognition"; who have the autonomy to create their own learning conditions leading to experiences that are far more meaningful and can be applied in their daily lives, while interacting with others socially and hopefully in their future careers. Students should not be influenced on how to learn, as not everyone learns the same way, and should not be expected to either. We need a system that is conducive to the requirements of the meta-learners, and one that is ever changing and evolves with the needs of the times.
Hope for the Future
I believe that the students of today, need to be taught how to learn to identify their learning styles. They need to map their thought processes and choose the most comfortable conditions conducive to their learning that can translate into education beyond the classrooms and make learning easy on the go, and it becomes second nature. This poses a challenge that each student requires a unique approach to learning, which is aligned with their unique learning style and their purpose of learning, as defined by themselves. This requires that the tutors shares their authority with the students and involve them in the process of the designing how the learning will help them to know, to do, to live together and to be (Learning functions as defined by UNESCO). One important aspect of such interactive and interesting learning is to take all kinds of coercion out of the education equation and create 'Child-Centered Curriculum' which challenges the traditional boundaries of the stagnant mainstream ideas, and create a model that evolves with the child.
We are also moving towards a future where 'Banking Information' is getting less important and storage of facts has moved to physical devices that are accessible at command. This further stresses upon the need to create more critical thinkers who can understand the world that they will inherit in the future and be prepared to face the challenges the the future will present. The physical classrooms will soon be replaced by the comfort of the home or libraries or whatever setting the students find more welcoming, owing to the reach of the quality education through the online platforms and accessibility of more technological solutions geared towards teachers and students making the routine schooling, attendance, hand-written assignments, number crunching and rote-learning of texts redundant.
Borrowing a thought from Dr. Sugata Mitra, it is imperative that an education system is designed that nourishes the natural curiosity and the innate sense of wonder a child possesses and nurture it in a way that does not crush the child's love for learning and instead create a life-long learner. I hope for a future where quality education will be accessible for everyone, everywhere.
Disclaimer; This article has been authored for the course 'What Future for Education?" by Dr. Clare Brooks of UCL.
Current Outlook
The current traditional classrooms are highly dependent on the "Monological" approach to teaching and learning, where the teacher is the final and the only authority the classroom. These traditional methods require the teachers to cram their students with as many concepts as possible in a very short and limited time period, as mandated by the popular mainstream curricula guidelines. The system is authoritarian, stagnant and non-interactive. The didactic approach to teaching needs to be replaced.
I hope that the future of the education holds a more promising approach to learning where the students and the tutors are engaged in active discussions, where the voice of the students is heard in a dialogical class, and slowly progress towards a more refined approach where the students and the tutors work together through a Trilogical pedagogy and create knowledge artifacts. The most important aspect that I hope will develop over time is 'Students' taking control of their learning process and pursue what interests them to be more efficient members of the society.
Need of the Time
For far too long the students have been expected to conform to the traditional class room standards, and silenced into obedience without having the liberty to identify and analyse their own learning styles and thought processes. We need "Meta-Learners", learners with "Metacognition"; who have the autonomy to create their own learning conditions leading to experiences that are far more meaningful and can be applied in their daily lives, while interacting with others socially and hopefully in their future careers. Students should not be influenced on how to learn, as not everyone learns the same way, and should not be expected to either. We need a system that is conducive to the requirements of the meta-learners, and one that is ever changing and evolves with the needs of the times.
Hope for the Future
I believe that the students of today, need to be taught how to learn to identify their learning styles. They need to map their thought processes and choose the most comfortable conditions conducive to their learning that can translate into education beyond the classrooms and make learning easy on the go, and it becomes second nature. This poses a challenge that each student requires a unique approach to learning, which is aligned with their unique learning style and their purpose of learning, as defined by themselves. This requires that the tutors shares their authority with the students and involve them in the process of the designing how the learning will help them to know, to do, to live together and to be (Learning functions as defined by UNESCO). One important aspect of such interactive and interesting learning is to take all kinds of coercion out of the education equation and create 'Child-Centered Curriculum' which challenges the traditional boundaries of the stagnant mainstream ideas, and create a model that evolves with the child.
We are also moving towards a future where 'Banking Information' is getting less important and storage of facts has moved to physical devices that are accessible at command. This further stresses upon the need to create more critical thinkers who can understand the world that they will inherit in the future and be prepared to face the challenges the the future will present. The physical classrooms will soon be replaced by the comfort of the home or libraries or whatever setting the students find more welcoming, owing to the reach of the quality education through the online platforms and accessibility of more technological solutions geared towards teachers and students making the routine schooling, attendance, hand-written assignments, number crunching and rote-learning of texts redundant.
Borrowing a thought from Dr. Sugata Mitra, it is imperative that an education system is designed that nourishes the natural curiosity and the innate sense of wonder a child possesses and nurture it in a way that does not crush the child's love for learning and instead create a life-long learner. I hope for a future where quality education will be accessible for everyone, everywhere.
Disclaimer; This article has been authored for the course 'What Future for Education?" by Dr. Clare Brooks of UCL.
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