Our Evolving Education System

I have just completed Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology by Allan Collins and Richard Halverson (2009) and it put things into perspective for me around the issue of technology in the schools.  I have had many thoughts, questions and opinions around this topic but have not been able to organize my thoughts around it until this book.  This book does a nice job in describing the debate between the “technology enthusiasts” and the “technology skeptics”, it provides the historical background of the revolution in education where we have moved from an apprenticeship-based system to a school-based system and are now entering into an era of lifelong learning.

The first era is the Apprenticeship Era which occurred before the 19^th century. Here, parents decided what their children would learn.  Boys were trained by their father or close relative and the girls were taught by the mothers.  Each parent would decide what they felt was necessary for the children to learn.  Most learning happened through observation, imitation and guided practice and children followed in their parents footsteps of learning practical skills to make a living.

The second era is the Public Schooling Era that was brought on by the Industrial Revolution.  This began at the turn of the 19^th century.  During this era educating children transferred from family to state.  With so many immigrants that came to the country and the widespread of uneducated children had people like Horace Mann promoting that all children should be in school and receive the same education so they could be contributing members of society.  One of the goals of this era was to have social cohesiveness; hence the public school system was born.  This model of for the education system worked for many years and now is being challenged because of current research on multiple intelligences as well as the advent of the Digital Revolution.

The third era is the Lifelong Learning Era that we are embarking on now.  The shift of education is switching back to the parents for the younger children and to the individual from middle school all the way to adulthood where these individuals can customize their education based on their needs, abilities and interest. Students no longer are willing to except what educators deem as a good education but rather want to steer their own ship as 21^st century learners.  With the Internet at everyone’s fingertips, the world and all its knowledge is accessible to everyone.  No longer is memorizing facts applicable or practical.  Learning how to learn, being able to find useful resources, problem solving and different forms of communication seems to be the important skills that will assist the 21^st century learner.

Although I agree that a change needs to happen in our school setting, I do not know how that change is to occur.  I have many questions on how are we going to be able to change this blanket type education model that we are following now to cater to the needs of our 21^st century learner?  How are we going to be able to provide an equitable education to all students when the cost of digital equipment is more than a public school system can afford?  I am in favor of students having a choice in what they learn and but I question if students have enough information to make an informed decision of what their education would look like? 

I can just imagine what would happen in my classroom if this choice was given.  Let’s say for instance that I had access to all types of digital devices and gaming software and told my students at the beginning of the year that they would have to decide what they wanted to learn and also could decide how they were going to learn and I sat back and simply facilitated, I am sorry to say that I don’t think a lot of academic learning would occur.  I don’t believe that my students would be able to use the digital devices as learning tools, but rather would see them as entertainment and a distraction from schooling.

I believe that teachers need not be experts in the school but should take on the role as the facilitator.  I do also believe that it is our responsibility to guide our students into this digital age with their eyes wide open to both the positive and negative side of technology as well as the ethical and responsible use of it.

There is no question that we have entered another revolution in the education system and in my opinion it is about time.  We need to change with the times.  However, I do not believe that to be successful in this lifelong learning era, that we need to abandon everything we have learnt from the preceding eras as there was much wisdom that emerged from them.