Sharing Good Practice
OUR EDUCATION SYSTEMS
ARE THEY GEARED FOR THE FUTURE?
BY CATHERINE O’FARRELL
P
ower structures in contemporary
liberal
democracies
have
biased decision making against
future technologies, current
political and policy systems have not
evolved to cope with technologies of
today - our education systems are no
different. Classrooms of rows of rote
learning passive students are geared
toward a past industrial era - we need
to look to the future and equip our
future workers accordingly - blockchain
is just one example of this permeating
change - internet of things, smart AI
and many others are all around us
and growing - we need to grow our
education systems too!
Leading democracies are championing
innovation – The National Agenda
of the UAE places innovation at its
core, the Ministry of Education states
innovation as one of its missions
while the Knowledge and Human
Development Authority explicitly
promotes innovation as a key attribute
to be embedded in every curriculum.
YET it seems to be getting lost in
translation.
14 |
May - Jun 2019
|
|
The persistence of old school traditions
of rows of students being “taught”
content prescribed by a curriculum
with little room for deviation is rife.
Classrooms across the region are stuck
in the rut of transference. Transference
of bundles of blinkered competencies
masquerading as “skills”. Like a horse
on a track - it cannot deviate, it may run
fast but it’s going in circles.
We are hammering creativity
and innovation out of our
students
With every prescribed lesson and every
structured programme taught, we are
hammering creativity and innovation
out of our students. Schools are
stifling innovation from as early as 5
years old and its being reflected in our
young entrepreneurs.
As
a
result,
this
region
is
underrepresented
in
the
Entrepreneurial world.
Class Time
We need a full paradigm shift -
a cognitive 360!
A paradigm defined by philosophical
assumptions,
methodological
approaches
and
institutional
practices. How many of our schools
are considering these three factors in
their curricular design? How many of
our Universities foster innovation and
how many employers create space for
and develop ideas in the workplace?
“If you didn’t make a serious
mistake last year - you probably
didn’t do your job”
Augus Busch, former CEO Anheuser
Busch.
Few workspaces in this region allow
for physical or conceptual space for
collaborative team brainstorming, the
focus remains and persists on long
hours of tried and tested practice. It
needs to change.
Rigorous inspections by the Dubai
Schools Inspection Bureau seek out