Education of our future. How does it look like?
Everybody talks about the aim of
education, but no one actually does anything. Some people complain that
because of formal education people
are made to be computers. It takes years
of practice to pass the final exam
and to become a specialist. It’s common
knowledge, that you can’t always obtain
a qualification even if you get a diploma. As it is important to know, how to continue further education, I honestly
think that it is better to give feedback on what I usually see in every
school and university and what has to be done there.
Sugata Mitra gave an interesting view on this
problem. He told that our education is obsolete.
This man has told one interesting thought, which, I think, might shock a lot of
our leading authorities: every exam
is understood by our brains as a threat.
For us it is only because we’re afraid not to show a remarkable mental agility or not to be among gifted children, but the real thing is
that we do not need these exams anymore. The second speaker told the same, and
I agree with him. It is a usual thing that people ask each other: How did you do in your exam?
One my suggestion is to look at the student’s
work during the whole year, not when he or she sit an exam. I think a lot of students suffer from stressful
situations, especially when they fail an
exam. I guess it’s important to understand, that every problem needs practice, not testing. I think
that practice makes perfect.
Ken Robinson mentioned three principles of
human life, which are not actually taken into consideration in schools and
universities: people are different and diverse, curiosity moves our life, human
life is creative. I like reading and I am a bookworm, but I hate going
through all the routine in our studying, especially boring rules and staff
like that. So my second suggestion is to give students interesting tasks and to
give them A for effort, not only
strictly judge every step in their learning.
The third thing we should change is that we
should individualize learning and teaching, to take almost nothing from the old school. I know the school “Summerhill”,
and children there do not go to school if they don’t want, and they study what
they want. There are no teacher’s pets
or those who fall behind with
geography, chemistry, or any other subject. As one of the speakers told, “Sciences
are necessary, but not sufficient”. I don’t know how many children became
famous after this school, but I know, that they are happy.
Finally, I guess, that teachers
or professors should ask questions. They shouldn’t be strict or subscribe to the theory that there is a
need to make someone learn something. That’s why children do not like studying.
Everything is in this way because of those who are not becoming aware of modern possibilities. Not only children, but
everybody is a good learner, we only have to ask them. It is my firm conviction that our model of this discussion has to
be like this one:
Education =
pleasure.
This is a better
way to studying.
