A case for sustainable education

| August 2, 2016

Our kids are exposed to an endless stream of media promoting beauty over substance, immediate reward over delayed gratification, self-promotion over self-control. Rechelle Rozwadowski, a teacher and mother herself, would love to see schools not only teaching content, but also nurturing virtues like cooperation, tolerance, compassion and kindness.

There is no denying that our world is moving at a fast pace!

Technology, world politics, social connections and even economies seem to be in a constant and rapid state of flux, unprecedented in previous eras.

We’re further than we’ve ever been.

And in a world which is changing at such a rapid pace, it’s a challenge in itself to simply keep up. Like a flagging jogger (that’ll be me) desperate to catch up to a shifting finish line, the reality is we can’t.

The nature of work is changing, our expectations of what a job or career should offer is changing. How we utilise and navigate our way through technological advances and the prolific use of media, is a challenge indeed.

But I love to think that education, more than ever before, could be the guiding light in an attempt to keep us all grounded.

I’m a teacher but also a parent and a member, like you, of this world.

I love the opportunities change brings, but with such easy access to greater, more immediate ‘things’, where is the education on how to use it appropriately, how to navigate through this changing world and how to be a ‘good’ person amidst it all?

Technology is invariably our greatest motivator in shifting the foundations of education, as we come to meet the demands of a society increasingly run by it.

Bill Gates was recently quoted by Business Insider as saying:

“Software substitution, whether it’s for drivers or waiters or nurses…it’s progressing…. Technology over time will reduce demand for jobs, particularly at the lower end of skill sets”

Similarly, as we evolve more and more into McLuhan’s vision of a ‘Global Village’, the parameters for WHAT we teach but perhaps more importantly, HOW we teach it, are continually changing.

And if you’re to believe educationalist Ken Robinson’s take on ‘schools kill creativity’, then you’ll appreciate his point on the need to revolutionise a system which is failing to change with the times.

“Our task is to educate their (our students) whole being so they can face the future. We may not see the future, but they will and our job is to help them make something of it.” ― Ken Robinson, The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything.

So what does that mean for education today in the 21st century?

Most schools still stick to the ‘traditional’ curriculum (English, Maths, Sciences, the Humanities, Vocational etc.)

But in a world where our kids are exposed to an endless stream of media in all its forms; ones that promote beauty over substance, immediate reward over delayed gratification, materialism over minimalism, self-promotion over self-control, it seems only ‘right’ to look at how we can ‘teach’ students to deal with this onslaught, be productive members of society and still maintain core values which allow them to be ‘good’ people.

I love my job. I love teaching the curriculum (most of the time) but I wish there was a place and time for teaching the ‘just-as-important-stuff’; how to be a decent person, a person who is understanding, tolerant, humble, compassionate, kind and sees the value in cooperation for the common good.

Am I being too idealistic here?

I’m just saying, what good is it to have a world full of educated scientists, architects, writers, etc if they are not ‘good’ people? Or indeed, have never learnt or been guided in understanding values and virtues which could help them utilise their knowledge and skills best?

Maybe there is a place for learning and nurturing these virtues, like any other subject taught at school?

I’d like to think that individual teachers have a big part to play in this, but at the end of the day, it’s the directed curriculum which inevitably consumes the timetable.

Funnily enough, we all remember that teacher who had an impact on us as youngsters and invariably is was not their delivery of the curriculum that stuck with us, but usually them as a person; their kindness, their compassion, their enthusiasm, their virtues.

How and where else do students have the opportunity to learn these, apart from home (and for some sadly, even home is not the bastion of learning such virtues)?

How great would it be to see kids learning and schools nurturing not only skills and content to face this ever changing world, but virtues which ensure cooperation, tolerance, compassion and kindness?

Just how we do this, is open to discussion (which in itself is great) and I do not pretend to have the ‘solution’, but it does seem obvious to me that allowing students to engage in more ‘real-world’ activities, out of classroom experiences and lessons which allow deep discussions around ethical issues, could be a great jumping off point.

Time is key here too! Give students and teachers more time to do these, free up that timetable with less assessment and content driven subjects….heck, maybe even less standardised testing!

Let’s see how sustainable education can be for our kids in helping them navigate their way through this ever-changing world.

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