Reconciling Educational Philosophy with the 21st Century Workplace

Back when I was a thirty-something working my way through the maze of coursework that was required in order to earn a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education, a saying that I first encountered in my Foundations of Education class resonated with me: “People learn by doing.” Simple, yes, perhaps obvious to those who had thought about it, still it resonated with me and became sort of a mantra to me over the years I juggled coursework on top of working full-time and playing gigs around Baltimore. I was reminded again of this saying while I was reading Professor Stephen Hepple’s article “Curriculum is not content” workshop.heppell.mobi/2013/10/i-wrote-this-for-financial-times-and-it.html

Professor Hepple tells of the move away from content-based education in Hong Kong and Singapore toward an approach that focuses on developing “critical thinking and creativity, and devolving more autonomy to our schools to encourage innovation,” in the words of Heng Swee Keat, Singapore’s Minister of Education. The Minister extolls the virtues of “vibrant learning communities where exploration and experimentation are integral.” For both of these nations, Hepple writes, education is viewed as an investment, in contrast to the view in much of Europe and the USA where education is seen as a cost. As an endorsement of the Asian view, he notes that the economic payoff of this shift in philosophy is reflected in the robust economic growth enjoyed by both countries between 2007 and 2013.

So which educational approach is best equipped to train this kind of workforce for the jobs that haven’t even created yet? In our MOOC we have seen two models, one a technology-centered approach Employed by the North Beaches Christian School, and the Kamari Rudolf Steiner School that uses an Orff-based approach that avoids the use of technology. What both schools have in common is the principle of active learning, where children learn by doing. I saw in both approaches children encouraged to follow their own interests, to take chances, and to collaborate with their peers. What I didn’t see was passive learners, stuck in rows of desks for hours on end while a succession of instructors spoon-fed them their daily dose of “learnin’.”

I have to conclude that both approaches are valid, though one is better suited to older students than the other. It is apparent to me that our youngest learners need to be engaged in real time, in a social way, rather than plunked in front of a screen. Education comes through all the senses, not just sight and hearing. Later on, as students reach maturity, then open the floodgates of digital technology and let them chart their own course. The vast resources available online, when used wisely, open up possibilities that were out of the reach for for a “digital immigrant” such as myself when I was their age. Engaging in the content in an authentic, interest-driven way is the path to 21st Century skills.