in Davos talking about the need for children to be taught more than facts and digital technology is something all educators need to see.
He was talking about the way in which machines have and will take over so many things humans now do - but they can't take over the creation of art, music, literature and more.
It was timely. School went back yesterday. I was talking to someone last week who mentioned that her young neighbour is about to start high school. The young neighbour is a lovely girl and highly creative. She is already a skilled crafts person. Rather than watch television she will be busy creating something. The person I was talking to said that this young girl had spent time covering books, labelling them, and making sure that everything was ready. She is excited to be starting high school.
I hope she's not disappointed. She's intelligent - and that produces a problem of its own. I know what's going to happen. It is what has happened to MsW. There will be pressure on her to do only "academic" subjects. Music is an "extra". Drama is "extra-curricular". Art is something to be done in your "spare time". Sport is allowed - as long as you are playing for the school team - but the other activities are considered "important" but not so important that they are part of the school curriculum. This is the unspoken attitude even in MsW's school where these things do have a greater prominence than in most schools.
The teachers don't like it. MsW's principal is opposed to it but has told me, "One of the problems is that we are expected to get results. We are expected to get as many girls into university as possible."
The pressure on her and her teachers is enormous.
There's "Art Club" after school now. It is so popular they have had to run two groups - and yes, the two teachers have to stay to run it. The head of the boarding house also runs a craft group. MsW has been helping her fellow boarders do some origami on Sunday evenings. There were only a couple of others interested at the beginning, now most of them want to try. Of course it helps when television and other screen time is restricted and access to phones is limited.
And it seems that everywhere is it is much the same. School is about "the subjects which will get you a job". Post-secondary education is the same. It is all work and career oriented. If you can find time to do a bit of creative writing, sketching, drama, music, or anything else "creative" then that's your good luck.
I am wondering how long it is going to take for the wheel to turn and for people to realise that Jack Ma, who has founded an immense business empire, is right.
Our students will do better if they are encouraged to be creative.
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2 comments:
Not all of the most important jobs require university education, like the person who drives the garbage truck. How long can we live without our garbage being taken away.
It's a shame that we are losing the value of education for the sake of education. Learning how to learn and developing ways of thinking.
You may be interested in the internationsl "Maker Movement". Australia is a little behind on this trend but it is all about creativity and problem solving. It gives equal value and respect to traditional crafts like woodwork and weaving, to creativity with new technology such as robots, maths and computing and to artistic expression. It recognises that people need to have opportunities to express themselves and have the resources to express their creativity and it is from sharing, collaborative environments like that promoted by the Maker Movement, that the 'next big thing' often emerges.
The kinds of jobs that parents used to promote to their children to pursue as secure employment prospects are either no longer in existence or no longer secure. There is no such thing as job security any more.
Only offering subjects that are 'designed to get a job' is very narrow minded. Futurists observe that when children begin their schooling, the jobs they will get as adults haven't been invented! Also many jobs that are common now may be redundant in 20 years. Who is to make the assumption that expertise in one subject area is any less an employable attribute than expertise in another?
I say to educators, parents and governments: stop judging the worth of subjects and start valuing the worth of humanity and giving students the broadest range of experience possible, teaching them critical thinking and problem solving skills that will apply to any area of life.
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