Hello. This is my A3 Forecasting Project. I have reviewed growing academic works of research education occur out-of-school. Since digital technologies allow people to create and access massive knowledge, some scholars have claimed that a more comprehensive combination of education will replace the current institutionalized schooling. It is possible that one day, learning not only happens in the classroom but also enacts in online networks, video games and other media. The role of schools may change from the centre of knowledge to the centre of finding proper knowledge.
Here is the link: Is Schooling Still Necessary?
Hi Yi,
It creates an interesting discussion. I wonder if the focus on knowledge in the presentation ignored the reform work that many jurisdictions have already attempted to do. With the work in places like Finland, and the reform of curriculum in British Columbia and other provinces as well as other jurisdictions around the world, many places have made the move to more competency based models which, if implemented properly would address a lot of the concerns presented. In BC in particular, they have stated that goals are life-long learning and that the competency model is meant to de-emphasize knowledge as the center of education and create more focus on skill development.
I do agree with you that recent experiences with COVID have shown that there are different avenues to be explored but I also think it demonstrated just how valuable a brick and mortor school setting actually is for many students. I hope we can see some shifts in creating more accommodations for students but also making sure that we don’t lose the more traditional settings for students who need that environment.
I also wonder how we see it working with trying to hand educational responsibilities back to parents when many places, like China and Canada are dealing with situations where students have both parents working or are in single-parent households where the parents don’t really have the time or the abilities/skills themselves to handle this responsibility. I also know a lot of our students in China are raised by their grandparents and I think it would be unrealistic to think they have the ability to handle this educational responsibility.
Hey Yi,
Adding to the wealth of good comments here, I really appreciated the fact that you looked not just at education in this project but the associated conceptions of our current forms of knowledge, pedagogy, content, responsibilities, locations, cultures, and relationships. Have you read ‘Literacy, Society and Schooling’ at all (full ref below)? It has very similar tables looking at the progressions of literacy that you may enjoy. It was also so great to see some of Gee’s work that isn’t related to educational principles for digital gaming, thanks for sharing that resource.
What I really enjoyed from this was that you situated the centrally important features of schooling within the new technological and mobile paradigms we are looking at in the next 10 years. This is really valuable, because often I think that the ideas of mLearning and open education mean rejecting our older educational model entirely. However, there are benefits from it that need to be understood and transposed into our new context if we are wanting renewed educational efforts to be successful.
Thanks for an interesting and well-structured presentation overall
References:
de Castell, S and Luke A: (1986) Defining Literacy in North American Schools: Socio Historical Conditions and Consequences. In de Castell, Luke and Egan (eds) Literacy, Society and Schooling. Cambridge University Press.
I like very much the idea that “it has become possible for an amateur to join a community of specialists and become an expert” (Chen, 2020). And I very much like the power point presentation style. It’s a nice change of pace that’s easy to absorb little by little.
I really appreciated slide 15 which broke down the gradual shift that’s been taking place.
These parts stuck out to me as well:
“I believe schooling will always exist in a certain way. However, the connotation and extension of it will be changed. Schooling is still essential for a person to receive education, but the form may become a kaleidoscope” (Chen, 2020).
“Certifications could trace a new path for rethinking high schools. For example, teens might follow a number of different paths. They might attend school, work, study at home to take certification exams or participate in some kind of youth organization. If they want to go to college, they might try to get all the certifications they need for college as soon as possible, and go off to college at age 15 or 16. Others might work for a while and come back to school to prepare for college. People could take courses whenever they are ready, at whatever age, paid for by the state. This would produce a mixed- age population in high school and college courses, filled with people who chose to be there” (Chen, 2020).
I love the idea of people being able to proceed at their own pace, even if they’re “young”. Perhaps young is a concept that also needs to be revisited.
Great contribution, Yi!
Hi Yi,
It is true that formal institutionalized schooling only occupies a short period of life. However, the incessant changes and improvements in information technology requires people to update their knowledge any minute now. As was pointed out by the 5G Revolution team, “the tradition of education ending at a diploma, degree, or certification will be an increasingly outdated concept, as many new job roles in the 4IR will require constant reskilling and upskilling to stay current with technological advancements”.
I agree with Collins & Halversont (2010) on their idea of generic skills. To reflect on my own teaching practice, I feel inclined to emphasize such skills as locating resources and learning from them, problem solving and communicating in different media, instead of lecturing to provide information.
The Decentralized Schooling proposed by Collins & Halverson sounds really ideal or more reasonable… Despite the risks you mentioned, I’m not sure how a mixed- age population in high school will look like. To me, hanging out with kids of the same age, going through the same struggles and fun, or just simply growing up together is an important part of my childhood and teenagehood.
Thank you for sharing your research 🙂
Thanks for this A3, Yi. I am excited to add another Gee text to my future reading. I think education needs a heavy dose of unschooling. The days of learning focused on academic achievement demonstrated largely through multiple choice and high stakes tests are absolutely destroying students’ interest, engagement, and passion toward learning. I think the idea of certifications and students self-studying to pass them is just a continuation of a current education model that is flawed, and we need to move beyond this. We need to reinvent formal education and begin to foster students’ interests, creativity, and problem solving schools in real-world contexts that involve collaboration.
Like others, I do fear that if we move toward eliminating schools or brick and mortar institutions, that many will lose out on educational opportunities. Unfortunately, schooling has looked a certain way for a long time, and it will be difficult to re-invent teaching and learning if we continue to focus on testing.
Thank you, Mel. The status quo needs to be changed, for sure. However, what the future will look like is way beyond and individual to imagine. China’s education system is highly standardized and academic-focused, and the government is trying to transform it: lowering the ratio of the tests and encouraging students to pick up what they want to learn. However, this process is very slow and insufficient. Many people criticize it because they worry about the inequity of the financially struggling families. It is still widely accepted that such a high standard system is the only hope for kids in low-income families and in rural areas to get a qualified education.
Hi Yi,
Thanks for an interesting theory I haven’t had much exposure to.
I’m intrigued by the equity portion of the theory. Do we envision this new era only being accessible to a few, with others relying on traditional schooling? Or is this an inevitable shift that will leave some behind and exacerbate inequalities?
Hi Megan. Thank you for the reply, and I am glad you like it. I cannot answer whether the equity of education will become better or worse. However, I do agree with Collins and Halverson that the public school is losing its power in this fight against inequity due to many reasons I cited in this presentation. The educational gap is indeed widening, and public education will feel the urge to change to fit this new condition. If public education has been left behind, many people will be left behind as well.
Hi Yi,
I know you don’t have all the answers, but am curious as to your opinion, seeing as you have done much more reading on the subject than I have. The education gap is indeed widening, and has been for a while. Currently in the US it seems like there is potential for it to worsen as parents contemplate pulling their children out of public school in order to create “pandemic pods” with a few families hiring one teacher. (https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-affluent-us-parents-arrange-private-tutelage-from-public-school/)
I’m curious as to whether you think this movement could help overcome the inequalities that currently exist in educational systems or whether it will make them worse. After your research, what is your opinion?
Hi Megan. Educational equity is not my research domain, so I don’t have enough knowledge to give a sophisticated answer. Many scholars have warned about the risk of neo-liberalism in education which seeks to privatize public education. However, decentralizing public schools and replace them with various and flexible learning programs seems a plan that will provide many spaces to private institutions. Public education may struggle to this transformation as well, because it may worsen the financial situation and the pressure to the management.
On the other hand, if we agree that teaching students the knowledge they may never use in their life is a huge waste of resources, a more flexible school system can change the system to be more individualized and efficient and save money from public fundings.
The transformation will not happen in a minute. It will need a very long time to settle in a significantly different but stable state finally. So, if our public education system has space and resources to explore different possibilities, it can play a key role in the transformation. It can be an opportunity to narrow the inequity indeed.
What I want to share is that we must see that the transformation is happening, and we need to think about the possibilities and do something about it.
Thank you!
Hi Yi,
Thanks for your response, it has given me some food for thought and ideas on where to go next in my research on this subject.
Interesting question to be asking! Maybe we’ll see more blended teaching and learning in the more conventional contexts of primary education.
In higher ed though, we need to consider the “social” elements as well — the “college experience”, so to speak. Although I’m sure commuters would appreciate more flexibility in their schedules…
Hi Yi, thanks for sharing your A3. I thought it was a very interesting topic. I have thought about this during the home schooling online this year. I think schooling will continue to change to address the ongoing needs and changing environment we all live in. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Tyler, thank you for your reply. The way of schooling will change for sure. Do you mind sharing more of your thoughts regarding what you have experienced in this special time?
Yi
Hi Yi, yes sorry for the late reply. This year was a crazy time for everyone. The biggest challenge when we moved to online learning was making sure students had the technology. It was hard for families to share technology especially if the parents were working from home. The next hurdle was finding the time for students to come online. When the schools closed me and my grade partner created basic websites for the students to go to and check out the tasks we would post there. I used Microsoft Teams to chat with all my students. I was able to create Minecraft worlds where students could join from home, they would go and find the “School” I would build and read the tasks on the chalk board in the school. I tried video teaching once, it was a disaster. I taught grade 1 and they just wanted to scream and chat with each other, and the other thing was parents would use that time to come on and ask me questions “when is the school opening, what is happening” questions I didnt have the answers to. So I didn’t do video teaching for that reason. Towards the end of April students started tuning out, and not coming online. I didn’t know what to do, and there wasnt any clarification from my school so we just continued with what we were doing. As we move forward there are different ways we can do this, having scheduled times to chat with students in small groups seemed to work better than having the entire class in one chat. The biggest challenge I would say was making sure all students had the technology to participate.
I have opened the slides to anyone who click the link can view. No permission needed. Sorry!!