The future of Education

The nation needs an education system that excites and stimulates children, providing them with the learning they need - and deserve - to fulfill their potential.  This means providing a curriculum of practical and vocational learning alongside theoretical study. It is not due to the fault of any individual, any school or even any one political party but due to the simple fact the world has changed - and our education system has not changed fast enough. 

  However, we must recognize that young people are individuals with different talents and dreams.  As such, not all children learn in the same way.  We need to move towards a system of mass customization, based on a strong common core of essential skills and knowledge, which allows young people to develop their own particular talents and aspirations. Although, we support young people in discovering what they enjoy and are good at - and who they want to be in life.  And we must encourage and support teachers and schools in responding to these different needs.  Young people will learn if they see learning as important, meaningful and worthwhile. Revolution in education is a particularly crucial issue in the context of the current economic climate. 

After all, we requires people with passion, know how, initiative, creativity, resilience and self knowledge; people who can get on with others and who know when to listen and when to lead.  These skills and abilities cannot be gained in the classroom alone; they come from ‘practical learning’ – learning by doing things for real, working with experts, and integrating theory with practice.

We need a new approach, a new paradigm.  This becomes very apparent when we compare ourselves with other countries.  The UK has some great strength which we must not lose, particularly in terms of top-end, high quality academic learning.  But our greatest weakness is our ability to turn diversity into hierarchy.  Our system is largely based on the misguided belief that one form of intelligence is in some way more important than (or ‘better’) than another. It should be  growing interest in ‘employability skills’, the piloting of explicit teaching of positive psychology and the emergence of schools and colleges which build learning around core skills and capabilities, locking enterprise in the broadest sense into all aspects of learning. 

The Author of the artcile is Assistant Professor Pioneer Institute of Professional Studies