Title: Twenty-First Century Learning: Embracing the Call for Change
Abstract: The current discourse concerning the future of education is dominated by concerns that question its relevance in the new global economy where information and innovation are the primary factors of production and where technology has flattened the political and social strata that marked the 20th century (Friedman, 2005). An examination of the purpose of education from a historical perspective supports the assertion that an educational system must be aligned with the economy within which it operates and for whom it must supply a competitive and competent workforce. A clear call for change in education that has been issued from the business community, education reformers, and government is being embraced by one school district in North Carolina. As members of the South Elementary School Third Grade Choir made their way through a local church at which they were about to perform, a student noticed a mobile chalkboard in the corner of the room. While pointing with puzzlement, she asked, What is that? The previous year, a second-grade teacher had asked her class to select lunch choices on the regular whiteboard that was seldom used because all of the classrooms were equipped with interactive whiteboards. One student, after failing several times to write with his finger, announced to the teacher, This board doesn't work! The world in which these students live has changed drastically from the one their teachers experienced at the same age. The workplace they will inherit probably does not even exist. The current discourse concerning the future of education is dominated by concerns that question its relevance in the new global economy where information and innovation are the primary factors of production and where technology has flattened the political and social strata that marked the 20th century (Friedman, 2005). Sadly, too many of todays students are very familiar with 19th and 20th century tools such as chalkboards. However, even the personnel in schools equipped with the latest technology are no better able to prepare their students for the demands of the new economy than their counterparts mired in the technology and pedagogy of the past unless they also change their pedagogy. Fortunately, one district in North Carolina is setting an example others may emulate. Historical Context Any discussion about the future of education needs to be framed within the context of the very purpose of education. The founding documents of the United States, penned in large part by the combined efforts of Jefferson, Madison, and Adams, echoed the thoughts of philosophers Rousseau and Montesquieu, who argued that universal education was necessary for a democratic republic to exist and be sustained over time (Alexander & Alexander, 2009; Cubberly, 1910). Public-education reformer Horace Mann also described education as an absolute and natural right that required each new generation be imbued with the knowledge of the preceding generation. He recognized knowledge as a property right to which all citizens should have equal access (Alexander & Alexander, 2009). Regardless of whether one philosophically views education as a property right among the other inalienable rights referenced in the founding documents and described in the writings of the founding fathers, a connection existed between education and economic prosperity in the early history of the United States (Siberglitt, Anton, Howell, & Wong, 2006; Silva, 2008). Although it could be debated whether new knowledge drives economic change or new economic demands drive the call for new knowledge, a definite link still exists between the needs of the worker in an economy and the educational system. The economy is changing. Economic shifts, in the context of classic economic theory, are not new phenomena. Some economic historians point to three major economic revolutions: the shift from hunting and gathering societies to agriculture, the shift from an agrarian society to the Industrial Age, and the current shift from industrialization to the New Economy (Atkinson, 2004). …
Publication Year: 2012
Publication Date: 2012-07-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 2
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