21st Century Teaching and Learning
Write an academic essay about how education is changing in the 21st century.
Introduction- The keyword 21st century has recently been considered an integral aspect of the concepts of educational planning and thinking for the future. This century comprises of administrators and educators who are in constant search of a plethora of techniques that can facilitate easy learning of their students for the future. Thus, it can be rightly said that the educational system in the 21st century is evolving at a rate faster than the previous years (Jahanian & Mahjoubi 2013). The current students are living in an age that is primarily characterized by breathtaking advances in science and technology. In addition, there are several social and ethical challenges that they face.
Furthermore, the age is also characterized by unparalleled longevity. The educational institutions try to foster partnership with the parents, and the schools work towards developing young people on their path to adolescence. This helps in making the students sociable, independent, self-aware, and principled, which in turn assists them to make responsible contributions to their communities (National Research Council, 2013). Thus, the 21st century education system facilitates the students to tackle major world challenges. Passion, conviction, expertise, and judgment is imperative for providing a worthwhile and relevant education in recent times. This essay will illustrate the different practices of teaching and learning in the 21st century.
21st century teaching and learning- The 21st century concept for learning skills is triggered by the general belief that all students should be taught the most useful, relevant and universally applicable skills that are in-demand. These should be prioritized in the present schools, and should be effectively utilized by all teachers for the overall growth and wellbeing of their students. Therefore, the basic idea encompasses the fact that the students, who generally come of age in this century, should be educated about a variety of skills other than those, which were learnt during the 20th century (Griffin & Care, 2014). Teaching and learning in the current scenario states that the students should be provided with opportunities that would enable them to reflect on certain demands that are based on competitive, complex, knowledge-based, and technology-driven situations.
Thus, it can be stated that the educators and teachers should engage in practices that encompass the process of cultivating and maintaining interests of the students that will allow the latter to gain a clear understanding of the application of the knowledge in real world (Burke & Grosvenor, 2015). The teachers should also work towards increasing the sense of curiosity among their students, which in turn will facilitate the student’s development into lifelong learners. In addition, there are a plethora of skills that should be adopted by the students, in order to be successful in this 21st century. Some of the most essential skills that are required to be developed by the learners are as follows:
- Critical thinking and oral presentation skills
- Development of the ability to work in collaborations
- Written communication skills
- The willingness to evaluate global and civic issues (Renzulli, 2012)
- Ability to utilise technological advances
- Ability to conduct research
- Learning about new career opportunities
Key factors that drive change in education- There are several social, political, economic and public arena s that operate influence the change in current education system. These factors are bound to create changes in educational practices. The major factors that have a significant impact on the educational system are as follows:
- Geographical factors- The geography of a particular region determines the kinds of equipments and buildings, means of transport that are used by children to reach school, the school going age of students. The 3 major geographical factors that influence the educational system are, population distribution and climatic conditions. Population distribution most often encompasses a mix of cultures and ethnicities, and is either scattered at the countryside or concentrated in urban locations (Winter, 2012). In Australia, there are 2 types of education system, one for the rural areas and the other for urban areas, respectively. Presence of well-equipped schools in urban areas is enhanced by qualified administrative personnel and teachers. On the other hand, schools in rural areas are smaller with very few teachers. Thus, efforts are taken by the central government to administer and finance the education system according to the needs of the century (Gibbons & Vignoles, 2012). Climatic conditions also influence the education system owing to the fact that tropical conditions emphasize on study of tropical diseases, and extreme chilling temperatures affect the student’s accessibility to their schools. Climate also directly governs the time of school vacations.
- Globalization- It directly affects the attitudes towards education in the country schools. Globalization forces people to shed their traditional thoughts and concepts and increases the focus on events that occur across all continents. Commodification of education is prevalent at both primary and higher education levels (Arnove, Torres & Franz, 2012). Parents and learners experience high competition for entrance into excellent schools and face pressure for qualifying to prestigious schools (Spring, 2014). Similarly, the teachers and staff are also forced to work hard for maintaining the school’s position (Zajda, 2013). Globalization has also led to internationalization of education that consists of the process of integration of an intercultural dimension to research and teaching at an institution. This directly enhances the acceptance of other cultures and integrates in the teaching process (Stromquist & Monkman, 2014).
- Social and cultural factors- The education system is generally considered as a social factor that contains the capability of reflecting the ethos of the individuals who are served by it. Thus, it can be said that the principle aim of education is ensuring cultural continuity (Buabeng-Andoh, 2012). It works towards achieving this aim by creating opportunities that help in the growth and development of certain national characteristics. All forms of education that prevails in the society try to protect the aspirations and traditions of the society. Poor socio-economic status of living also creates impacts on educational attainment (Bernier et al., 2012). Cultural and social factors are also responsible for reshaping the educational machineries that helps in creating equality for educational opportunities (Gorski, Davis & Reiter, 2012). This in turn results in widening of the educational curriculum and increases the emphasis on utilization of technical education.
Key Factors That Drive Change in Education
Two other factors that create direct impacts on the educational system of the present century are mentioned below:
- Language factors- Language is considered as an important identification of the community. A child also expresses himself/herself using the native language. The 21st century education system has increased the use of foreign language in schools (Barac & Bialystok, 2012). Thus, a child is required to learn a different language even before getting admitted to the school. This often creates problems for the learners.
- Technology- These advances enhance and support several educational projects. Thus, it can be said that technological advances play a major role in influencing decisions related to the education curriculum, modes of instructions and communication skills. Recent advances in technology and science are applied in the form of audio-visual devices that help in enhancing curriculum (Ertmer et al., 2012). Recent developments in use of technological equipment also enhance communication and retrieval of information. Electronic media is regarded as an essential tool for entertainment and receiving information (Cheung & Vogel, 2013).
Traditional education vs. Modern education- The recent methods of education that has emerged in the 21st century has succumbed to certain drastic changes over the past 100 years. This emphasizes on reconsideration of the available teaching models and typology of the existing classroom. Modern education also focuses more on the possible ways by which relevant information can be reproduced and displayed to the students (Kahu, 2013). While, curriculum refers to the subject or content matter that is taught to the students, pedagogy refers to the art or science associated with teaching and also illustrates the techniques that are commonly used for imparting education (Polesel, Rice & Dulfer, 2014). Good teachers have always worked towards providing support to their students in a way that would build the teacher-student relationship. While, curriculum encompasses the content that are made mandatory for teaching by the education departments, classroom educators have the prime responsibility for governing the presentation and delivery of the curriculum (Noddings, 2013).
The main objective of traditional or conventional education was passing on the values, skills, manners and social practice to future generations that would facilitate their survival (Singh, Singh & Singh, 2012). The curriculum was framed in a manner that allowed the students to learn about the traditions and customs of the society they were a part of. Oral recitation was the primary means of imparting the curriculum and did not focus on the use of science or technology (Aron & Loprest, 2012). On the other hand, modern education is strikingly different from traditional education and encompasses the skills of visualizing, writing, imagining and thinking. It also includes written tests that help in determining the learning capabilities of the students. While, pedagogy of traditional education illustrated the practice of imparting education by the ancestors and focused only on skills that were imperative for survival, modern education implements science and technology to make the curriculums more interesting for all students (Khalid & Azeem, 2012). The knowledge that students gained through conventional education was not adequate for them to face the world challenges.
Furthermore, lack of a uniform curriculum resulted in every student getting educated in a different way (Selwyn, 2012). The scientific methodologies that are applied in modern education are thus better as they enhance different skills of the students. One major contribution of the recent curriculum is associated with designing trans-disciplinary knowledge and skills that will help the students to learn effectively (Levpuš?ek, Zupan?i? & So?an, 2013). While, traditional education focused on the use of a stereotyped and clichéd manner of oral recitations that did not lead to learning any new information, modern education pedagogy helps the students to develop their concepts and expertise. Traditional method of teaching comprised of teachers who directed the students to learn by emphasizing on the use of recitation and memorization techniques (Al?Qahtani & Higgins, 2013). Thereby, the critical thinking abilities, decision making and problem solving skills did not develop. On the other hand, the constructive or modern approach of teaching involves better interaction with the students. Hence, the students are able to learn more through group participation. In the past centuries, the educator’s role was restricted to preparing the students for certain specific tasks, completion of which would enhance their survival. The communities that existed were also more homogenous. Thus, traditional education focused on specific cultures and values that were transmitted for ensuring survival of the old traditions and beliefs (Saidin, Halim & Yahaya, 2015). There is a need to strengthen the purpose of 21st century curriculum, in the Australian context for promoting social cohesion and individual development, enhancing development of environmental sustainability and economic prosperity and preparing the students for showcasing global citizenship skills.
Traditional Education vs. Modern Education
Recent pedagogy also promotes meta-cognitive development through peer collaboration and problem based learning activities. Thus, although the modern education system is superior with respect to its impact on the learners and educators, the traditional system cannot be declared bad (Derricott, 2014). It was good and effective during the old period, where the focus of most students and teachers was gaining a sound understanding of the cultures and religion (Gorski, 2013). However, with an increase in focus on modern education in the 21st century, the conventional education is gradually being overlooked.
Conclusion- Thus, it can be concluded from several studies that that education methods that focus on memorization based on recitation are not effective learning strategies. There is a need for education to change as the schools in the 21st century function as nerve centres and will create provisions for the teachers and students to connect with the community and the surroundings. In this new environment, educators will gain the capability of acting as orchestrators of relevant information and will help their students to transform their knowledge to wisdom. Development of a 21st century curriculum will create an opportunity for all students to gain an understanding of the factors that are responsible for molding the economic, and social systems and will also enable the students to develop specific personal skills and qualities.
In addition, there is an immediate need to bring about a change in the education system owing to the fact that the teachers face several challenges related to modeling curiosity and affection among the students, reconciling academic standards, prioritizing and identifying data for individual students, and increasing the visual appeal of the data. Therefore, it can be concluded that adoption to a 21st century curriculum is the need of the hour as a high quality teaching and learning process will result in the creation of experienced young people
References
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