Maybe I’m a little too fascinated by discussions of how all this networking online might play out in the next decade or so; guess I’m trying to act in the moment in ways that might better prepare me for what’s to come. Which of course is something we should be doing in our schools as well, right? As in trying to figure out what the skills and literacies are that the kids in our classrooms are going to have to grapple with down the road. (Doubting that handwriting is one of them.)
At any rate, from Robert Greco’s most excellent Delicious feed I snagged this link to “Oivallus-A Project on Future Education.” Here we have some Finns, already basking in all of their educational excellence glory, trying to figure out what teaching and learning are going to look like in a “networked economy.” (What a concept.) Not that there is anything earth shattering here, but the idea that Finnish Industries, the European Union, and The Finnish National Board of Education are seeking to “explore and outline progressive operating and learning environments” shows they’re not just resting on their laurels. And the outlines they’re sketching also show that they’re not just thinking about doing what they currently do better. They get that things are changing.
For instance:
However, one trend is clear: we will respond to the waves of development by networking with and learning from a range of experts and actors in different fields. These systems of interconnected people and organisations are known as learning networks.
And, even better:
Network skills and the ability to obtain, utilise and share knowledge lay the foundations of future work. At best, a learning network can use its extended knowledge-base to identify new opportunities and find solutions for contemporary challenges – the key is to work together with people of different backgrounds and capabilities. Learning from one another and building on existing ideas are skills that require practicing. These competences should be developed from early on and throughout education.
Obviously, I think they’re spot on in those assessments. And I’m hoping that when the final report is released later this year, it might generate even more ideas for discussion.
Why aren’t more of us here in the States not seeing these trends and their impact on education more clearly? (Rhetorical question…been there done that.) I know the National Ed Tech Plan gets some ways down this road, and there is some rhetoric along these lines in a few other places, but these ideas aren’t really on the radar in more than a few schools and systems, and certainly they’re not a big part of the national conversation around education. We’re not developing new competencies to fit what is, I think at least, a pretty clear vision of where this road is taking us.
Somehow, we have to get this party started…more on that in a couple of days.
It would appear that Finland has no choice but to reach out to the rest of the world in order to advance. They are one of the most sparsely populated countries in Europe, and their share of foreign citizens is at 2.5%, one of the lowest in the European Union. They are unified by geography, and population. This makes them very stable and secure, but in my opinion in danger of plateauing in terms of development. They have no choice but to reach out if they wish to continue to grow. The current economic and development models are we suited to their needs. They have side stepped some of the challenges larger nations can not.
The differences between the Finland and the United States makes me feel that the solution for Finland may not be the correct solution for the USA, at least at this point. It will sure have the essential same components, but here in the USA we still have a ways to go in developing strong relationships, trust, and understanding. The connectedness of our “world” can help, but I feel we have a long way to go to get to the point Finland is at right now.
No doubt, Finland and the US are hard to compare on many levels. But I do think it’s fair to compare the evolution of the conversation. I know it might be easier for Finland to actually act on these ideas, but I’m of the mind that they are correct in their thinking and that we need to act on those ideas as well. How do we move the conversation forward here despite the differences? That’s the question I want to explore.
Good point … but what does Finland do with their children of poverty? They do have some. What do they do? Is there NO value there? Beyond Finland, what do other countries do? We can’t want the scores (which is a whole other conversation) and NOT look at what works and we might want to emulate. What works for these countries and we DO NOT want to emulate (example: not educating everyone or only testing hand-picked students or mostly doing a test prep pedagogy). The point I’d make is that we are mostly NOT having those crucial conversations. We should be demanding them! I blame media for doing a VERY narrow job covering education and the education community as a whole for doing a more than poor job of educating society on the REAL issues.
Thanks for stopping by, Brian. Re: the poverty issues. A bit off topic, but I think you might find this interesting, Cisco’s Learning From the Extremes (pdf). Have you seen it? A nice frame for a discussion around low income districts in the states as well.
Great Will, I will check it out!
Great thoughts. If you study profitable or successful companies in the United States, they have agreements with school districts to “award” and give special high school students the opportunity to work inside the company while acquiring their high school diploma. Win, Win for both I guess. The students learn skills and expertise otherwise not taught in the educational system. The company gets to train and gather fresh, new ideas not influenced yet by the university system. Cost effective for all involved.
The connectiveness comes with a little bit younger generation, because they have to solve the problems created by that older generation. They get that the world is really all one and should be more inclusive. Do you feel with the economic crisis and environmental changes it might be sooner?
Michelle,
So here’s the next logical step… why isn’t that part of the regular high school curriculum? Why are we not teaching these very important skills in the context of the relevant, big picture “ideas” in each subject area?
Why are we not asking these kids to think about solving these problems now? (not solving them, but thinking about them)