Future schooling

Madam Bee Bee Tan
Nanyang Primary School
Singapore

Our future depends on the next generation’s ability to think, achieve and excel, and their willingness to persevere and strive to meet the challenges that lie ahead. The ways we bring up our young at home and teach them in school play an important part in fulfilling this task. School, as it is shaped now, has to serve its long-term purpose and meets the needs of our future generations. We need to gear our school education to meet the needs of the future. What would be our needs in the future? How would our school look like in the future? What are the roles of technology, teachers, parents and public in shaping our future school? This paper aims to examine the above-mentioned issues and provide some ideas of what a future school would be.

Role of technology

The pace and breadth of technological change and globalisation in recent years have called for greater dependence on new communication and computing technologies that support new levels of student creativity and research. Technology will play an increasingly important role in enhancing relevant instruction and supporting the implementation of new curriculum in the future. Without effective means of communication and accessing information, knowledge remains fragmented in small pieces. Thus, our students must be able to use new technology to acquire new information, skills and abilities. Easy and quick access to new sources of information that supports independent learning is crucial. New ways for teachers and their students to present and disseminate their information, research and analyses, as well as their creative works, are needed to help the students to achieve new levels of learning.

My vision of the future school is one that will be free from geographic location and is no longer bound by limits of time. Lifelong learning is made possible with the help of technology. Online and distance learning are examples of a flexible approach to acquiring skills and knowledge on demand, at the time and place of one’s choosing. Enhancement of computer technology will create and enhance collaborative learning, alternative assessment and individualised learning. Schools will become centres where students work in groups on real world projects, go on trips and participate in the community.

Role of teachers

My vision for the teachers’ role will no longer be imparting knowledge only. Emphasis on imparting knowledge in school should shift into one of developing thinking and learning skills. Teachers are the role models for our students. They must impart life skills, thinking skills and learning skills, as well as an attitude of continuous learning and improvement to cope with the dynamics and ever-changing world of the future.

Teachers must be lifelong learners, researchers, mentors, technology users and knowledge producers themselves. They must keep up with professional developments in their field and judiciously apply new educational theories and practices in their teaching. To make these happen, teachers need to be supported in their use of technology for learning and also in their use of technology for professional development and collaboration.

Role of parents and the public

My vision for parents is they will continue to play a major role in the education of their children. This will continue to work actively with teachers to connect formal and informal education. Collaboration and a higher level of cooperation among education institutions are needed to develop a relevant and dynamic curriculum that meets the learning needs of the pupils.

As for the public, there will be active participation and partnership of the subjects’ specialists, private sector and business organisations in developing a curriculum that is relevant and up to date in preparing the children with the knowledge they need to face in the corporate world. To achieve this, parents and businesses need to work together with educators to consistently examine and review the type of skill set and abilities needed in the industry, and how to incorporate these into the student’s curriculum. This will ensure that knowledge and educational content will always stay relevant for the future of the students.  This will help to prepare them to apply the skills, abilities and knowledge acquired to the dynamic nature of the corporate world.  

Such changes in curriculum will also impact on the ways we test our students. Use of technology in testing will become a norm and students will no longer be assessed merely on their academic performance but on other skills, like collaboration, communication and problem-solving.

Emphasis on the right values and attitudes

Our curriculum should include meaningful and challenging academic and non-academic dimensions that develop our students’ characters. Due to greater reliance on computer networking and online technology in the future, students will be more vulnerable to online predators. According to the 2000 report about online sexual victimisation funded by the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children in United States, one-fifth of children have been sexually solicited in chat rooms, by instant message or email. Our children need to be taught to protect themselves against such threats. This report has raised the importance of imparting the right values and firm moral bearings to our children. With the right values, our children will not be easily tempted by these solicitations and surf the pornography and obscene materials on the internet. Firm and strong moral bearings are essential in giving us strength in a world of shifting values.

To prepare this, teachers must be equipped with not only the pedagogy skills, techniques, instructional technology and practical experience, but also the ability to transform the values, perspectives and characters of students. This requires, among other things, leading teachers to understand and appreciate the moral dimension of the teacher’s role, as well as conceiving school as a place where children can be nurtured to some kind of moral and intellectual growth (Zeng, 2005). In addition, school should also engage parents to create a learning and moral community and share responsibility in character education for the children.

Conclusion

Our current curriculum needs to be reviewed to stay relevant for our future generations. Our teachers and students will have to be technologically literate to become lifelong learners. Our children need to develop their capacity to reflect on action so as to engage in a process of continuous learning and be a better person with the right values and firm moral bearings. Collaboration among schools, higher education and industry is crucial to fostering more innovation in education. Everyone in the community should play a part in ensuring that our education system continues to serve its purpose in the future.

References

Deng, ZY. ‘Teacher Education’. In Tan, J & Ng PT. Shaping Singapore’s future: thinking schools, learning nation. 2005. Singapore: Prentice Hall.
Microsoft. Building the school of the future. Retrieved 12 September 2006 from: www.microsoft.com.
Ministry of Education. Mission and Vision Statement. 2004. Retrieved 12 September 2006 from: www.moe.edu.sg.
Ministry of Education. Bluesky report. 2004. Retrieved 12 September 2006 from: www.moe.edu.sg.
Roush, W. The moral panic over social-networking sites. 2006. Retrieved 25 September 2006 from: www.technologyreview.com.
US Department of Education. Forum on technology in education: envisioning the future. 2007. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Conference Centre.