The changing role of education stands at the heart of the conversation on the rapidly changing nature of work, technological revolution and future of the workforce. Questions arise on what kind of education is needed? How should one prepare to give such education for the 21st century? What kind of skills should students have?
Dr. Susan Sclafani, Former Assistant to Secretary of Education in the Bush Administration in the United States, spent her career working and experimenting on the changing role of education for the society. In an interview with Dr. Rattana Lao, here she reflected on her lifetime of experience and what the future may be for global education sector.
AGENCY: THE HEART AND CENTER OF EDUCATION
The world has changed drastically but our education system is still preparing the young for the 1980s. Most of our schools have not changed at all. Particularly, this happens with the schools that are serving the most disadvantaged youth. These students are often not the ones who get to do project-based learning or have the opportunities to have the agency on what they are going to study. Those are essential tools to prepare them to be the future workforce. Whether they want to become car mechanics or CEOs, it takes an individual’s understanding of what they want to do, how to take more responsibility for their learning and how to engage in experiences that will enhance their understanding of themselves and the world.
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NOT ALL OF THE RICH GET A GOOD EDUCATION
There is a myth that the rich get all the good education. Yet, many of the rich still attend very traditional schools that require the students to work very hard but still do as they are told. There is very little opportunity to develop their own advocacy and agency.
IMAGINE A NEW KIND OF EDUCATION
It’s the role of the schools to open up the world to students: to learn about technology, to learn how to live with one another, to give them access to creative opportunities. In many schools, there is a lack of imagination of what education should be.
A new kind of education goes beyond filling in information for students. These days and age, anyone with a smartphone can search for information. A new kind of imagination is needed that pushes students to learn how to seek knowledge that satisfies their curiosity.
A MISCONCEPTION: EDUCATION AS A MISSION TO CIVILISE
There are many misconceptions of education. One of them being success is an equivalent to going to college. The society limits the imagination suggesting that those who succeed must go to colleges. Today, many students do not want to take loans, and they don’t think college answers all their questions.
Sclafani mentioned a book she has been reading, For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood…and the Rest of Y’all Too… by Christopher Emdin, in which he discussed the unfortunate history of educating Native American students in the last century where the educators believed that they needed to strip the students’ culture and traditions to prepare the students for life in the mainstream culture. Emdin suggested that we are doing something similar to African American and Latino students in inner-cities. Many of these inner-city schools impose discipline at the cost of creativity and freedom. They are doing the opposite of what they should be doing. Schools should value the strength of students’ culture. They cannot ban their students’ mother tongue and culture and expect students to excel.
THE BIGOTRY OF LOW EXPECTATION
We had a policy called “No child left behind” in the United States. President George W. Bush decried the bigotry of low expectations, suggesting we simply don’t have high expectations for all our children. The challenge was that we did not adequately train our teachers to actually enable every child to reach the finishing line.
WHAT IS NEXT FOR EDUCATION?
The future of workforce requires a variety of skills. It is only through the collaboration of education and businesses that we can create opportunities for the young. By bringing educators and business leaders to meet with national and state leaders we can create dialogue that informs education policymaking process. Such collaborative educational decisions canl transform what goes on inside classrooms and prepare students for the future world of work.
*Since 2018, Dr. Susan Sclafani has worked with Dr. Cheng Davis and Paul Kelly, the co-founders of Forum for World Education, where educators, business leaders and practitioners meet on a yearly basis to discuss education issues around the world. The most recent FWE conference was held in Thailand in December, 2022.