Learning

The Future

In many (maybe most) industries and countries, the most in-demand jobs or occupations did not even exist 10 years ago.  In fact, in some cases they did not exist just 5 years ago.  The pace of change is astonishing and one that will only continue to accelerate, and at a faster rate.  Looking ahead, predictions are that 65% of children entering Primary School today will eventually end up working in entirely new jobs – jobs that do not even exist currently.

So what can we do to counter such a fast and rapidly changing landscape?

Businesses and their current models are finding that they are faced with an immediate and simultaneous impact on employment and there exists a need for new skill sets to be created, developed and maintained.  These require an immediate and focussed effort in order to achieve the required change.

The ability to plan ahead, anticipate and prepare for future required skills, job content and the knock-on effect on employment, is required.  This is critical for governments, education, individuals and businesses.  Thus, predicting, anticipating and preparing for the new (and current) transition is vital.

Debate and discussions so far related to the transformation and transition is clearly polarised between those who foresee limitless new opportunities and those that foresee a massive dislocation of jobs.

Predicting the future

The growth in cheap computing power and ubiquity of mobile internet have already had widespread impact on existing business models and will continue to do so.  Computing and mathematically-intensive professions will experience a positive impact and result in very high growth.  Similarly, architecture and engineering will be affected positively.

However, there will be a declining demand for occupations related to manufacturing, production and construction.  The educational arena will need to adjust to the needs of the new-age student, who is reliant on technology.  The use of the internet, blended learning and mobile devices will need to be optimised.  The teacher will always be necessary but a newly trained, modern teacher will be required.

The World Economic Forum Future Jobs Report 2016 has concluded that “by 2020, critical thinking and complex problem solving will be the most vital set of skills in the global job market but the hardest to recruit for.”  Education should look at ‘investing in the mind‘.

Immediate focus needed and planning ahead:  Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail

  • Change the 20th century viewpoint of Human Resources
  • Make heavy use of data and data analytics
  • Talent diversity:  Gone are the days when employees had the same job that required a limited skill pool
  • Flexible working arrangements
  • Online talent platforms:  Educational organisations will need to look into how this can be utilised in their institutions with positively enhancing student learning
  • Rethink education systems:  Self explanatory.  Businesses should work closely with governments, education providers and others to imagine what a true 21st century curriculum might look like
  • Incentivising lifelong learning:  A key skill and one worth pushing
  • Cross-industry and public-private collaboration

Yasir Patel

Sources:

Investing in the Mind

https://shifthappens.wikispaces.com/

Click to access WEF_Future_of_Jobs.pdf

Character and Kindness

No man is an island,
Entire of itself,
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thy friend’s
Or of thine own were:
Any man’s death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind,
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.

A historical and important voting process took place last week in Britain, with 52% of the voters opting to leave the European Union after 43 years of involvement.  Various outcomes have come about as a result with many discussions taking place as to what happens next.  Many have stated that whatever one’s view is of the result, it is now vitally important that people join forces and work together collaboratively in order to positively push Britain forward.

Human character can be defined as “the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual.” One’s character can be beneficial to oneself, to others, or a combination of both (although this is quite rare).  Our actions with those we interact with regularly (colleagues, family, friends and acquaintances) give an indication of how much our character leans towards serving oneself or others.  However, we should be conscious of how we treat each other and how our character plays out with the various groups of people we interact with.  Working together and serving others should be embraced, not forced.  

In and around North County San Diego, California, you will come across ‘kindness meters’.  The idea behind these is to provide the public with a fast and accessible opportunity to do something good for others, including complete strangers.  It only takes a few seconds to impact another person positively.  More recently, some schools in the area have focussed on Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) and integrated this within the curriculum.  This is nothing new but an explicit mention always helps.  In the English curriculum this is referred to as PSHE (Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education).  The benefits of SEL and PSHE, both in the short and long term include academic success as well as emotional wellbeing.

Nel Noddings, author of various books and articles that call for all schools to focus on ethic of care.  She argues that caring should be a foundation for ethical decision-making.  How does one become a caring person?   Noddings states that a caring person ‘is one who fairly regularly establishes caring relations and, when appropriate maintains them over time’.  Noddings identifies education (both in the traditional sense and the not so traditional, including at home) as central to a culture and creation of caring in society.  In fact, she views the home as the primary educator and argues for an adjustment of social policy to this end. This is not to sideline the role of schools but simply to recognise just what the home contributes to the development of children and young people.

Students (in fact, everybody) should have the opportunity to practice activities that foster respect, responsibility, compassion, courage, trust, perseverance, honesty, gratitude, self-discipline and citizenship.  Students should also be given the chances to show kindness and develop their character, serving others whenever possible.  Would a kindness meter work in schools?  Maybe, maybe not, but the importance of character, kindness and working as a team for an agreed shared goal, cannot be stated enough.  Schools should continue to work together with communities in order to enhance all childrens’ learning experience.

Yasir Patel

Sources:

Outdoor Learning

Outdoor learning and learning outside the classroom is intended to offer children experiences that are not easily achieved indoors, in the day-to-day environment.  It is intended to provide sensory stimuli, lead to greater levels of creativity and allow children to develop their skills, knowledge and understanding without the constraints of the traditional classroom.

There is convincing research that suggests good quality learning outside the classroom adds significant value to students’ learning. In 2004, Michael Reiss (a Science professor) and Martin Braund (an honorary fellow at the University of York and an adjunct professor in Cape Town, South Africa) published a book about the importance of out-of-school learning called Learning Outside the Classroom.  Research from the book was later published in the International Journal of Science in 2006, which highlights several arguments on why science classes should go on meaningful field trips. More information can be found on the ASCD (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) website.

In a more recent study conducted by Play in Balance and commissioned by Persil, 45% of the 12000 parents polled stated that they wanted their child to have activities outside.  Furthermore, three-quarters of 6 to 11 years-olds spend less time outside (in non-school time) than the daily hour recommended for prison inmates by the UN.  In fact, yesterday (Friday 17th June) was Empty Classroom Day!  A 2005 study by the American Medical Association found that “Children will be smarter, better able to get along with others, healthier and happier when they have regular opportunities for free and unstructured play in the out-of-doors.” There is also some scientific evidence that the wilderness can reduce hyperactivity and has a soothing effect on children, especially those suffering from attention deficit disorder. 

Sir Ken Robinson, a leading educator, educational researcher and a big advocate of bringing creativity into the curriculum (see his famous TED talk ‘Schools Kill Creativity’), has pointed out how important it is for human beings to be outside, playing and engaging with nature.   TV presenter and author Ben Fogle has encouraged the British government to focus on student wellbeing and connecting children with the natural world, instead of pumping valuable time and money into exams.  Juliet Robertson, author of Dirty Teaching points out how activities away from the classroom gives pupils freedom to make decisions about their own learning and is incredibly empowering for them.

Some schools, such as Long Crendon School in England have gone further and created a curriculum that revolves around outdoor education.  The Headteacher Sue Stamp claims outdoor learning is “a way of life”.  The whole ethos of Long Crendon is to be outdoors as much as possible, despite the English weather!

The research (Trost 2009: Active Education: Physical Education, Physical Activity and Academic Performance and Active Living Research in 2015) around the importance of physical education and sports cannot be understated. Some of the conclusions include:

● Physically active and fit children tend to have better academic achievement, better school attendance and fewer disciplinary problems.

● Allocating time for daily physical education does not hurt academic performance, and regular exercise may improve students’ concentration and cognitive functioning.

● Physical activity breaks can improve cognitive performance and classroom behaviour.

● In some cases, more time in physical education leads to improved grades and standardised test scores.

● Regular participation in physical activity has academic performance benefits.

● Single sessions of physical activity can enhance attention and memory.

● The effects of physical activity on brain health may explain improvements in academic performance.

Schools should look into ways of enriching the curriculum for students which involves taking learning outdoors, increasing physical education and sport.  This could be a simple lesson outside or a full week away in another country.  High Effort?  Yes, Effective? Yes, High Impact?  Yes, Memorable?  Definitely!

Yasir Patel

Music and Learning

 

“My child listens to music whilst working, surely they cannot learn like that?”

Music affects our feelings and energy levels.  Often unknowingly, we use music to create desired moods; to make us happy, to provoke thoughts, to dance, to feel more energetic, to bring back powerful memories, to help us relax and focus.  Music is a powerful tool for our personal expression and it helps “set the scene” for many important experiences.  Much research also supports the fact that music greatly affects and enhances our learning.

Some areas where music helps are:

  • Creating an Active Learning Experience:  Music activates students mentally, physically and emotionally.  It helps to create an environment of learning that enhances understanding.  
  • Focus and Attention:  Music can help concentration levels for certain learners.  Baroque music, such as those composed by Bach, Handel or Telemann, where there are 50 to 80 beats per minute helps to maintain focus.
  • Memory and Retention:  Songs, chants, raps etc help students to memorise content.  This is done through rhyme, melody and rhythm.
  • Motivation:  Music in the background helps with motivating students to learn and continue learning.  
  • Creativity and Thinking:  Background music stimulates internal processing, that in turn facilitates creativity.  This encourages personal reflection.
  • Community:  Music provides a positive environment that encourages students to work together and in teams

Of course the type of music is important and vital.  Baroque music (Bach and Vivaldi) and Classical (Mozart and Beethoven) are recommended as is ‘soft’ music (soundtracks with no words).    Research from Stanford University has found that humans do better on learning and memory tests after listening to particular music by Mozart (called the Mozart Effect as coined by Dr. Alfred Tomatis in the 1990s).  Benjamin Gold, a researcher at McGill University looked at Reinforcement Learning (e.g. studying notes, revising for a test etc) and concluded that “most significantly, non-musicians tended to learn better when they enjoyed the background music, but those with more musical training learned better when the music was neutral.”  

More recent studies (by Dr. Emma Gray) have shown that for Sciences, Humanities and Languages, music by artists such as Justin Timberlake and Miley Cyrus (songs with 50-80 beats per minute) help process factual information and solve problems.  When studying Mathematics, classical music was found to be the best choice (60-70 beats per minute) and for students studying English, Drama or Art, it is recommended to listen to emotive rock and pop songs such as Firework by Katy Perry or I Can’t Get No (Satisfaction) by The Rolling Stones.

As with many studies, a counter-argument does exist.  This has been presented by Nick Penham and Joanne Vizard, who conclude that, “listening to liked or disliked music was exactly the same, and both were worse than the quiet control condition.”  

Yasir Patel

Source:

Investing in the Mind

 “The public has learned that instant answer giving is the most important sign of an educated man”

-Neil Postman-

Nowadays, ‘answers’ are too easy to find.  How often have you seen somebody reach for their phone when a question is posed?  Instant answers, rather than thoughtful consideration or well thought-out, better questions, seem to be the new measure of success. But instant answers usually measure just two things: the ability to memorise or the access to technology.  Think Facebook posts, Tweets from Twitter, Whatsapp messages, Blogs etc – how many are carefully thought out and posted, tweeted or sent?

The reality (and we must acknowledge this) is that we all think we have the ‘answers’!  Usually these ‘answers’ are on our phones, tablets or computers via the internet.  However, how many people truly have the ability (or desire) to ask the right questions or analyse the answers they receive?  Separating fact from fiction has always been a vital skill.  Nowadays, there is another equally important skill – the ability to identify relevant information within these so-called facts.

Of course, it is not about the devices that we have.  Most people have access to technology, but the more we seem to invest in the latest and best technology, the less we seem to be investing in the most amazing gadget:  our minds.

“The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom”

-Isaac Asimov-

Critical thinking is the ability to ask effective questions and formulate original solutions.  It is self-directed, self-monitored and self-corrective.  It is not easy and requires self-discipline in order to allow one to question new information and continuously analyse the results.  A word of caution: this is not an optional skill in the 21st century!  We must all (and encourage our children to do so) ask the ‘why’ and ‘how’ questions, remembering that in most cases there are more than two faces to each coin!

Within education, children are finding traditional educational models less and less relevant to their lives and the ever-changing world around them.  Schools can do better, they must do better. Schools must make learning skills more important than memorisation skills.  Courses like Theory of Knowledge, Learning to Learn and the constructivist classroom (as proposed by many, including John Dewey) are one way to bring relevance to our students.  The curriculum also plays a big part as do families.  Let’s  support each other in this important aspect of our lives and continue investing in your childrens minds.

“A serious problem right now is the gap between our skill and our wisdom. Today, deep reflection about our future circumstances is eclipsed by the rush to build faster, cheaper, smarter, more-efficient gadgets.  Society’s best brains are saturated with immediate issues that become ever more complex, rather than reflecting on why we are doing this and what the long-term consequences will be.”

-James Martin, Oxford University-

The ability to learn, practice, and analyse is at the heart of critical thinking, which is the key to closing the wisdom gap.

A lot of innovation is needed to solve the serious problems we face in this world (global warming, economic crises, food and water shortages). Additionally, the very quick changes and developments in technology not only make it ever so important to learn newer skills, but also that we are continually assessing the results and impacts of new traits and initiatives. This ability to learn, practice, and analyse is at the heart of critical thinking, which many consider the key to closing the wisdom gap in our country.

Yasir Patel

Sources: