The reason why you know what you know is because your ancestors have decided to share it with you. Compared to other species in nature, we have very effective ways of transmitting knowledge and information from one generation to another. Luckily for us, it has allowed us to strive as a species whereas others were led to extinction. This effective mechanism of knowledge transmission relies on important decisions that leaders of any generation must take regarding what information is worth transmitting to the younger generation as well as how it must be transmitted in order to be applied effectively. Reflecting upon this important responsibility that must be tackled by the older generation found in present days, is our current educational system within western societies enabling the younger generation with the necessary knowledge and skills that will allow them to tackle future problems in the world? After careful analysis and reflection, it is with shame to admit that we are dramatically failing to prepare the younger generation for the world upon which they will be asked to contribute in the future.
Firstly, the current method of presenting information through hypothetical examples and artificially constructed problems failed to render a realistic view of the world and a sense of purpose to the younger generation. The majority of assignments a student will be tasked to accomplish during his educational journey depend on established axiomatic reasoning upon which he must adopt in order to successfully complete the task. Additionally, the expected outcome of any assignment is either right or wrong, which consequently prepare the student to solve problems which have either a right or a wrong solution. However, realistic problems that the student will encounter within his future life will not be clearly defined as well as lacking any established paradigm about the correct reasoning process to adopt in order to reach a successful solution. Furthermore, any task the student will likely encounter in his future do not have a clearly define right or wrong answer. Therefore, a young student that has been thought to navigate a world where any problems have established method and binary solution will most likely feel confused during adulthood where he is being tasked to perform in a world where problems are not only lacking methodologies, but more importantly are simply not defined.
Moreover, the current grading method where mistakes are rendered as the worst nightmare any student could encounter during his educational journey lead him into a state of mind where fear inhibits any creative action. As previously mentioned, any important problems the world will be facing in the future has no predefined path upon which one must travel in order to find a solution. The only method that increases the chance of success to any unsolved puzzle is the joy of iterated failures and creative attempts. As a result, the current younger generation is expecting a future world upon which failure is to be avoided at all cost in order to accomplish their dream of contributing meaningfully to society.
Lastly, a student who knows all the answers to any potential question will be very ineffective within a world where he is being tasked to create questions instead of answering them. The current method of transmitting knowledge to the younger generation relies upon passive education upon which students are encouraged to passively listen and memorize facts to make sure they are capable of answering questions during exams. There is a false perception about believing that students attending a lecture are the one benefiting the most during the process as opposed to the teacher giving the lecture. Contrary to common belief, the teacher lecturing has the opportunity to not only enhance his understanding of the given subject, but more importantly enhanced is communication skills as well as becoming comfortable about facing unpredictable questions that could bring reflective instability. As a result, students are introduced into the practical world expecting to come up with the ability to skillfully execute as opposed to skillfully listen, which they have been trained to do very well during the last 20 years of their educational life.
From a different perspective, comparing the current method of education found within western societies with countries lacking any educational system render it as an ideal educational process that should be imitated and encouraged. However, this perspective failed to acknowledge the importance of evaluating any educational process with respect to the cultural landscape upon which the student will be tasked to perform in the future. That is to say, the younger generation found within countries lacking any structured educational process will not face the same kind of challenges that the younger generation found within western societies. Within a future upon which any repetitive tasks have been automated by robotics, creative thinking is left to be the desired skills upon which the current generating should be thought to excel at.
Therefore, in my opinion, it is safe to claim that the younger generation found within western societies is failing to receive the proper education that would allow them to have the necessary knowledge and skills required to tackle the challenges they will likely encounter within their adulthood. As a potential avenue, a transition toward an inquiry based educational process could be established where the students are left with the task of rationally assessing potential problems and solutions under the guidance of teachers guiding their thinking through open-ended question with goal of letting the student develop their own proof of what they think the solution should be. With these principles, the student is actively tasked to find creative solutions as well as encouraged to fail in order to gain the information that comes out of the unexpected outcomes. Additionally, the student becomes a master practitioner since he must actively find ways to test different hypotheses as well as assessing the potential paths of interpretation and their consequences. Altogether, since we have been gifted by nature the ability to think creatively and explore the most mysterious territories, it is to our interest to enhance this creative ability within our younger generation.
The reason why you know what you know is
because
your ancestors have decided to share it with you. Compared to other species in nature, we have
very
effective ways of transmitting
knowledge
and
information
from one generation to another. Luckily for us, it has
allowed
us to strive as a species whereas others
were led
to extinction. This effective mechanism of
knowledge
transmission relies on
important
decisions that leaders of any generation
must
take regarding what
information
is worth transmitting to the
younger
generation as
well
as how it
must
be transmitted
in
order
to
be applied
effectively
. Reflecting upon this
important
responsibility that
must
be tackled
by the older generation
found
in present days, is our
current
educational
system within western
societies
enabling the
younger
generation with the necessary
knowledge
and
skills
that will
allow
them to tackle
future
problems
in the
world
? After careful analysis and reflection, it is with shame to admit that we are
dramatically
failing to prepare the
younger
generation for the
world
upon which they will
be asked
to contribute in the future.
Firstly
, the
current
method
of presenting
information
through hypothetical examples and
artificially
constructed
problems
failed to render a realistic view of the
world
and a sense of purpose to the
younger
generation. The majority of assignments a
student
will
be tasked
to accomplish during his
educational
journey depend on
established
axiomatic reasoning upon which he
must
adopt in
order
to
successfully
complete the
task
.
Additionally
, the
expected
outcome of any assignment is either right or
wrong
, which
consequently
prepare the
student
to solve
problems
which have either a right or a
wrong
solution
.
However
, realistic
problems
that the
student
will
encounter
within his
future
life will not be
clearly
defined as
well
as
lacking
any
established
paradigm about the correct reasoning
process
to adopt in
order
to reach a successful
solution
.
Furthermore
, any
task
the
student
will likely
encounter
in his
future
do not have a
clearly
define right or
wrong
answer.
Therefore
, a young
student
that has been
thought
to navigate a
world
where any
problems
have
established
method
and binary
solution
will most likely feel confused during adulthood where he is
being tasked
to perform in a
world
where
problems
are not
only
lacking
methodologies,
but
more
importantly
are
simply
not defined.
Moreover
, the
current
grading
method
where mistakes
are rendered
as the worst nightmare any
student
could
encounter
during his
educational
journey lead him into a state of mind where fear inhibits any
creative
action. As previously mentioned, any
important
problems
the
world
will be facing in the
future
has no predefined path upon which one
must
travel in
order
to find a
solution
. The
only
method
that increases the chance of success to any unsolved puzzle is the joy of iterated failures and
creative
attempts.
As a result
, the
current
younger
generation is expecting a
future
world
upon which failure is to
be avoided
at all cost in
order
to accomplish their dream of contributing
meaningfully
to society.
Lastly
, a
student
who knows all the answers to any
potential
question
will be
very
ineffective within a
world
where he is
being tasked
to create
questions
instead
of answering them. The
current
method
of transmitting
knowledge
to the
younger
generation relies upon passive education upon which
students
are encouraged
to
passively
listen and memorize facts to
make
sure they are capable of answering
questions
during exams. There is a false perception about believing that
students
attending a lecture are the one benefiting the most during the
process
as opposed to the teacher giving the lecture. Contrary to common belief, the teacher lecturing has the opportunity to not
only
enhance his understanding of the
given
subject,
but
more
importantly
enhanced is communication
skills
as
well
as becoming comfortable about facing unpredictable
questions
that could bring reflective instability.
As a result
,
students
are introduced
into the practical
world
expecting to
come
up with the ability to
skillfully
execute as opposed to
skillfully
listen, which they have
been trained
to do
very
well
during the last 20 years of their
educational
life.
From a
different
perspective, comparing the
current
method
of education
found
within western
societies
with countries
lacking
any
educational
system render it as an ideal
educational
process
that should
be imitated
and encouraged.
However
, this perspective failed to acknowledge the importance of evaluating any
educational
process
with respect to the cultural landscape upon which the
student
will
be tasked
to perform in the
future
.
That is
to say, the
younger
generation
found
within countries
lacking
any structured
educational
process
will not face the same kind of challenges that the
younger
generation
found
within western
societies
. Within a
future
upon which any repetitive
tasks
have
been automated
by robotics,
creative
thinking is
left
to be the desired
skills
upon which the
current
generating should be
thought
to excel at.
Therefore
, in my opinion, it is safe to claim that the
younger
generation
found
within western
societies
is failing to receive the proper education that would
allow
them to have the necessary
knowledge
and
skills
required to tackle the challenges they will likely
encounter
within their adulthood. As a
potential
avenue, a transition toward an inquiry based
educational
process
could be
established
where the
students
are
left
with the
task
of
rationally
assessing
potential
problems
and
solutions
under the guidance of teachers guiding their thinking through open-ended
question
with goal of letting the
student
develop their
own
proof of what they
think
the
solution
should be. With these principles, the
student
is
actively
tasked to find
creative
solutions
as
well
as encouraged to fail in
order
to gain the
information
that
comes
out of the unexpected outcomes.
Additionally
, the
student
becomes a master practitioner since he
must
actively
find ways to
test
different
hypotheses as
well
as assessing the
potential
paths of interpretation and their consequences. Altogether, since we have
been gifted
by nature the ability to
think
creatively
and explore the most mysterious territories, it is to our interest to enhance this
creative
ability within our
younger
generation.