We Need (?) Divergent Thinking

In his RSA talk, Changing Paradigms (in education), Ken Robinson talks about how the educational landscape is at a crossroads and that the industrial model of education no longer works to produce people who will be able to navigate the future due to the lack of focus on creativity and engagement (with learning). The talk touches on the idea that education is something imposed on a student rather than something that is a process that engages the student's curiousity and natural inclination to learn about the world around them. 

 That was over 11 years ago. 

 The education system seems to be stuck at that crossroad, where the road ahead diverges with one carrying on as per normal (inertia is a real thing) and the other being challenging, engaging and risky work. The issue is that the work that needs to be done isn't just work that is all that, but also something that is integral to the future of education (lest it become irrelevant). Years ago, I was skeptical about the idea that computers would take over teachers in the classroom because I was absolutely convinced that without the sense of engagement provided by a human conduit, that was a Pollyanna-ish idea that was overestimating the power of the computer as a tool for learning. 

Then, Youtube came along and suddenly, it made more sense to me. Putting the ability to publish and share into the hands of people ensured that learning could occur in all manner of spaces. If you wanted to pick up a skill, odds are, you would be able to find a video that would take you through that skill and you'd be able to learn at your own pace. 

 That posed a very important question to me - What exactly then was the future of education going to look like? In 2010, with Robinson's talk, he highlights the fact that students are surrounded by a whole host of information and knowledge. This has become even more true today. The majority of the world's knowledge was accessible to all (in a more entertaining fashion and a myriad of engagement levels for ALL LEVELS OF LEARNERS). 

This poses an important question to educators in schools - IF students can learn anything anywhere, what purpose does / should school play in today's society? 

 I hope to engage with that question in this Blog. So this is my first step forward in this. Hope you'll join me in the journey.