Trends slow, accelerate, bend and break.
– Trends Shaping Education 2022, OECD
A childlike flexibility of attitudes, behaviours and knowledge may be useful in navigating the increasing instability of the modern world…But this comes at the cost of short attention span, frenetic novelty-seeking, ever shorter cycles of arbitrary fashion and … a pervasive emotional and spiritual shallowness.
– Next, Michael Crichton
In 1946 a film producer prognosed that television would die out because it was unlikely that people would continue to sit motionless before a wooden box. In 1966 Time Magazine suggested that remote shopping would not take off. The above are examples of how crystal gazing remains more an art than science, in a recent OECD publication.
Trends Shaping Education explores the ways in which societies are being changed technologically, socially, politically and economically, with a view to transforming education to be future-ready or conversely to use education to have some control over the future. Previous editions of this publication have touched on issues like 21st century skills (in the 2013 version) and obesity in OECD countries (in the 2016 version).
The authors make clear that the issues surfaced in previous editions remain relevant as they continue to take or change shape. As would be expected, issues covered in this edition explored climate change, the changing nature of work and expectations regarding work, the individualisation of societies because of increasing connectivity through the internet, implications of an aging population, wearable technology, dealing with an abundance of information to not only participate but participate in a temperate way; among other things.
For deeper engagement with the issues presented, the publication is available online for viewing. This article would briefly discuss the following; the type of skills and jobs which are not unlikely to be in demand by the time students enter the workforce, the necessity of critical thinking to participate meaningfully and responsibly in public discourse and staying connected in an increasingly individualising world.
The authors note how populations are aging in many parts of the world and discuss what that might mean for the economy and work skills. They shared that “the number of elderly people in need of care is projected to increase by 100 million worldwide between 2015-2030” and that this highlighted the need for more trained “long-term care-workers”. This is part of what is shaping up to be the “Well-Being Economy” where holistic wellness becomes a ubiquitous pursuit.
Coincidentally, in a recent discussion on volunteering, a student suggested that volunteering should not be encouraged because it takes away jobs. When this suggestion was put to another class, another student’s response was that jobs which require emotional availability such as care-giving in nursing homes required volunteers because it is difficult to pay for such work. In the Russian drama series Better Than Us, viewers get a glimpse of what life might be like with robot caregivers who? which? may be better than even humans in emotional work because they come with advanced sensometric technology. The authors of Trends Shaping Education 2022, do caution against a touch(human)less society.
They also pointed out that jobs in polluting industries may be lost and recommended that students pick up green skills. According to the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), green skills refer to, “knowledge, abilities, values and attitudes needed to live in, develop and support a sustainable and resource-efficient society”. These skills are required for the green economy and jobs would be found in clean energy and eco-friendly design. Entrants have need for strong grounding in Math and Sciences. UNIDO also underscores the need for soft skills such as “design thinking, creativity, adaptability, resilience, and even empathy”.
The authors suggest that the market for intangibles such as intellectual property has far superseded the market for tangibles and that we are becoming a knowledge society because of the abundance of information freely available. This more than any other time in history affords opportunities to engage in self-directed learning. The Minister for Education in an interview with The Straits Times, shared that “we must develop a lifelong passion of inquiry, to learn things beyond what is covered in exams. And that really enriches your perspective and helps you to have a much richer understanding of the subjects that you are studying”. The idea of home-based and personalised learning featured heavily in Trends Shaping Education 2022. Students, even young ones, could be using their language skills to satisfy their curiosity about the world around them, online. This would give them an idea of what to pursue in secondary school and beyond.
Education’s role is not only to prepare for the workforce but for other aspects of life. As information becomes more and more available, people will participate more in public discourse online for example in comment threads on social media posts and when invited for focus group discussions for informed policy making. In these discussions, participants would need to be, “ethical, informed and tolerant”. This would require empathy, self-awareness and familiarity with how to deal with different even diametrically opposing views in a non-emotional, level headed way. The authors also point out that increasingly data is being harnessed and processed for personalised recommendation through apps in every aspect of life. They advise that students should be able to exercise critical thinking not only to discern between fact and opinion but also if such recommendations are suitable for them.
Lastly and by no means the only other insight from this publication is that the tech companies which have changed our lives and are driving change are investing heavily in augmented and virtual reality. The authors ask what this might mean for actual physical interaction. Social media and virtual worlds allow the creation of “multiple identities” and users can invent an entirely new self. They added that during the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, there was a record number of new online game registrants. The nature of ownership is also changing with non-fungible tokens. At the moment, we do not know conclusively the long-term effects of virtual immersion on physical, mental and emotional health. Also, if someone can be whoever they want to be online through in-app purchases, would this remove the incentive for actual transformation which is a lot more effortful?
Digital technologies moving in the direction of personal empowerment can be potentially isolating or polarising. It is easy to get lost in the flow of information, opinions and recommendations.
To flourish in the future, we need to stay planted.
The Brain Dojo
