TRENDS INFLUENCING EDUCATION IN NEW ZEALAND
When I think about the future and how I am to have a part in it as a teacher - I’m a bit unsure. Will I still have a job? Will the format of my job resemble anything I’m doing today?
Why would I consider these questions
That’s right - GLOBALISATION.
Upon reading the predicted global trends (National Intelligence Council, 2017), they can be worrying: disease, identify wars, resource wars - these all will affect education but for me globalisation and the development of technology may affect the very core of education more than the focus (compared to the other trends).
I’m thinking of a similar setting to Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One. What’s stopping education developing into an online platform? Computers are already better at gathering information and Bayesian Networks have predictive powers greater than ours. Could this be the future? Possibly. 
This is far reaching, beyond the shores of New Zealand. Instead of having a local school or local teacher, what if you could chose to have the best instructor? This also challenges scaling. Globalisation links what we do in the classroom with the rest of the world, but the relationship is two-way. In Komlos’ (2014) article about the destructiveness of globalisation, he likens present jobs to those of antiquated jobs. Except, the antiquated jobs found in history books may have been viewed as a fringe occupation. Technology these days can impact the very bedrock of society.
While I can’t predict the outcome of this, I can ready myself in hopes of future-proofing the evolution of teaching.
- Use of digital platforms
It is my obligation to use the best technology for the best outcome. I have to do research, I have to try and I will probably fail several times. But the ultimate failing is not trying and possibly falling into antiquity. Why fight technology? Why not use it, especially for the things that you suck at: remembering things, communication means, processing data? Thus, if the teaching platforms shift, we have shifted with it.
- Coding
I like coding and using ideas but having my own twist on this. I believe this is the key to innovation - but also in teaching I can use what’s out there and tinker with it to better suit my needs.
- Human side
There will always be a need for emotional competency and relationships. By improving this, I will always beat technology and there will always be a need.
As NCEA has defined their future, where assessments can be “Anywhere, anytime, anyplace” (NZQA, 2014), we have to put the time into solidifying our place.
Ok so that might not secure whatever happens to my profession, but these elements may keep me in the game and in the very least, equip me to move onto whatever else is waiting there in the future.
REFERENCES
Komlos, J. (2014). Has Creative Destruction Become More Destructive? (No. w20379). National Bureau of Economic Research.
National Intelligence Council. (2017). Global trends: The Paradox of Progress. National Intelligence Council: US. Retrieved from https://www.dni.gov/files/images/globalTrends/documents/GT-Main-Report.pdf
NZQA. (2014). An Independent Review of the Effectiveness of NZQA’s Implementation of the 2007 NCEA Enhancements. NZQA. Retrieved from http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/assets/qualifications-and-standards/qualifications/ncea/Report-of-the-NCEA-enhancements-review.pdf
Love your vision Mr Bear
ReplyDeleteGreat work Byron,awesome use of memes to illustrate your points. Nice to see a familiar face in the MindLabaverse!
ReplyDeleteI like your discussion about what you need to work on to ensure that you are able to keep your job, and in particular the strategies that you will implement. You are right, what do actual teachers have that cannot be found anywhere else, especially not online. That is the building of relationships and being cultural responsive to your students. If you are able to have a rapport with your students, they are going to learn better than from an online computer programme. Just like I have far more enjoyed and probably learned more from the teacher based sessions of this MindLab course than the online work by yourself sessions. I was able to ask questions from the teacher and the students, bounce off ideas, check to see that I understood, whereas online, yes you could of this, but I am less inclined to as it takes more effort, is not instant and I don’t have a rapport with the person. Rapport is the building of trust, understanding and even a liking to the teacher. I cannot do that online. So, yes I believe that teachers still have a place now and hopefully in the future.
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