I think most people would agree that an educated population will
be more productive and that those who cannot access proper education often
become a burden. A well-done report from
the Economic Policy Institute, written by Noah Berger and Peter Fisher, shows
in fact there is a direct link between education and economic growth in a
nation.[1] Therefore, governments around the world
always, with few exceptions, offer state-funded education.
This remains true for our future.
However, public school systems today attempt to produce
employees. Standardized curriculum,
standardized testing and formalized group education in classrooms are all
practical methods to normalize students, but it is a terrible way to encourage
individual creativity.
In our ideal future, we will not be working for a living. Most of us will operate as individual
consultants and choose occupations that we enjoy and are passionate about. We certainly won’t need skilled line
workers. Non-creative positions will be
held by automated systems and artificial intelligence.
This automatically means our future public-school system, provided
by the Ministry of Education, will need to be extremely flexible to adapt to
any individual need and will need to focus a lot more on how to learn than what
to learn.
Also, since all information we could ever want is published on the
Internet and updated dynamically, we no longer need libraries and teachers to
deliver knowledge. Teachers will remain
useful to help students find their passions, give them experiences they
couldn’t easily find on their own, and organize projects they can do with
peers. Educators such as myself also
take more pleasure in seeing students aspire to great things, reach for the
stars and then take steps towards achieving their dreams, so the future can be
highly stimulating to true educators too.
In the future, many parents will choose to stay at home to educate
their children themselves and provide hands-on support. Therefore, the role of the education system
should change to become a support system for families and young minds instead
of an obligation paid for by taxes.
Education
models that can work
The public system will therefore look very different from the
schools of today. However, there are
some private initiatives out there today that are precursors to what we will
soon need. The Khan Academy for example,
offers online courses through a semi-automated system in which students can
progress at their own pace with educators optionally available as support. This model is quite efficient since it relies
on the student’s own private internet access, automated online monitoring of
student’s progress and an automated testing platform. No buildings necessary and students can
easily be supervised by family.
This sort of model can work very well to structure student’s
learning in basic fields, however it does not help students work with others as
well as group exercises. Students still
need to gain experience in planning and executing complex projects involving
multiple individuals. This, of course, can
also be done online, but we learn how to work with others best through physical
interactions. Research shows physical
interactions improve motor performance in humans[2]
and it even helps with human health.[3] There are just some parts of social
interactions that cannot be simulated through the Internet no matter how
realistic the virtual representation.
Our biology changes with physical interactions in ways that it changes
our brains, giving us additional motivations and pleasures. Touch also enhances friendships and caring
for one another due to oxytocin production within our bodies.[4]
Thus, it will still be important to have locations where students
can gather to achieve goals.
However, these institutions can be specific to student’s
goals. Again, following the model of
individual educational needs, not every student will need attend those
institutions. Also, there should be several
different institutions offering services in different fields of interest to
satisfy the changing demands of the population.
To satisfy every potential student need, most of this system shouldn’t
be organized by a slow government, unable to change quickly.
While the basics can be provided online and at home for free by
the state, private sector can certainly get involved to provide the variety of
education access needed to satisfy constantly changing needs.
Thankfully, citizens can get equality and efficiency both by using
the private sector to innovate and change quickly with the public-sector
supervising and regulating to ensure everyone has basic needs met. Within a child’s formative years, education
can then be regulated and subsidized by the government to ensure basic
education is always within reach of every single individual. Something like this would significantly
reduce the financial burden felt by the government on education within a
country. All basic education, whatever
is needed to produce individuals capable of chasing their own endeavors, should
be free and universally provided.
In addition to what is considered basic education, private
institutions could go beyond basic needs to offer formal professional education
of all kinds with more flexibility based on demand.
Basic
education
At a fundamental level, basic education is learning how to be
functional within society. Of course,
I’m not talking about the goal of having a job.
We’re past that. I’m talking
about learning how to be with others and accomplishing personal goals. Concepts like kindness, happiness, health,
wellbeing and creativity are at the top of the basic educational needs list. One of the most successful and highly rated
educational systems in the world today, provided by Finland, is centered around
these elements. We know the system is
highly successful at providing well rounded adults capable of taking on any
professional task they like in their future.[5]
Once a student has matured enough to be interested in starting a
serious project of his own or join a team, then he can move on to join the
appropriate institution, group or apprenticeship that will allow him or her to
gain experiences having the emotional stability to pursue individual dreams.
The basics should be provided unconditionally, fully funded by the
citizenry through the Ministry of Education’s initiatives. Multiple types of access should be offered
from online systems to brick and mortar schools to support for home
schooling. Each student is different, so
options should be presented to best serve the population. Remember, we’re should no longer offer
cookie-cutter solutions. For example, students
that learn mostly from home with parental supervision get online resources and
access to public institutions as needed to learn social skills. Children that need more structure or whose
parents believe would provide inadequate education from home could spend more
time within public institutions in formative years with online support.
The timing when a child would be ready to move on to projects will
depend on the child’s progress and readiness to do so. In an ideal world, there would be no pressure
to start a position of productivity in the world. Children should gain higher education or
start active projects when they are ready to do so. Some students learn at slower paces and some
have more difficulties with social interactions. Some may wish to spend more time exploring
family life than others. It is all fine
because we’re not trying to rush students to a factory here. We’re trying to make emotionally balanced
human beings capable of finding their way towards their personal ambitions.
Private
institutions
Colleges and universities may still have a use and may still hand
out certificates and diplomas, but those institutions would be viewed differently
in our future. Even today, almost 35% of
Americans today (2017) have at least 4 years of college education up from 25.6%
in the year 2000.[6] In Canada, the percentages are even
higher. In 2006, 48.8% of working-age
adults had at least a postsecondary certificate or diploma. In 2016, that percentage rose to 56.3%.[7] In both countries, the percentage of success
in higher education has increased by 10% within a generation and it is trending
to increase further. In the U.S., the
statistic is 20% lower than in Canada because tuition fees in America are often
ten times higher thanks to the Canadian government’s involvement in subsidising
and regulating higher education, keeping it affordable. The point is, a significant percentage of the
population have a few years of higher education under their belts. This is good news.
On the downside, more and more companies today are no longer
impressed by college or university diplomas when hiring. To many people have proof of higher
education, so how can they differentiate themselves in the market? In many cases, the experiences of the student
at said college or university or even extracurricular experiences weighs more
significantly in the eyes of hiring staff or business partners.
In the ideal future we’re building, it will be important to give
everyone an equal opportunity to traditional higher education and as many
alternatives as needed in the free market.
So governmental involvement to keep the cost of higher education
reasonable is important. After all, the
more quality education is available to citizens, the better off the
society. It doesn’t mean all education
must be subsidized or supported by the Ministry of Education for this to work.
Today’s private institutions are doing a reasonable job at
diversity and offering services to satisfy demand. Our future institutions will continue to do
the same. We just need to stop focusing
on the diplomas and more on innovation and experiences.
Ultimately, this ministry will provide a variety of programs that
will create balanced, happy young adults capable of gaining the experience they
need to achieve their personal goals.
Adults will also be able to tap into the very same system to experiment
and perhaps even help groups of younger individuals by mentoring them.
[1]
Noah Berger and Peter Fisher (August 2013)
A well-educated workforce is key to state prosperity. Economic Policy Institute. - https://www.epi.org/publication/states-education-productivity-growth-foundations/
[2] G.
Ganesh et al. (January 2014) Two is better than one: physical interactions improve motor
performance in humans. Scientific
Reports 4, #3824. - https://www.adam-eason.com/health-benefits-real-life-social-interaction-yes-actually-interacting-real-humans-stuff/
[3]
Adam Eason (April 2016) The health
benefits of real-life social interaction – yes, actually interacting with real
humans and stuff! - https://www.adam-eason.com/health-benefits-real-life-social-interaction-yes-actually-interacting-real-humans-stuff/
[5]
Wayne D’Orio. Finland is #1! Scholastic.
- http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3749880
[6]
Percentage of the U.S. population who have completed four years of college or
more from 1940 to 2017, by gender.
Statista. - https://www.statista.com/statistics/184272/educational-attainment-of-college-diploma-or-higher-by-gender/
[7]
Canada at a glance 2017. Statistics
Canada. - https://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/12-581-x/2017000/edu-eng.htm
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