Opinion:

A paradigm shift in education vital

by Asoka WEERASINGHE

The need for a paradigm shift from the present education system to a system that is in conformity with the 21st century goals is of paramount importance. One aspect of the paradigm shift is a clear articulation of the purpose of education. For this it is important to formulate a clear vision of where we want to go in the future.

Vision; value; mission; statements

If a school is serious about achieving 21st century goals, its vision statement must reflect it. The vision statement should be a collective effort drawing the views of all stakeholders of a school.

One of the best and most simple ways of achieving this is to ask the stakeholders to write and send the principal (or someone designated by the principal to attend to the formulation of the vital statements,) answers to the following vital questions:

The 'where' question which addresses Vision: "Where are we headed?", the 'what' question which addresses Values: "What are we becoming?" and the 'why' question which addresses Mission: "Why do we exist?"

These can then be analysed and final statements formulated. These statements should not be used merely to be displayed in publications such as souvenirs or banners, but be statements which drive the school forward to the future. Since it is futuristic, it is necessary that the stakeholders must be well informed about the 21st century goals before embarking on the formulation of statements.

Socio-historical context

There should also be a clear understanding that, we cannot move towards a vision of the future until we understand the socio-historical context of where we are now. Where are we? What events led us to be where we are? How can this inform our development of a vision for the future and how we want to get there?

From time to time in the history of mankind, there were social revolutions. Among them stands out the agrarian revolution when man the hunter became man the agriculturist.

Then came the Industrial Revolution and along with that the factory model of education. The back door of the school opened to the front door of the factory! Therefore, education at that time was formulated to suit the factory age. Emphasis was on producing people for the industrial economy.

The learners had to gain the knowledge and skills needed to work in the assembly lines. The main purpose of this model was to produce a factory work force, which was badly needed for the growing factories and cities after the Industrial Revolution.

Factory model

We in Sri Lanka are familiar with the factory model of education, and are still stuck in that model. This is true not only for Sri Lanka, but other countries too. Students are sold to the highest bidder in the labour market.

The model is the top-down, coercive, 'follow-the-rules' mentality model, that dictates from a high position what has to be done in the classroom. The quality of the finished products are measured by standardised testing from time to time such as the Ordinary Levels and Advanced Levels.

When the students graduate, they are considered to be finished goods. A better description of the molding of the child's 'clay mind' by an outside authority could not be given.

Sri Lanka inherited the factory model of education from the colonial masters and the Christian missionaries who put up schools in the country. This model was copied by the other religious leaders who opened their own schools. Government sector schools and now the private schools and international schools also followed suit. We know that this kind of model of education has not been successful, and still we carry on with the same model.

A document titled 'Education for All National Action Plan' stated that despite the efforts taken by the Government at several levels, the quality of education has not come up to the required levels. A survey in 1994 revealed that only 21 percent of primary school students had attained the required skills. Only nine percent could solve numerical problems and only 20 percent displayed any understanding of health and hygiene.

Surveys done from 1994 to 1998 revealed that the number of students who could not complete six subjects in GCE (O/L) examination ranged from around 62 to 69 percent. Total failures in all eight subjects for these years revealed appalling figures, that nearly 40,000 students have not learnt anything after spending six years in the secondary cycle.

These figures give an indication that in spite of many steps taken for extending educational opportunities, the objectives have not yet been fully achieved. This is a clear indication of the failure of the factory model of education in our country in the 1990s. The situation is no better now despite millions of rupees being pumped into the education system.

Knowledge age, concept age

The world has moved out of the industrial economy into the knowledge age, in the 21st century. We have now moved further out into an age known as the concept age, and education systems are still stuck at the factory age.

Twenty first century skills as advocated by Tony Wagner in his book, 'The Global Achievement Gap include; Critical Thinking and Problem Solving; Collaboration across Networks and Leading by Influence; Agility and Adaptability; Initiative and Entrepreneurialism; Effective Oral and Written Communication; Accessing and Analysing Information; Curiosity and Imagination are sadly lacking in education systems.

After all, when any of us think of education, we usually think of what we knew as school - the way it has always been in the past. That is how parents, policy makers, politicians and many students think of school.

However, there is a great need to make the paradigm shift so that children could obtain 21st century skills. Learning 21st century skills while following a factory model curriculum is like putting round pegs in square holes. Both curriculum as well as assessment methods have to be changed according to the requirements of the acquisition of these skills.

Many research workers have been working on how the paradigm shift from factory education to education for the 21st century should be done. Many schools in USA, Singapore, Canada and Hong Kong are now working on what is known as Project Based Learning (PBL) as an alternative.

What is PBL? It is bold. It breaks the mold. It is flexible, creative, challenging, and complex. It addresses a rapidly changing world filled with fantastic new problems as well as exciting new possibilities.

Fortunately, there is a growing body of research supporting PBL. We have living proof, inspiring examples to follow, in schools across the globe.

Project-based curriculum is aimed at engaging students in addressing real-world problems, issues important to humanity, and questions that matter.It has certain critical attributes. It is inter-disciplinary, and research-driven. It is connected to the community - local, state, national and global. Sometimes students involved in PBL are collaborating with people around the world in various projects.

The curriculum incorporates higher order thinking skills, multiple intelligence, technology and multimedia, the multiple illiteracies of the 21st century, and authentic assessments.

Departure from factory model

This is a dramatic departure from the factory-model education of the past. It is abandonment, finally, of textbook-driven, teacher-centred, paper and pencil schooling. The curriculum is not fragmented, but is thematic, and integrated.

Skills and content are not taught as an end in themselves, but students learn them through their research and application in their projects. Textbooks, if they have them, are just one of many resources. It means a new way of understanding the concept of 'knowledge'; a new definition of the 'educated person'; a new way of designing and delivering the curriculum.

The classroom breaks away from the bounds of its walls, and is expanded to include the greater community. Students are self-directed, and work both independently and inter-dependently. The curriculum and instructions are designed to challenge all students, and provides for differentiation.

Knowledge is not memorisation of facts and figures, and in PBL you do not say to the students and teachers "you study what we tell you to study, when we tell you, and how we tell you, and at a pace that we determine".

Knowledge is constructed through research and application, and connected to previous knowledge, personal experience, interests, talents and passions. The skills and content become relevant and needed as students require this information to complete their projects.

The content and basic skills are applied within the context of the curriculum, and are not ends in themselves. Assessment moves from regurgitation of memorised facts and disconnected processes to demonstration of understanding through application in a variety of contexts. Real-world audiences are an important part of the assessment process, as well as self-assessment.

Assessment reviewed

In Sri Lanka a document titled 'Education for All National Action Plan' said that traditional methods of assessment have been replaced with school-based assessments, and its main aim is the improvement of quality in education through an understanding of the student's performance level by teachers and parents within the classroom.

However, that is not the kind of assessment needed for PBL to flourish. School-based assessment done in Sri Lanka is another kind of summative assessment method which was associated with the factory model of education.

Professor Paul Black of London University for example differentiated between summative (assessment of learning [AoL]) and formative assessment for learning [AfL] and demonstrated in a ground breaking study that the AfL approach could improve learning and examinations results. It is based on the idea that all students can improve and students should be actively involved in their own learning.

Therefore, if our children are to achieve 21st century skills, there should be a paradigm shift from the factory model of education to education which will provide opportunities for students to be involved in PBL. There should be a paradigm shift from Assessment of learning to assessment for learning.

[email protected]