Is Education Enterprising?

Given the level of change taking place in the world, the traditional education you have received may not have prepared you properly for the demands of the twenty first century.

The world has changed beyond recognition in the last 100 years and will change even more in the next 20 but the general system of school education has not.

It is now recognised that the traditional measure of IQ alone is not the best indicator of achievement, as there are many different types of intelligence.

Similarly, it is accepted that the traditional formal examination process captures relatively few of the skills that determine success throughout life.

Ironically, the characteristics not taken into account are increasingly needed to meet the challenges we face.

In spite of the narrowly structured way schools have taught for the last 100 years, it is now accepted that individuals learn in many different ways.

It is acknowledged that the ability to think creatively and be enterprising in thought and action is valuable in identifying and solving problems.

Increasingly, people with entrepreneurial and interpersonal skills and the ability to make decisions and add value are needed, as the traditional approach of looking to experts for the ‘correct’ answer is no longer valid.

The mass education system is still based on the needs of the Industrial Age for the production of employees and soldiers: for the provision of people who will do what they are told when they are told.

The traditional linear model of education is dated and doesn’t serve the needs of the present or the future.

It has traditionally valued rote learning, set answers and a focus on structured measurable tests: skills increasingly inappropriate for the demands of our changing environment.

The skills needed to live and work successfully in today’s world may be very different from those you were taught in school.

So, if you are reflecting on your education remember to value the informal skills learned from experience as highly as the formal education you have received.

What do you think: Is education enterprising?

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