What Future for Education: Week 1 Journal

Hello! I'm writing this as part of my requirement for an online course entitled "What future for education?" offered by the University of London in Coursera. From the description, it aims to examine one's own thoughts about education, teaching, and learning. If you want to know more of the course, you may proceed here.

Every week we are tasked to write on a blog/journal of our reflection on the videos and readings that were assigned to us. For week 1, the particular question that we need to answer is this:

Based on your experience as a learner, what do you think you will be able to get out of this course? And what ideas do you already have about the future of education?

Well, I expect to have an in-depth understanding of how one’s improved way of learning can grow and have an impact in the society. By “improved way of learning” I mean being able to discover tools of learning for oneself and reflect which works best. More important than how the teacher delivers lectures is how students receive information from the lecture. In tertiary education, when students attend classes in lecture mode, they are usually limited to the didactic (stand and deliver) style of teaching, but what change would it bring if educators could devise different ways of learning (group presentations, peer discussions) that could just be suitable for an individual? Moreover, to capitalise on the interests of the youth, educators could make streamlined use of graphics, animations, colour, and detail to put emphasis on salient scenarios or processes. Some professors would resort to clips from movies. Beyond lectures, an activity such as the one conducted in a subject during my college days (Nasc 3 - Physics in everyday life) entails a field trip to the amusement park where students can observe the mechanics of the rides and think about the Physics in them. When exposed to a different learning setup and learning tools, one can realise his/her own ability to think and understand ideas in a way that is improved as compared to when the student just sits inside the classroom while listening to the teacher. In the long run, I believe not only does it affect the students’ performance in the classroom level, but also instinctively allows them to develop different sets of skills like problem solving and critical thinking which is beneficial to the society.

I would also like to have a picture of how higher bodies can cater to the academic needs of its constituents (i.e. government to schools, schools to departments, departments to faculty, faculty to students) and in return identify what could the radical contribution by the constituents be as they assume an upward step in the hierarchy. I am reminded of a scene in the Philippine senate which received criticisms mainly from the community of scientists and researchers. In the National Corn Program by the Department of Agriculture (DA), P150 million out of the P120 billion budget was allocated for research. During the budget hearing, Sen. Cynthia Villar, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food, expressed her aggravation towards the issue. “Bakit parang lahat ng inyong budget puro research? Aanhin niyo ba ‘yung research?” (Why does it seem like all your budget goes to research? What would you do with research?) “Gusto ba ng farmer ang research? Hindi ba gusto nila tulungan niyo sila?” (Do the farmers want research? Don’t they want you to help them?) Although the issue addressed concerns the agricultural sector, it speaks volumes of how the government can be oblivious of one of the primary needs to boost industry. Equipment and raw materials are certainly essential, but it should be realised that research shall serve as the intellectual backbone which will provide development and innovation that can be utilised by the agricultural workforce—the farmers. Similarly, for education, the government should not simply provide the raw materials, e.g. the facilities, budget, but they should embody their roles and reflect and promote higher ways of learning that can affect the whole education ladder. They should grasp the significance of different paths of instruction like education and research and consequently provide financial support through grants, projects, or scholarships. By then can we have students that will appreciate leaders who foster critical and diverse ways of gaining knowledge. These students shall flourish as they move up the higher ranks and are hoped to do the same for the well-being of the academic community.