The New Demands for 21st Century Education
Patrick Vincent G. Dizon
Educators, governing bodies, accreditation organizations, certification boards, employers, and the general public as one of the most significant competencies that people must possess now acknowledge lifelong learning.
Today in the 21st century, we find ourselves anew during the loud voices proclaiming the importance of lifelong learning. What is clear is that the framework of lifelong learning has changed and the idealistic and generous vision characterizing lifelong learning has now become a necessary guiding and organizing principle of education reforms.
Today it is no longer enough to have the same living and working skills one had five years ago. The ways in which we access information and services continue to change. We need new competences to master a whole new digital world, not only by acquiring technical skills, but also by gaining a deeper understanding of the opportunities, challenges and even ethical questions posed by new technologies. As the debate on lifelong learning resonates throughout the world, it is clear that there are needs to be discussed on how this concept will be put into practice, in the educational field. The rhetoric on lifelong learning has to be matched with evidence of how it works and how it will contribute to creating more humane societies.
For teachers that train new teachers, this will require greater participation in selfassessment, peer assessment, evaluation of performance in practice, documentation of practice-based learning and improvement activities, and learning at the point of care.
In this context, as teachers we put in practice a new teaching style that can improve students’ abilities and attitudes for lifelong learning. In our classes, we use the critical thinking methods that offer a successful model of learning that may be more generally applied. During a critical thinking method, all work in progress is public and so students can see what every other student is doing. Students witness the thinking processes other students use to develop their ideas. They start to appreciate and learn from the struggles and successes of their peers, and learn the social and intellectual practices that enable them as an ensemble to become a reflective practicum. Students learn to solve problems, as they become critical thinkers and active learners. The ability of critical thinking is considered vital in a learning society.
Critical thinking methods can work for other subjects too in any field of study. No traditional lecturing takes place. Mostly the teachers and teaching assistants walk around from table to table, see what interesting issues are unfolding and occasionally interrupt the entire class to discuss something that a particular group of students is encountering. We believe that the crucial difference between traditional classrooms and critical thinking classrooms is the distinction between “learning about” and “learning to be.”
--oOo-