Creativity not conformity will fix the education system
Most schools follow curriculum that was designed for industrial age. It needs to change
Every year in March, millions of students who follow the Indian curriculum, appear for their “board” exams to complete their year 10 and 12 grades. Except that this year, many of the students had to rewrite some papers for no fault of theirs. It turns out that a few CBSE question papers had leaked in India. This, among other developments, raises questions about exams as a reliable barometer of skills and ability. How do we rely on a system that is questionable in more ways than one?
During my final years in school, when I needed to choose a particular stream (arts, commerce or science), I opted for an odd combination of math, science and English Literature. My teachers quickly ran into problems when setting up my timetable, and advised me to choose either arts or science. Ironically, years later I did end up writing about technology but not without my share of challenges. School curricula in many countries tend to box students into a stream or aptitude level, early in life. A child’s fate is often decided before he or she turns 15. Schools and colleges have little room for a student’s unconventional choices.
When I entered the workforce, the world had completely changed. The Internet and mobile had just happened to us, and I was decidedly illequipped to take full advantage of this fascinating disruption. After more than 15 years of formal education, I had to once again become a wideeyed student as I started to learn on the job. Two decades and several jobs later, I feel grossly inept to advise my son on what path to take because it is almost impossible to predict what occupations will emerge in the future. I will wager that the jobs of the future will be fairly delinked from what students are being taught today.
Educational institutions across the world are finding it difficult to prepare students for the future that cannot be predicted. At the core of the issue is the school curriculum that was designed for the industrial age. Sir Ken Robinson, PhD, an education crusader of sorts gave a stirring TED talk about how schools kill creativity and force conformity. The curriculum implies a hierarchy of subjects, putting the most suitable ones for ‘industrial’ jobs on top, while relegating the arts to the bottom. Not surprisingly, my son who has been writing for several years was advised by a career counselor to be pragmatic and embrace science, while completely disregarding his passion for literature. There are plenty of distressing stories of how students’ natural abilities are crushed to prepare them for mainstream jobs, many of which will inevitably be taken over by robots. There is a colossal crisis at hand.
It is time to completely revamp education. How can schools help students retain their natural creativity? Can children learn how to apply their minds and soft skills to solve real world problems? I strongly believe that the system of apprenticeship that was used to teach trade and art to young aspirants during the Renaissance period needs to be revived. After their formal education, young students were apprenticed to a master of a specific trade. The curriculum especially in colleges needs to have a strong bias for practical experience. They should use the 80:20 rule; with 80 being the share of hours spent being apprenticed to mentors in corporate organisations. Companies taking these apprentices into their fold must have a productive program to give real-world experience to apprentices.
Some countries and institutions are moving in this direction. College alternatives such as MissionU focus on internships. Finland, the poster child of progressive education, has taken the lead in redesigning schools and their curriculum. For instance, Kastelli School and Community Centre is designed to have open learning spaces rather than walled classrooms. The students learn topics that traverse many subjects such as history and biology. With no formal exams until the age of 18, the students from Finland are out-performing their peers in the UK and US.
I will wager that the jobs of the future will be fairly delinked from what students are being taught today
Increasingly, businesses are discarding conventional ways to assess job aspirants. In 2015, accountancy firm Ernst and Young announced that it found “no evidence” that success at university had any correlation with professional accomplishments. To broaden the talent pool, the firm removed lack of academic qualification as a key barrier for hiring. Google’s research on effective managers found that the top characteristics were more about soft skills such as being a good coach; communicating and listening well; and being productive and results-oriented. In my company, I advice interns and new hires to start afresh with intense curiosity, challenging presumptions about software development, and user experience, while learning fundamentals skills like how to write an email or speak to a customer.
As we say, it takes a village to raise a child. So it will take more than just lone warriors waging a war against this systemic problem. Policy makers need to define an education agenda that fosters creative and critical thinking abilities in students. More importantly, educational institutions and hiring organisations need to collaborate to rethink curricula to prepare students for the oncoming waves of employment disruptions.
Shalini Verma is the CEO of PIVOT technologies