As an educator, I am bewildered
by the self-perpetuated, yet increasingly archaic and delusional notion that governments,
politicians, civil servants, examination boards, school inspectorates and other
state-funded bodies are really in control of our young people’s futures.
When I was at school
in England, every child learnt about the great Lord Shaftesbury, the
nineteenth-century politician credited with doing more than any other for
children’s rights, laying the foundations for getting the working classes out
of the factories and into classrooms. He was way ahead of the zeitgeist – a true
reformer. Whilst acknowledging the
efforts of a handful of politicians in the developing world to work similar
miracles, and the genuine, positive intentions of some in the developed world
to improve education, few are likely to become the new Shaftesbury. Meanwhile, our children remain one big
political football, suffering at the whims of successive governments, staffed
by unqualified politicians.
Neither our children,
nor their teachers, are going to put up with this for much longer. As politicians continue to ignore the real
educational zeitgeist leaders, such as Sir Ken Robinson, Professor Sugata Mitra
and Marc Prensky, teachers and school leaders are, increasingly, kicking off
the revolution. I am constantly in awe
of teachers around the world, who continue to innovate with the flow of the
zeitgeist, doing what’s best for their students, often in risky defiance of indoctrinated
overlords, inspectors and policy-makers.
Thankfully, these hardy souls, the committed sardines, are being
supported by the EdTech revolution, which is about to get very interesting
indeed…
Around ten years ago,
the late, great science-fiction writer, Arthur C. Clarke, introduced us to ‘Athena’,
a sentient artificial intelligence surrounding the Earth, who performed,
amongst other tasks, the function of providing a ubiquitous ‘Search Engine’ for
every human being on the planet. Clarke’s ‘Time’s Eye’ trilogy was set in
2037. In January 2015, Elon Musk
announced plans to build a satellite network that would deliver high-speed
Internet to every inch of the globe, empowering the masses to access the sum of
all human learning. He is building
Clarke’s Athena, Version 1.0, and is, effectively, positioned to become the 21st
Century’s Lord Shaftesbury, by empowering the masses to get educated. In Clarke’s trilogy, when the Earth is
threatened by malevolent aliens, it is Athena who ultimately saves the planet
and the human race. Ironically, this
could turn out to be far more than just science-fiction.
The question is often
asked: “What will be the role of
teachers, when their students are all connected?” I believe they will be empowered to love their
work once more, freed from obsolete national curricula, standards and state
interference. Great teachers, nurturing the
talents of every individual student, supported by unlimited connectivity and access
to devices, will flourish as they lead future generations to achieve their
dreams. Children who currently have no
access to education will be connected by Musk’s ‘Athena’ to teachers (or
mentors) and content from around the world, taking Professor Mitra’s Self
Organized Learning Environments to a whole new level.
Get this right, and
there will be no more talk of standards. No role for politicians to concern themselves
with what they think the economy needs. Just
great learning and a fresh, self-fulfilled young generation, ready to build a
new global era of harmony and peace. A world without borders, perhaps?
The idea that
scientists and teachers, and not politicians, will save the world, fills me
with awe – and I’m optimistic. Not least
because those vested, self-serving interests, intent on maintaining the status
quo or pushing their own political agenda, are running out of cards to
play. Soon, they could find themselves
out of the game altogether.
