Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ The paradigm shift: Redefining education

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

Deloitte's Centre for the Edge in Australia has released a report arguing that "being educated" will take on a much broader definition than it has in the past.

  • First is the shift from a traditional, formal education, to work-integrated learning.
  • Second is the emerging trend for employers to move away from using formal credentials as the gold standard.

Here's the direct link to the 44-page PDF (but you still might be blocked by their wall asking for name and email address, the better to send you unwanted email in the future). They write: "educators need to turn their attention to creating environments and platforms where students can learn what they need to learn when they need to, and instilling in them the habits of mind, attitudes and behaviours that will enable them to thrive in today's (and tomorrow's) knowledge-rich environment."

I don't think this is particularly wrong, though I would question the almost exclusive focus on workplace training. Education is more than that. And as argued in the Teaching TomTom, while Deloitte cites changes in education toward constructivist models, it's not clear that it embraces them nor recognizes their influence in the education community today. "Much of the paper argues for a shift from 'knowledge stocks' to 'knowledge flows'." That sounds nice, but it's still treating learning like inventory, not growth.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Dec 14, 2024 05:24 a.m.

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