Towards Schooling For The 21st Century

Introduction

In our "Pedagogical Leadership" class, we were assigned a group task to review any book related to leadership. The book our group selected was "Towards Schooling for the 21st Century" written by Per Dalin and Val Dean Rust. It's published in 1996 by Redwood books. It is a book series of school development whose series editors were David Reynolds and David Hopkins.

Rationale of Selecting the Book

For selecting the book for review, we (all group members) set some criteria. The very first thing came into our consideration was the relevance of the book with our PL course. Secondly, we searched the book which gives the education vision for future generation. We selected above mentioned book. This book points-out the flaws in current educational policies and teaching and learning practices at school level, it also highlights the future trends and demands of the schooling. We all members considered it valuable for our future roles of educational leader and teacher educator; because it will guide us to be equipped with relevant resources, before entering in the classroom.

All about the Book

This book is one of few educational books that looks in future rather talking about the past, and at the same time, it locates the schooling within a broader societal context. In this visionary book the authors present a comprehensive view of the challenges facing society, realities of work and the leisure of the children, and the implications of these analysis and predictions for schools today as they prepare children for the future. The authors consider that the schooling and learning would be influenced and would face fundamental changes due to revolutions in the economy, technology, ecology, society, politics and values.

This book talks all about planning for the 21st century, children and youth in future society, paradigm shift, vision for future, educational needs of youth, contemporary educational models and characteristics of good schools. Authors argue that societies have changed very rapidly in past and would be changing drastically in future, so we should think from now for our future generation. The authors also argue that children and youth should be taught according the needs and expectations of 21st century rather following old-fashioned methods of teaching and learning. We should provide them with an environment where they can think, analyze, discover, apply and create something new. Schooling must be based on the needs of new industries and the changing requirements of the labor force. Youth must be prepared for the coming world of work through the development of appropriate knowledge, attitudes and behaviors. In order to strengthen the socialization of the youth schools must work in collaboration with all influential elements (home, family, religious institutes, peer groups, pluralistic society and media). The book raises the question that does curriculum and school meet the needs of a youth/student? The authors define good school as a place where the students learning is focused through child-friendly curriculum framework, clear standards, interventions, clear instructions, relevant teaching and learning resources and fair assessment mechanism.

Overall, this book serves as a pioneer of exploring our thinking about our role and responsibilities towards changing future societies. It draws attention of teachers, heads, educationists, policy makers and community at large towards the needs and expectations of new century and guides them to bring creativeness and innovation in educational system through giving the lead to youth of the day.

My Key Learning from Book

Though, this book is written in western context and mainly highlights the emerging issues from the specific regions of the world, even then, all the described challenges are the part and parcel of our own educational system. Through this book, I have got deep insight in the issues of education in 21st century. This book has drawn a holistic picture of the current educational system through unearthing the bitter truths of the day. I came to know that how different factors help or impede the learning of the youth. While reading this book, my mind was totally dejected and started querying many questions. What does this mean for schooling today and tomorrow? What are the basic learning needs of students and are we capable enough to provide them need-based education? What do we mean by good or excellent school? Are we preparing our youth for changing future society?

I learnt through this book that to meet the dire needs of future society, we have to do pre-planning. There should be the clear vision, because it forms the basis of any planning process. Planning of anything should be 30 to 40 years prior to the implementation phase, so that, it can be well piloted before experimenting in a real setting. Teaching, learning and engagement of the youth should be in accordance with the needs and interests of the youth. Here, needs and opportunities in future society should be kept in consideration. I believe that, until and unless the indifferent and passive attitude of people, out-dated ways of planning and implementing and an unclear vision/mission exist, we will not be able to bring positive change in education system.

View the original article here