UNESCO: On the Futures of Education: Civic Responsibility, Pedagogy, &Textbooks in a Time of Rapid Change

On the Futures of Education: 
Civic Responsibility, Pedagogy, & Textbooks in a Time of Rapid Change

A webinar organized by Columbia University's Teachers College & NISSEM, in partnership with UNESCO's Future of Education initiative, is held on January 7, 2021 at 16.30 - 18.00 GMT or 23.30 - 01.00 Jakarta Time. The webinar is moderated by Noah Sobe (UNESCO & Loyola University Chicago). 

The webinar of the Futures of Education aims to rethink the education's role in shaping the future amidst rapid change and increasing complexity. The presenters are: 

• Helen Haste (University of Bath) and Vidur Chopra (Teachers College, Columbia University)
• Michele Schweisfurth (University of Glasgow)
• Andy Smart, Aaron Benavot (University at Albany-State University New York), James Williams (George Washington University) (NISSEM co-convenors)

The presentation of the panelists  are discussed by the discussants. They are:

• Mahboob Morshed (BRAC Institute of Educational Development)
• Enrique Chaux (Universidad de los Andes, Colombia)

The polls from the moderator begins the webinar. The first question is about the perception of the future: What do you think will be the greatest challenge in your society in 2025? Most of the participants choose the answer: Global inequality and injustice.

The second question is about pedagogical perceptions: Which of the following reflect pedagogical beliefs are widely held in the society with which you are most familiar ?

Almost all of the participants answer:

• Knowledge is considered to be more fixed than fluid
• Learners are dependent on teachers to guide their learning
• Teachers are figure of authority in the classroom

In this pandemic situation, according to Helen Haste and Vidur Chopra, the role of teacher is very important in guiding their students to learn. Pandemic has taught us how to teach outside the classroom. 

Enrique Chaux suggests that thinking about the global inequality and injustice and thinking about the future are very hard. We can not predict it but we can foresee it. What we can do for education? We must get involved with some programs or projects to overcome the problems facing by the global inequality and injustice. But the traditional pedagogy influences how the people or the groups think and act. If the groups have a sense of changing then we can work with them to support and bring them the changing. But if the groups have not the sense of changing so it is hard for us to bring them the changing. 

Talking about the changing, Jim Williams suggests that change is unpredictable, especially for the young. Teaching and learning must be contextualized because learners face some problems in the society. That is why the role of textbooks, curriculum, and pedagogy play important role in learning for facing uncertain futures. 

Andy Smart suggests that textbook plays a dominant role in some countries. The textbook has a very important role in supporting and not supporting the learning. So it needs teachers to understand the strong pedagogy such as Low Order Thinking Skills (LOTS), Higher Order Thinking skills (HOTS), turn taking, engaging the learners, etc. The strong textbook contains concept to social concerns, Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), Global Citizenship, and public health.

Furthermore, Andy Smart says that the textbook contained the strong content and the strong pedagogy are the key to the cognitive (thinking and understanding). The textbook is really crucial because it is a kind of reflection of the curriculum and  even the political situation in that country. 

Meanwhile, Professor Michele Schweifurth proposes that there are two kinds of the nature of knowledge. They are as follows:

• Knowledge as fixed
• Knowledge as fluid

Some teachers are thinking that knowledge as fixed. It means that the teachers see their students as passive creators, recipients, and dependent to their teachers. Some teachers are thinking that knowledge as fluid. They think that learners as active creators, designing and determining in their own education pathways, and democratic participation in education to include freedom of thought and expressions. Some teachers are in between. 

Professor Michele Schweifurth did some projects and workshops in Africa about Democratic Education. Based on her research, she says that teachers must pay attention to how to help learners learn something even though the students' thinking are influenced by their own different cultures. Furthermore she says that teachers behave in some context are influenced by their cultures whether teachers become authoritarian and democratic.  

The observation conducted by Enrique in Colombia showed that many teachers do not prepare well their teaching. The teachers also do not consider their social and emotional competencies. We need much more the service of teacher training and UNESCO has set agenda to reach the minimum standard to help students learn something.

So, Enrique concludes the webinar by inviting us to think about the future and what should we do from now. We can see "What to teach, why to teach, and how to teach".

(The full papers presentation can be seen at the link  https://en.unesco.org/futuresofeducation/background-research)