The Progressive School Vol 01 Issue 04

generation to meet the challenges of
the future. Stepping into the knowledge
society has been the result of our
cumulative experience of over a few
thousand years. This has resulted in
understanding knowledge from different
perspectives both for the personal and
the social constructs. The way knowledge
is accessed, stored, processed and
packaged will define the ‘knowledge
economy’. Contribution to the knowledge
economy will not be from the select few
who are sitting on the ivory towers of
philosophical temples of knowledge,
but by the common who practice and
articulate knowledge with skills. Multidimensional
knowledge practices would
be the requisite of any vibrant society
to empower the entire spectrum of
people with differing aspirations. No
wonder, Peter Drucker, the renowned
Management Guru observed, “The
knowledge society will inevitably become
far more competitive than any society
we have yet known for the simple reason
that with knowledge being universally
accessible there are no excuses for
non-performance. There will be no poor
countries. There will only be ignorant
countries. “
The relevance and importance of
building learning organizations and
institution of knowledge dynamics
can never be underplayed. It is in this
connection, the urgency of re-engineering
the existing curricula and pedagogical
patterns of our schools and institutions
of higher learning assumes the top
priority. Countries, who, for their political
reasons or other priorities marginalize
this issue and do not participate in this
cutting-edge competition will lose the
race in their economic superiority. While
the arguments relating to celebrating
our well-earned legacy, the universally
articulated heritage, the strong social
bonding that supports the rhythm of coexistence
and a single humanity need
not be put on shelves as irrelevant, it
is equally important to let the learners
reach out to global knowledge through
all available corridors for their pursuit, so
that they become active participants
and engage in global productive
platforms to enhance their economic
and social power.
The school curricula and what
more, the textual and support
materials of the country should enable
freedom of thinking, critical analysis,
enterprise, forward mobility and
productive engagement with futuristic
perspectives. Limiting the knowledge
of the learners to the walls of a textbook,
imprisoning thoughts that would
facilitate only a scoring in well-defined
examination structures, inhibiting
their extended learning and thus their
creativity will only produce a generation
of “customers” rather than “producers of
knowledge.” This perspective is further
substantiated by the recent revelations
of neuro-cognitive researchers.
Dr V.S. Ramachandra, the renowned
neuro-cognitive scientist asserts, “We can
now say with confidence that the brain
is an extraordinarily plastic biological
system that is in a state of dynamic
equilibrium with the external world.”
Ben Jessen, the author of “Brain-based
learning” clearly points with evidences
that the brain’s learning is not linear.
It is a multi-dimensional process and
thus learning is unique. It varies from
individual to individual. Hence learning
inputs need to be learner-friendly and
should cater to the needs of differentiated
learners. Any linear input to the brain
would be non-stimulating to the learners.
Hence learning should be facilitated
through a variety of learning inputs. No
wonder, the latest conceptualization of
the school curricula in Finland, supports
this idea of assimilation of knowledge
from various sources, thereby negating
the primary role of any singular text book
or pedagogy. Learners are expected to
Michio Kaku and his book “The Future of Mind”
learn through critical evaluation of any
idea through a variety of considerations,
approaches and strategies. It would lead
to greater possibility of construction of
new knowledge.
The educational philosophies
have taken cognizance of these
emerging dimensions and hence have
metamorphosed from behaviorism
to cognitivism, to constructivism, to
connectivism. Each of these approaches
have a contribution to make and a role
to play: hence there is a need for coexistence
of all these approaches
The fact that the human brain has
been continuously evolving, has been
acknowledged world wide and the
developmental psychologists have
enough evidences to support. Hence
what are the likely future directions of
change?
Michio Kaku, the renowned
Futurologist writes in his book “The
Future of Mind” : One day scientists might
construct an “internet of the mind’ or a
brain-net, where thoughts and emotions
are sent electronically around the world.
Even dreams will be videotaped and
then “brain-mailed” across the internet.”
Leaving aside, what the future holds, it
appears important for us to prepare our
younger generation for the possibilities
of a future world, which is more open,
more interactive and more dynamic.
Education systems have possibly no
option but to sensitize themselves lest
the people of the country remain only
road-side gazers of the celebration of
knowledge.
Schools, boards, institutions of higher
learning and educational administrators
need to be more focused, pro-active,
participative, engaging and authentic
in their approaches towards facilitating
learning. Learning needs to be liberated!
jul-AUG-SEP 2017
THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOOL
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