The Broader Professional Context - Trends
The National Intelligence Council identifies a
wide variety of influences creating uncertainty and potential future conflicts (2017). Concerning trends such as climate change, the
increasing gap between rich and poor, displaced people and weakening systems of
governance require that people are able to act altruistically for the greater
good. The exponential growth in
technology, possibilities for robotics and automation of the workforce
potentially disenfranchise large sectors of the population. Yet with the potential ethical demands,
conflicts and challenges identified in the near future, it is a time when we
more than ever need enfranchised people who can make sound judgments, or else
we face the possibility of tyranny.
The conflicting outcomes of the trends
identified by the National Intelligence Council require common human ethical
efforts (2017). Technology and the
growth in social media has led to a reliance on peers for information, a
reduction in the quality and reliability of information and a focus on the
trivial and fleetingly entertaining. The
same developments that will enable us to advance in the fields of automation
and biotechnology may also rob us of the capacity to make mature and informed
ethical judgments.
Education may be able to influence some of the
outcomes. There is a lot of talk about
twenty first century skills. The
foremost must be social justice in the context of developing our understanding
of individual and collective duty to each other and to the planet. “Advances in technology will help boost
productivity in developed and developing countries alike, but improving
education, infrastructure, regulations and management practices will be
critical to take full advantage of them,” (National Intelligence Council, 2017,
p.14).
Advances in biotechnology and artificial
intelligence will raise questions about humanity. An unemployed generation, plugged into social
media is unlikely to be able to answer those questions.
In this environment I believe that education
has two vital roles. Economic forces
will naturally engender the creativity and problem-solving skills needed for
the twenty-first century. But I believe
the critical thinking and moral compass necessary to manage our advances will
not necessarily come about naturally.
The first role education plays is to develop a sound understanding of
truth and the various interplays of truths.
“Regarding the co-construction of knowledge as it relates to the
educational objective truth: whose voice counts?” (OECD, 2016, p.21). Students need to be taught how to construct meaningful
knowledge. This is directly connected
with the use of technology which is already the main conduit of knowledge as
well as the main conduit of false information.
The second skill is an ethical ability to think about the common good,
the environment and the effects of our actions on other people. Our education systems need to develop
ethically mature and responsive citizens.
“Schools and teachers are increasingly faced
with the challenges of educating and guiding students through the advantages
and disadvantages of the virtual world, without always having the necessary
skills themselves,” (OECD, 2016, p.21) and so another key component of
education moving into the future is the quality of teachers. Well-rounded,
highly educated moral thinkers are needed to influence our future generations
of thinkers.
References
National Intelligence Council. (2017). Global
trends: The Paradox of Progress. National Intelligence Council: US. Retrieved
from https://www.dni.gov/files/images/globalTrends/documents/GT-Main-Report.pdf
OECD. (2016) Trends Shaping Education 2016,
OECD Publishing, Paris. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/trends_edu-2016-en
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