Universities of Tomorrow

by Heather Caton

We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”

~ Albert Einstein Breakthroughs in Science and consciousness also require breakthroughs in education for our youth. We cannot guarantee we can build the future for our youth, but it is the responsibility of everyone to build our youth for the future.  Our youth are the living messages we send into the future that will shape our world, our society and each other.

21^st century learners or “Digital Learners” are living in an increasingly diverse, globalized, and complex, media-saturated society.  In 1967, McLuhan’s, wrote these words. “Today’s child is bewildered?when he/she enters?the 19th century environment?that still characterizes?the educational establishment?where information is scarce?but ordered and structured?by fragmented, classified patterns?subjects and schedules.”  How these words still ring true today.

Where do we begin? It begins with the understanding that we need to change our educational DNA, youth have a new way of viewing and experiencing the world with a totality of their environment, and this means there is a fundamental mis-match when it comes to education for our youth today.  We are so used to a curriculum construct focused on controlled information and the distribution of that information and we have been doing it for so long, it has become ingrained, it has become part of our education DNA. Raising the consciousness of present conditions and insight into the needed and desired changes is the beginning of refining our education DNA asking questions like, what is the purpose of education? What is the definition of knowledge? I believe we are on the edge of this transition today. There is a growing understanding that we are all co-constructors and co-creators, we are all connected to all things. There is an awakening of consciousness with humanity and it is the beginning of refining our educational DNA.

With all that being said, how should education be structured or not structured to meet the needs of our youth in this 21^st century world?  More importantly, what are those needs? We are trying to educate our youth for a world that we literally cannot imagine, I don’t mean figuratively that we cannot imagine it but literally, we cannot imagine it. What will the workplace look like 30 years from now? The technology we have today like, iPads, cell phones, computers, will seem, to our youth, like some older technology seems to us today. What skills are important for an upcoming world that we cannot even imagine?

Maybe we should start with focusing on the things we can imagine. Technology and society is and will continue to change rapidly. Youth today are living in an increasingly diverse, globalized, and complex, media-saturated society.  What are the 21^stcentury skills? Critical thinking, creative problem solving, teams building, leadership, adaptability, communication, accessing and analyzing information, curiosity, wonder and imagination. These will be the crucial assets for tomorrow’s youth. Breaking down barriers between disciplines, in order to bring more multi- dimensional approaches, is important to co-constructing and co-creating.

OM Times Magazine » syndicated