Tom Cobbenhagen, leerling Porta Mosana | 23 November 2015
Because the current educational system seems outdated, how should the current educational system be changed to be compatible for the 21st century? In his Independent Research Report Tom Cobbenhagen (Porta Mosana, TTO) evaluates, analyses and explains the perspectives of people against and in favour of 21st century education of 21st century skills. He presents two main perspectives. Firstly, there is a group of people that is very much in favour of 21st century learning and skills and seek to implement this in all forms of education. A prime example of this is the collection of Kunskapsskolan, a Swedish-based form of education that focuses on the student, rather than the curriculum. Everyone has a certain interest and a certain instinctual curiosity that links closely with creativity: It should not be halted; it should be encouraged.
The opposing perspective realises the importance of some of the skills, but does not agree with some of the ways of teaching, as they see it as a threat to the fundaments of the current educational system. People such as T. Bennett take a very objective position by taking a realistic approach: There are not advantages for everyone. Implementing technology into every piece of education is not a solution and a lot of knowledge is still required for some skills to be taught; hence he finds it important to protect these fundamental values of education.
Comparing the viewpoints of both perspectives, Cobbenhagen deducts that there should be a middle way; an alternative perspective. Teaching 21st century skills is a good way of preparing students for the future, but some fundamentals of the current educational system need to stay intact, such as the teaching of factual knowledge.
You can read this Independent Research Report here