Agendas in Education

 -Hem Raj Bishwakarma

Introduction 

Education is the process of learning or/and acquiring knowledge, a set of
skills, a pattern of behaviour and values and many more principally by formal
teaching or schooling. But if this definition is left as it is, it would be
unjust. Because, education is 'lifelong' in its process, 'broader' in its
nature and we acquire or learn those pieces of knowledge and skills throughout
life and through different ways—formally, informally and non-formally.

Pestalozzi says, "Education is natural
harmonious and progressive development of man's innate power." For
certain, the human mind has specific power innately built up and education
trains and makes it more powerful than it was in the beginning.

I started this article claiming— and claimed by many people— that
education is 'the process'. There is a gap in our knowledge that we always
see education as a product— the product is scaled on the letters grade or
in numerical form. Children are stuck tightly to score 'good' marks and it
leads them to frustration, be unethical during examinations and bring a halt to
their growth in other dimensions. The product concept of education especially
in countries with low economic status is deeply rooted. Because our parents always
believe that the product determines the 'face value' of their children's
outlook. School teachers and administrators have been guided by the
same assumption which has endorsed a negative effect on the 'process' of
education.

Educators should not be limited, at least in this era, to only the
concept of 'bringing out the innate capability of a child'. The world is
changing in its multiple dimensions of the fast-paced development of science
and technology. And I always prefer to quote Heraclitus-- 'the only constant
(in life) is change. Our educators have to be befriended with such ethos and
work forward accordingly to help our children be espoused in the changing world
and build up their championship.

Education has many goals in society ranging from making children
productive citizens to providing them with the basic set of social skills, critical
thinking, leadership, creativity, and so many uncounted ones. It has so many agendas
to be addressed and be better prepared to work with. For this, the government,
institutions and other stakeholders have equal shared responsibilities.
Meanwhile, the education imparted in our schools has to meet certain goals left
in another column.

Global Agendas of Education

With very limited resources, we all have to seek existence in the
world. The manner and proportions we utilize the resources have great
implications for the people in the future and the planet itself. So, education
has an enormous area to cover in the field of sustainable development. UNESCO
claims, "Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) empowers people to
change the way they think and work towards a sustainable future." Our
education system has to install such schooling which can prepare our children
longing for 'mutual co-existence.

A large number of people are still out of school and drop out even
though UNESCO had set the global movement "Education for All" as a
part of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Our education system has to
re-examine the causes behind it and manipulate it to bring all the children
into classrooms.

There is a present need to recognize the diversity of students in a
community and be driven by the principle of inclusive education. The children
learn better in a platform where opportunity is provided with a fearless
and equally judged environment and the 'connection' between educators and
society is made mutually strong.

To subsist in today's society, children should come up with 21st-century
skills. These skills should be in-class taught regardless of the conventional
curriculum on rote learning. These sets of skills help them to compete with the
world and work collaboratively with global partners on the global platform.

Face value of education

We are still enduring the education system with certain orthodoxies and
their influence is in multiple forms. We are in the postmodern era and still
using a very conventional way of imparting education. Similar way, I believe
our assessment system has to be reflected and revisited and seek for the room
for 'Fifth Generation Evaluation'. We have to envision the process of education
and assessment and their usage in policymaking. The curriculum has not been
able to reach all parts to meet the needs of a diverse population. The
policymakers collect data samples only from definite places where education has
no problem at all. The education has to be able to ignite social development as
a Holistic Approach. The education system has absorbedly created two columns in
society. So, many people cannot afford private education and on the other hand, are frustrated with the government-led
education system. This is another step that invigorates the social inequity and
social injustice.

Application of New Teaching Techniques and Approaches

Our education impartation techniques have been so old and outdated that
they cannot address the contemporary needs of learners and society. We are
convinced that teaching-learning should not be only the free-flowing vocal
performance of a teacher and passively perceiving those outdated and rust information
by the students. There are five sense organs and all are equally powerful in
learning. And we are just using one—what a ridicule! There is the 'gap' so that
children are left disengaged in learning proper knowledge in schools. Teachers
have been thinking about their perceptions, in their favour. Ultimately,
education is to prepare better adults for the future and it has great value in what they learn today. Time has changed everything. We are in an ocean of
knowledge so it is not wise to use only one sense to learn and the only way to
instruction. There is a lot of research about the impact of using different
instruction techniques. We have to pursue the formative teaching techniques so
that we can fill up the 'gap'.

Notion about Teachers

Teachers are the change-makers and this change is possible by their
alacrity and professionalism. They have a tremendous responsibility to shape the future of an individual and society. The role of teachers has been
shifted merely from teacher to facilitator, instructor, tutor and so many
to count. However, there is frustration in the teaching profession and among the
teachers. I don't think teachers are provided sufficient to make their living.
Also, the trend in a country like Nepal – the trend is different – and it is a
woe that only those having less competency to study subjects like science and
management come to the Education Faculty—thought as a very 'easy to pass'
subject. And those who are going to be the teachers are thinking merely about
passing examinations! No sagacious and exceptionally brilliant students set
their aim to be a teacher and the reason behind it is the stipend or wages and
social status. This is almost too late for the paradigm shift of the 'teaching
profession' as teacher-centred instruction shifted to student-centred.
This paradigm is shifted when the atmosphere is created to pay something more
or like what other 'good jobs' are being paid. Another dimension is that
many schools are teacherless either because of their lower frequency of
attendance or less recruitment. So this can be ironed out only when good
policies regarding teacher's facilities are formulated.

Conclusion

There may be multiple perspectives to see a phenomenon with multiple
people. But, it is necessary to shape our education setting and policy to meet
the global agendas—the agendas the world is pursuing. Our education should
fulfil the contemporary stipulation of students and society. Correspondingly,
education should inculcate humanity, peace, and compassion within the children; and prepare to fight against and/or manage pandemics and other possible disasters
to come in the future. Also, a child should learn about inner engineering for
his well-being and emotional development social transformation—and
all-round development. And with this giant step, education should be set to
mainstreaming all the people left behind.

 

References

 

Education For All. (2020, March 17). Retrieved from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_For_All

 

Education for Sustainable Development. (2020, March 4). Retrieved from
https://en.unesco.org/themes/education-sustainable-development

 

Fifth-Generation Evaluation - Haslebo & Partner. (n.d.). Retrieved
from
http://www.haslebo-partnere.dk/dyn/files/normal_items/427-file/Fifth-Generation
Evaluation by Gro Emmertsen Lund.pdf

 

TEACHING TECHNIQUES - Oneonta. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://employees.oneonta.edu/thomasrl/YaTeachTech.pdf

 

The Effect of Teachers' Expectations and Perceptions on ... (n.d.).
Retrieved from https://aquila.usm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1791&context=dissertations