What should the purpose of schooling be in the 21st century?
In our rapidly changing world, we would like to ensure that students are informed decision makers and foster critical thinking for a world with rapidly evolving technologies and digital platforms. There is a need to develop creativity, and effective problem-solving and excellent communication skills that prepare students to be able to thrive in an environment of uncertainty and challenge. Ultimately, schooling should build curiosity and foster a love of learning for a lifetime. This will only succeed, however, if it co-exists alongside the development of a strong moral compass, sense of character, respect, genuine compassion and desire to help others.
What knowledge, skills and attributes should every student develop at school?
We need a greater focus on soft/success skills. The most important attribute for students to develop is resilience. This is critical for students to become functional members of society, able to respond to challenges and adversity. They should also develop the abilities to be flexible, adaptable, and to work collaboratively with others, particularly those who are different to themselves. They should develop independence, intrinsic motivation, and organisational skills. They should become more globally aware, develop their deep enquiry skills and their ability to reflect. Every student needs to learn to read and write competently, have well developed mathematical skills, and the ability to adapt to and utilise new technologies.
How could the curriculum better support every student’s learning?
The curriculum needs to be more flexible. Problem solving should be emphasised more than learning content. There should be more room for collaborative learning and developing creativity. The curriculum needs to adapt with the changing world so that students can be better equipped to positively and purposefully navigate their personal lives, university and work once they leave school.
The curriculum could better support every student’s learning by reducing the content. This would create the flexibility and autonomy for teachers to navigate the curriculum in a way that benefits students, and create time for teachers to differentiate, assist and extend students. A more dynamic and varied curriculum could create more fluidity between subjects, enhance the scope for cross-curriculum programming, and enable more inclusive practices.
We also recommend that the curriculum encourage students to research their own areas of interest, and provide greater opportunities for practical experiences to reinforce theoretical content and learning experiences.
What else needs to change?
There should be less emphasis on end-of-school exams in their current format. The exams are too focused on content and dictate the type of teaching that can occur. The current assessment of students tends to be cohort referenced and provides no measure of individual improvement or holistic markers of learning.
We also believe that, while the benefits of using technology in education are significant, educators need to be considerate of the consequences of an over-reliance on technology and devices.
Finally, students are segregated by various social markers. We would like to see less segregation by school or sector. We would also like to see a greater level of collaboration between professional colleagues across sectors.