Over the last several years, calls for rethinking literacy have grown in prominence - ALA released a report in 2000 on information literacy skills (.pdf), NCEE released a report on how to change the education system, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills is dedicated to “infusing” (their word) these missing elements into education, and so on. I recently came across a report (.pdf) by the Association of American Colleges and Universities which addresses the skills higher education needs to cultivate in learners. I imagine most educators and corporate training departments know that we need to develop different skills in learners - from primary, secondary, post-secondary education, and into the corporate market. Lacking in the discussion is the structural elements of the system to be tasked with achieving the education of these learners. The NCEE report tinkers with salary increases, better recruitment, standards, etc. Structurally, education could continue to exist as it does under that model. I’m interested in what education should look like. What structural changes are required? We know the problem, we have a vision for the content of our needed educational models, but we lack (public, private, and corporate education) the structural model that will provide the backbone of learning. I’m working on an article on this subject, so if you have ideas, feel free to comment.
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I’ve tagged you on the 8 random facts meme (sorry)
http://2coach.wordpress.com/2007/08/04/8-random-facts-meme/
Actually, I was thinking recently of how writing should be changing (see my blog, http://connecting2theworld.blog.com/1938200/), looking at the difference between “linear” thinking and “spatial” thinking and the effect that has had on writing (with hypertext allowing for more spatial thinking). This same idea needs to be considered for the university systems. Our curricula, courses, and admissions systems are still very linear. There is a direct linear progression through programs, different levels of education, starting with general knowledge (core courses) upon which specialized majors are built becoming more and more focused.
However, with the advent of distance learning, the needs for crossing disciplines and interdisciplinary research, pressure for graduates to become lifelong learners, it appears there needs to be a more “spatial” approach to education, especially at the university level. There should be multiple entry points, the ability to take courses outside of a major, yet able to concentrate in an area across disciplines, and a mechanism that allows students to make the connections across those disciplines so they make sense, rather than being a series of unrelated modules.