Schooling in 2025 will have a very different role than schooling today. In 2025 schools will have the responsibility of creating smart, socially aware students able to understand big problems and come up with creative solutions. I believe that in the year 2025 there are going to be more complex problems in the world. Those complex problems are not going to be solved by anyone. Those problems are going to need creative, intelligent solutions. The responsibility/role of schools is to prepare students for those situations. More than today, schools in 2025 are going to need to be more practical. Schools will need to relate what they teach to the real world. In classes such as history, it is the school’s responsibility to help students see how the past impacts the future and how one can learn from the actions in the past. Schools will also need to take on the role of teaching communication even more than today.
I know that there is a heavy Kagan focus in schools today, but I think that rigorous and authentic learning will not necessarily be Kagan. I think that authentic learning will center more around realistic applications. I think that learning will be about current events, real problems, and real solutions. By using current events to teach theories and facts teachers will make any subject matter relevant to students. It is this relevancy that will make students more and more aware of the importance of what they are learning. Asking students to apply classroom knowledge to real life scenarios is not always easy, and in many ways challenges them more than just in-classroom applications. Current events and the use of real life application can also “level the playing field for many students.” Especially in Civics, background knowledge can be an issue. Two kids in a class could have TONS of background knowledge to make connections to and to pull from, while others have never heard of many of the topics. It is very hard to teach civics when some students have no background knowledge. By using current events, everyone has some background knowledge to pull from, even if it is what they just learned. This will allow ALL students to be engaged and participate in higher level thinking.
