Page 185 - Microsoft Word - The Future of Learning April 2017.docx

The transition to integrated ‘subjects’ is expected to take place over the next 10-15 years and many secondary schools will struggle with giving up the notion of specified subjects. Finland is currently experimenting with replacing subjects with a ‘
The upcoming change in the structure of curricula represents a dual shift to:
1. a concept-based curriculum framework for the competencies and the learning domains where the learner’s curiosity ultimately drives the learning, with an emphasis on deep understanding and the creative application of that learning resulting in innovative and ingenious outcomes.
2. the use of technology to provide dynamic communication between all stakeholders, continuous personalised assessment, as well as access to, and the ability to create and apply, rich multimedia resources to both support and reflect the learning that is achieved.
The wide-ranging nature of these changes in education practice will require substantial and efficient Professional Learning. Educators will be expected to become active learners alongside their younger counterparts and they will need to develop the same learning capabilities as their younger counterparts. For a Professional Learning programme to achieve these changes, a three to five-year, ongoing implementation process is required.
This Professional Learning programme requires a combination of online resourcing as well as face-to-face workshops, lectures and interactive learning sessions; the same mix as for younger learners in schools. Due to the depth of change in practice, it is expected that the programme will eventually contribute towards a higher degree or a Master’s programme, accompanied by the requisite certification and recognition.
The PL programme206 is grounded within an Action Learning culture. The learner-educator cements their knowledge by way of applying the changes in pedagogical practice within their classrooms in a dynamic, Just-In-Time manner. Educators should not wait for the completion of the three-year Professional Learning programme before applying their learning, but rather the application of their understanding is demonstrated through their transitions in practice and the development of increasing agency of the learners in their care. Technology-based peer-to-peer review and evaluation processes that are carried out internally within the school are then benchmarked against nationally-recognised best-practice quality parameters, to guide educators through the course of transforming their practice.
The scale of the PL programme required, emphasises the profound and systemic nature of the transitions that this approach entails. These expected transitions are well within the professional capability of all educators, when staged over a three to four-year period. The programme requires a considerable investment from schools and governments around the world, to ensure that the quality of education systems improves substantively to better meet the needs of learners, communities and society in general.
205 Independent (Newspaper). (2015) Finland schools: Subjects scrapped and replaced with 'topics' as country reforms its education system. Retrieved from http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/finland-schools-subjects-are-out-and-topics-are-in-as-country- reforms-its-education-system-10123911.html
206 More detail on this can be supplied by emailing mark@work.co.nz`
173
thematic approach. This is a very inefficient process as knowledge for each context is virtually
phenomenon’205 based
unlimited and the focus on this means the underlying concepts are not intentionally exposed and
mapped in the learner’s brain as they are camouflaged amongst a lot of topic-based knowledge.