my view on
In our current education system, emphasis is often placed on theoretical knowledge. Many adults admit that they actually use only a small percentage of the acquired knowledge in their lives. To exercise a profession, they often have to follow specialized training courses within their company. Can this be done differently? In this article my vision.
Origin of education
Education is knowledge transfer. Ever since humanity has existed, there has always been some form of education. In the early community groups it was not as structured and mainly based on the passing on of important skills such as hunting or building temporary shelter or using natural resources.
When people began to settle, social structures with strict forms of society emerged. This was necessary to stay alive as a group in a fixed place. Every member of society was given a permanent position depending on his skills. This is how the first crafts arose. In the beginning, the transfer of knowledge was mainly aimed at functioning within the group and the passing on of the own acquired skills. Farmers taught their children to work the land and tailors taught their children to make clothes. There was no need for a structured education system.
This system increasingly evolved into a system of practice-oriented education. Children were apprenticed to a craftsman to learn a profession. Although this was often within the family, it now also became possible to learn a profession from a professional outside the family. In addition to manual labor, mental labor also became increasingly important because there was a need for people with administrative knowledge and people who devised regulations and laws. There, too, a young person was trained “on the field”: by participating, a young person learned the tricks of the trade.
Gradually, an elite arose who mainly engaged in “main work” and a large group mainly engaged in manual labor. The gap between the major groups widened and it became more difficult to get into the elite group that made the laws and regulations. Because the laws and regulations for belonging to this group were complex, there was a need for structured education. Children learned to read and write at a young age and other skills that were considered important. Manual labor was seen as inferior and was not taught within these educational systems. The children of the elite group were groomed to later take care of the laws and regulations and the administration themselves while the children of the lower classes were prepared to do manual labor. In most cases this was the same profession as the parents. This situation remained that way for centuries and was present in many forms of society.
Thanks to the industrial revolution and new developments that, among other things, made agriculture on a large scale possible, life became easier for the lower professional classes. Education was democratized and knowledge also became accessible to the children of these classes. While their education used to consist mainly of basic skills to perform manual labor, they now also learned other skills. Children now received a general basic education that prepared them for both manual and main work. Although the elite was very closed and it was difficult for the lower classes to enter, it theoretically became possible for lower class children to climb higher.
For decades there was a gap between rich and poor, but gradually more and more poorer people entered higher education. This made it possible for everyone to choose their own profession and a child from a working-class family was no longer obliged to perform manual labor as an adult. Thanks to all kinds of government measures, education became possible for everyone.
Evolution of teaching staff
With the evolution of education, the function of the teaching staff also changed. Originally, teachers were experiential experts who passed on their own knowledge and experience to the younger generations. Later, more emphasis was placed on the transmission of knowledge and teachers were trained to this end. So we got to a point where teachers passed on knowledge that they themselves had not fully mastered. Due to a lack of practical experience, these teachers emphasized theoretical knowledge. Pupils thus learned how it should be theoretical and some of them followed teacher training to pass on this theoretical knowledge further. As a result, the school increasingly acquired an unworldly image where only outdated knowledge was passed on. Up-to-date knowledge was acquired on the shop floor.
Nowadays, education is making a great effort to get rid of the unworldly image. There are collaborations with companies and government agencies to better prepare young people for the labor market and efforts are being made to provide practical education. Yet there are many shortcomings. Many teachers pass on outdated knowledge without any practical knowledge: they graduated a few years ago and received their knowledge from teachers without practical experience, so they are not aware of what is needed in the workplace for which they prepare the young people. Due to a high workload and a lack of time, they are often unable to keep up with current events, so that they are not aware of the current needs of the labor market.
Why is there a need for practice-oriented education?
Young people still graduate in an unworldly way. This means that employers have to invest in training on the work floor. With only a handful of courses, young people are well prepared to do their job after their studies. However, the majority of young people often have unrealistic expectations and a false image of the job for which they are studying.
The years in school are often a waste of time: young people often have to learn facts that they are not happy with later on. The only benefit I see in this is memory training. Due to rapid (technological) developments and changes in society, the amount of knowledge that must be passed on is greater than a few decades ago. This increases the pressure on young people and leaves less time for useful knowledge.
Due to the selective functioning of our memory, it is not possible for young people to keep track of all knowledge gained (along with their personal interests). For example, we get the phenomenon that young people have already forgotten what they studied after an exam and have to study pieces of material again for the next exam. There is no real control, but there is reproduction.
Real craftsmen are also harder to find. The young people must be intensively coached at the beginning of their career in order to master the profession well. Even in areas where dexterity is less important, we find less good specialists. A good example of this is the number of writing errors in magazines. During all studies, young people learn to write flawlessly. This is especially true for training for professions such as journalist or editor. Nevertheless, there has been an increase in the number of grammatical and spelling errors in magazines. Many specialists complain about similar phenomena within their sector.
Possible improvements
I think the problem is situated in 6 domains:
- The knowledge of the teachers: this is often outdated and only theoretical. Often no recent handbooks are used on the subject. Teachers with hands-on experience writing recent textbooks together could properly pass on both theoretical and practical knowledge. Traineeships (eg biennial) in their sector would also keep teachers up-to-date with recent developments and better prepare young people for today’s labor market.
- The high workload of the teachers: due to a high workload, teachers are unable to update their knowledge and study materials. As a result, they continue to work with outdated material and pass on outdated knowledge. This could be remedied by working with a teacher team for a particular subject rather than individual teachers. For example, unemployed professionals can be brought in to support teachers after training. The team can also distribute material so that more attention can be paid to lesson preparations. In this way, young people are better prepared for the labor market of tomorrow.
- Up-to-date study materials: many schools work with “cast-offs” or donations. The equipment used is often outdated and the youngsters still have to learn how to work with modern equipment. Integrating a number of hours of training in the workplace into education can prevent this. For example, the young people are now learning to work with modern equipment and they do not have to be retrained.
- Collaboration with sectors: the sectors can participate in the training of professionals. Instead of investing in training later, they can now give young people the opportunity to gain a number of hours of practical experience within the company.
- Reducing the pressure on young people: the pressure on young people is very great. Scrapping irrelevant material from the curriculum would help. It is better to provide young people with the tools to find the knowledge themselves than to let them learn abstract knowledge by heart. For example, many facts that have been believed to be true for decades have been superseded by recent developments. By teaching young people how to find information and only giving them a layer of basic knowledge, they can look up (and understand) current knowledge when they need it.
- Responsibility of society: young people are often seen as “semi-adults” who have many duties but few rights. By giving young people an active role in society, they become more involved in society. Young people also develop a more realistic world view and are better prepared for an adult life.