|
KNOWLEDGE ERA SCHOOLING
Background Information
Over the last few decades the Australian labour
force has changed substantially. The shift in labour demand arises
from
new technology which has led to reduced need for manual labour and
increased demand for employees with a greater level of skill
microeconomic reforms (tariff reductions, industrial relations
reforms)
internationalisation of product markets
increased use of casual and pert-time employees
significant growth in the service sector
decline in production industries like manufacturing and mining
technology in Government economic policy aimed at creating a more
efficient manufacturing sector for export dollars.
Source ABS Australian Social Trends |
One of the most
valuable commodities for success in the Australian and global economy
today is knowledge. The Knowledge Era, which dawned in the 1970s with
the advent of computers, has become fully realised through the
exponential use of the Internet and the rapid flow of information and
services it has allowed.
Australia
is a small player in the global knowledge economy that is rapidly
developing, but because of the very nature of our people and society,
our nation has the potential to make disproportionately large
contributions and reap significantly larger rewards per capita in the
future than most countries. This knowledge era economy supports
countries that are smart enough to have innovative, self-directed, and
entrepreneurial knowledge workers who can thrive in a fast-moving,
changing environment.
|
1971 |
2001 |
| Employed persons in full-time work |
89% |
69% |
| Employed persons working in service industries |
57% |
75% |
| Employed person with bachelor degree of higher |
3% |
19% |
Source ABS 1971 & 2001 Censuses of Population & Housing
|
As evidenced by Australian Bureau of
Statictics data, there are real differences between the industrial era
workplace, that singularly existed greater than 15 years ago, and the
knowledge era workplace, which exists today but will be even more
pronounced in the future. These industrial vs knowledge era workplace
differences are:
(a)
The exponential increase in the use of, and
functionality in, information and communication technology. Coupled
with the fundamental shift to the use of web-based communication by
business, the barriers that traditionally prevented individuals anywhere
around the world communicating for work or leisure, no longer exist.
(b)
The movement of the majority of nations to
participate in the global marketplace has created new horizons in
bringing a good or service to the market, and has taken the level of
international focus and opportunity for its workers into a much larger
marketplace.
(c)
As a consequence of the above factors, the
breakdown of Australia’s traditional business structures and hierarchies
to what is now a far more fluid and dynamic working environment. The
influences that have eroded old business structures include awarding
work based on merit, the need for improved financial management of
business including cost efficiencies which has lead to outsourcing,
family values and work-life balance, and economic growth.
In this new environment, the
individuals that thrive in the knowledge era workplace are the ones that
can make informed decisions based on available information, and can
relatively quickly provide meaningful solutions for a public or private
entity in the marketplace. The knowledge era workplace is the closest
experience Australians have had yet to the workings of the free market.
Employed persons
in full-time work 89% 69%
Employed persons working in service industries 57% 75%
Employed person with bachelor degree of higher 3% 19%
Between 1985-86 and 1995-96 the number of workers in the service
industries increased by 31%, an increase of 1.4 million
jobs…Overall, part time work was more common in service industries
with 21% working part-time compared to 13% in production
industries…Increased employment in the service sector has been the
major impetus to the recent growth in part-time employment,
particularly among females.
Source ABS Australian Social Trends |
It is entirely understandable then
that the qualities individuals must develop to succeed in this new
environment include:
-
The
ability to think and act like an independent contractor (even if
they find themselves from time to time working in a large
corporation)
-
The
ability to readily adjust and see opportunity in sudden change
-
The
ability to collaborate so that required services can be delivered
with flexibility and without commitment to unnecessary cost
structures.
-
The
willingness to learn on an on-going basis for personal and
professional improvement.
-
The
ability to incorporate new technology into one’s work or life if
there is a real benefit to quality of life or work performed.
-
As
alluded to above, technology in the context of working in the
knowledge era market is as an enabling tool.
|
|
In 1990,
34% of full-time students worked part-time. In 2000, this number had
increased to 42%.
Source ABS Australian Social Trends 2001 |
Within Australia, the
movement offshore of manufacturing together with the rise of
knowledge-based services is a telling trend to Australia’s place in the
new globalised economy. It is having a marked effect on enterprises and
employment, particularly for young people (up to 26 years old) who are
performing historically higher rates of casual, part-time, and contract
work. A steadily growing percentage of young people in the workforce
must be comfortable moving where opportunity takes them, either
interstate or overseas, learning to work effectively in an international
market where skills are highly transferable.
Knowledge era schooling
recognises that the world and the marketplace has changed and that
schooling also needs to reflect this real-world change by developing in
young people the skills that allow them to be well-prepared for this
working environment.
In creating a
knowledge era schooling environment, clear actions on the part of the
school are required to change campus culture and create the
collaborative and adaptive skills that best prepare individuals for this
relatively unfamiliar workplace. Critical skills for the knowledge era
include self-directed learning, adaptability, collaboration, risk
taking, communication, self-reflection including the ability to change
career direction if required, self-management and self-discipline. It
is building these skills into an approach to curriculum that at once
addresses the needs of the educational hierarchy, but allows students to
better understand and manage themselves for the working world that
awaits them.
Creating a
curriculum that allows students to merge academic and vocational
subjects, rather than keeping each stream separate, is another
fundamental characteristic of the knowledge era school. By offering
students this converged educational choice, the knowledge era school is
actively equipping students with qualifications that can be used, for
instance, as a means of income while pursuing higher education, while at
the same time providing the academic preparation to qualify for
university entry.
Over the 1990s,
the number of students participating in post-compulsory schooling
increased by 28%, with students of all ages between 15 to 64 years
contributing to this increase.
For younger students, working part-time may provide a source of
personal income, and therefore a certain level of independence, as
well as work experience which may enhance future employment
opportunities. For people already in the workforce, study can be a
way of acquiring new skills or upgrading them in order to remain
competitive in the labour market.
Source ABS Australian Social Trends 2001 |
One of the main
tenants of knowledge era schooling is teaching students to ‘learn how to
learn’, that is, creating the interest and ability in students to accept
that ongoing life-long learning is necessary to find new ways to
translate existing skills to new career opportunities. It is apparent
that ‘just in time’ learning enables individuals to remain competitive
in an increasingly dynamic and fluid working environment. It is a key
skill in being able to quickly adapt to change.
Knowledge era
schooling is as much about EQ as IQ. The world and its work reward
the development and effective use of the emotional self as much as the
intellectual self. The VCE and its ENTER scores are only part of the
schooling equation. Without the development of such EQ qualities as
leadership skills, empathy, people skills, trusting intuition, and
decision-making that takes into account social and environmental
consequences, our young people will not have the capacity to effectively
compete in this new world.
Despite attempts to address gender
equality, why
has our society been unable to create gender-equality in homes,
boardrooms or jobs? A contributing factor is the inherent attitudes of
educators in reinforcing outmoded belief systems.
The knowledge era
school rejects the gender-segregated school formulated
exclusively on academic success, because it doesn’t acknowledge and work
to change the world as it actually is. The knowledge era school aims
to create an educational system in keeping with the world young people
are in – a knowledge society that needs the collaborative skills of both
men and women. It is committed to educating our young people in an
environment of gender equality.
It is on this basis that a
co-educational environment in itself does not make for a knowledge era
school. Many teachers in a coeducational setting and without an
understanding of the impact of their role in the greater society,
continue to reinforce gender inequality and stereotypes.
The knowledge era school understands
that being together, in a learning environment fully aware of the need
to breakdown stereotypical notions of male and female in young people’s
belief systems, allows individuals to create a healthier and more
productive 21st century society.
The knowledge era
school also requires teachers to let go of the power that so defines the
industrial era school. Teachers must instead collaborate with students,
converging their knowledge and skill with that of young people. Rather
than feeding students the information, knowledge era teachers show
students how to use their skills to create and use knowledge, to ask and
answer the ethical questions, to cope with pressure, to problem solve
and to be effective decision makers.
|
“They need
to be multi-skilled, they have to have the capacity to analyse,
problem-solve and recognise they will not have a single career path.
It’s very different from the industrial economy where you prepared
some students for manufacturing jobs, and other for the professions,
and so schools split the curriculum into vocational and academic.
Today’s workers need to be multi-skilled, and I think schools are
grappling with that complexity.”
-- Alan Reid, University of South Australia, Education Professor |
|
‘Charles
Goode, 64, who is also chairman of Woodside Petroleum and a director
of Singapore Airlines, said Australia was “too short term, too
cautious and too complacent” in dealing with the big issues:
education, environment, economy, population, and world relations…He
told an Australian Institute of Company Directors lunch that
Australia should prioritise education and the environment.
-- Extract, AFR July 25, 2003, ‘Respect for ageing Goode policy’
“How do human beings really learn and develop? It is an active –
indeed, it is an interactive – process. Schools somehow have
forgotten that. We need to engage people, encourage them to learn by
doing. We need project-based learning. Kids should be encouraged to
do arts and music. We have to engage their creative faculties, not
squelch them, which appears to be much of what’s going on in our
schools.”
-- Professor Richard Florida, Carnegie Mellon University (US) and
author of ‘The Rise of the Creative Class’ |
Leading academic researchers have
recognised the need for this direction in education for some years.
Increasingly, our business leaders are also beginning to recognise that
our existing educational approach is in danger of becoming obsolete.
Knowledge era schools are increasingly being found in many countries
around the world including the US, Israel, and the UK.
The future of Australian education
now requires leadership and passion from government and industry leaders
to recognise that knowledge era schools like ELTHAM College of Education
are providing a template for the Australian school of the future. These
leaders are in a position to recommend and lobby for policy change that
will create a new paradigm in educational opportunities for young
Australians, equipping them with the skills necessary to thrive in a
future that lies in the knowledge era and beyond.
ELTHAM College of Education
Principal/CEO - Dr. David Warner
1660 Main Road, Research VIC 3095
03 9437 1421
Third Floor, 325 Flinders Lane, Melbourne VIC 3000
03 9629 9266 |
Video presentation by Dr. David Warner