Education 2047 #Blog 12 (17 APR 2023)
Swami Vivekananda believed that education is the manifestation of
perfection already in men and regretted that the system of
education then, did not enable a person to stand on his own feet, nor did it
teach him self-confidence and self-respect. He also remarked that, "No one can teach anybody. The teacher spoils everything by
thinking that he is teaching. Thus Vedanta says that within man is all
knowledge—even in a boy it is so—and it requires only an awakening, and
that much is the work of a teacher. We have to do only so much for the
boys that they may learn to apply their own intellect to the proper use
of their hands, legs, ears, eyes, etc., and finally everything will
become easy." [https://vivekavani.com/priya-nath-sinha/]. Swami Vivekanand’s observation on the system of education, strikingly remains valid even after a century and needs to change in our Amrit Kaal (time span till 2047, the centenary of India’s Independence).
For centuries together, to acquire education one had to walk up to an academic institution; prove the capability of a worthy recipient; pick up information, knowledge & skills; take the examinations and get acknowledged for the degree of knowledge acquired. The entire process has been centered around knowledge, managed by educational administrators and any desired/ necessitated change in the system has to come from within. This is how educational systems have functioned for most part in the history.
For the industrial society that demanded conformist or instructivist education, the teacher was trained to present himself as one who has to be always be right, and always know the right answer- source of which was identified and fixed. Interestingly, we got such teachers after the educational system was rebooted to cater to the colonial requirements and the English succeeded in it. In the pre-industrialized or pre-colonized India, we had Gurukul system of education prevalent for thousands of years. It was a system of education where the teacher (Guru) lived with his students (Shishya) in an ashram-like environment. The teacher's role was not just to impart knowledge but to also serve as a mentor and guide to the students. The teaching was conducted in a highly personalized manner, with the teacher customizing the teaching to the needs of each student. The students were expected to follow strict rules of conduct and show reverence and respect to the teacher. In return, the teacher was expected to provide guidance and support to the students throughout their lives.
As one can find in the Indian literature, there were six type of teachers: Adhyapak (transmitter of information); Upadhyay (one giving knowledge); Acharya (who imparts skills), Pandit (facilitating deep insight into a subject), Drishta (having visionary view on a subject and teaching learner to think in that manner) or Guru (for awakening the wisdom in the learner). Quite possibly, each teacher was an admixture of all six, functioning differentially to each student/ disciple. Or may be, all teachers started as Adhyapak and very few could move up progressively to the next level and took one role out of the six. Whatever it be, it is clear that the teacher today as we understand is not the Guru of those times, and rightly so, because of the expectations of a conformist industrial society that kept them operative at lower levels.
From an era when teachers and books were the only source of knowledge to students, we are into the times when AI is aiding learners in adaptive and personalized learning, utilizing sources of knowledge that are completely democratized. Education is evolving from learners proving the retention of knowledge in the head to get a degree, to demonstrating capability of using head, heart and hands, for doing something innovative or meeting an unmet need. Clearly, learner-centric education with focus on experiential learning is how it is shaping and it makes a lot of sense to let students be in the command of learning (learner autonomy) with teachers beside- reincarnated as their mentors/ counselors/ pathfinders/ navigators, as it was in the pre-industrialized India and also fore-scripted as renewed role of teacher by Technology Vision 2035 Roadmap on Education drawn by TIFAC.
At the nucleus of academic institutions hitherto, has been knowledge which in the internet age has fissioned and is now available outside also; the knowledge can be accessed by anyone- anytime, anywhere and in any language. The role of physical teachers (Adhyapak and Upadhyay in the present system) is going to the machines, as evident from the fact that online learning happens from the very first row of the classrooms! The change in information technology, the rate of change of technology and rate of accumulation of knowledge and the ability to store and transport information is all going to make teachers (Adhyapak and Upadhyay) irrelevant, more so for conventional teaching of subjects in our schools, colleges and universities.
The learners will look for information/ knowledge/ resources independently and work on to create new resources (knowledge/ technology/ products) and opportunities (including jobs) and may or may not always need a teacher. Resources/ opportunities so created, knowledge about them and expertise acquired in the process will get packed as 'experience' which will be the new currency in the academic institutions, replacing 'knowledge'. So it will not be the knowledge alone which will get into the storehouse but also experiences. People will be prompted to share them and there will be a huge repository of experiences which they would access anywhere, anytime and anyone, obviating the need to store knowledge in our heads by undertaking years of education. The whole idea of teaching as corrective, restrictive, prescriptive and facilitative education that it is currently, will be losing its relevance due to axial shift from teacher-centric to learner-centric education system.
Digital learners no longer commit information to their memory, and have stopped taking notes, making mnemonics, doodling etc commonly done when teaching was in Adhyapak/ Upadhyay mode. It will be befitting and timely that teachers understand that their roles are being transformed from that of the fountain of knowledge to a coach or mentor, helping to guide the students through individualized learning pathways; identifying relevant learning resources; creating collaborative learning opportunities; providing insight and support during formal class time and outside of the designated 40-minute instruction period. In a learner-centred dispensation, teachers actually have to evolve to be seen as a learner by learners; more creative than students to inspire and motivate them. Teachers have to produce life-long learners, and therefore, need to be lifelong learners and acquirers of first hand experience themselves.
With the rapidly changing educational landscape, and India's quest to acquire intellectual prowess, regain its share in the global GDP (that it commanded before getting colonized) and prepare itself for its Amrit Kaal, the teacher needs to be reinvented and repurposed, as suggested in the blog earlier. This means that their training also needs to be restructured- should be more focused on preparing teachers who know how to create a learning environment and not facilitators (of passing of students from one semester to another, from one year to the other). Training has to be for preparing Gurus (not Adhyapak or Upadhyay) and being mindful that not everyone can actually become one; but targeting to become Gurus can certainly lead to Acharya, Pandit or Drishta who have a decisive role to play in our Amrit Kaal. This is also warranted by the 'new-age learning' enunciated by our visionary Prime Minister in the wake of National Educational Policy 2020, encouraging the learners to- engage, explore, experience, express and excel.
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Author is an Adviser with All
India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) on deputation from
Technology Information, Forecasting & Assessment Council (TIFAC).
Views are personal.
Feedback appreciated in the comment box below. 👍
Previous blogs
Reengineering Educational Systems for Maximizing Learning
'Rubricating' Education for Better Learning Outcomes
Indiscipline in Disciplines for Multidisciplinary Education!
Re'class'ification of Learning for the New Normal
Reconfiguring Education as 'APP' Learning
Rejigging Universities with a COVID moment
Reimagining Engineering Education for 'Techcelerating' Times
Uprighting STEM Education with 7x24 Labs
Dismantling Macaulay's Schools with 'Online' Support
Moving Towards Education Without Examinations
Disruptive Technologies in Education and Challenges in its Governance