- NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 21/Jul 03:30

How failure pretends to be success in education

DEBBIE JACOB IF YOU didn’t get the drift of last week’s column about how our education system is failing this country, it’s simply this: we can’t achieve success without understanding an issue. We can’t improve education without clearly understanding and communicating our students’ and our country's needs. Honestly, for the most part, I don’t think anyone can tell you what education stands for in this country besides grades and passes. We’re not tapping into students’ critical thinking skills or developing productive, happy citizens if the sole purpose of attending school is to pass a series of life-altering exams. We can’t get students – even the achievers – to buy into an education they don’t feel invested in. Students who succeed merely play the game of examinations. Their push up the educational ladder simply looks different from the students who fail. But it’s a form of failure too. Make no mistake about that. Success, as we currently measure it in schools with good grades, doesn’t necessarily mean students have learned much or will retain the little they do learn. Last week, I wrote about those who fail in our school system. What about those who succeed? How do they look when they leave our education system? Few students who succeed in school have a long-term plan for using the information required in exams, so they graduate from the system, flood the market with one of the four major careers always pushed in this country: business, engineering, law or medicine, and become leaders or conforming workers. Sadly, many of our so-called leaders lack the critical thinking skills and confidence to be authentic leaders. These pseudo-leaders push their weight around, never leading with passion, vision and trust. They don’t know how to harness the enthusiasm and creativity of their employees. They are condescending and demoralising. They satisfy fragile egos by cracking the proverbial whip, demotivating workers, shutting down opposing views and squashing creativity. That can never be leadership. And what does all of this say about our political leaders who aced our colonial education system? Do politicians have the empathy skills to understand and deal with all factions of our society? Do our politicians pay attention to what is happening and listen to everyone’s point of view before making decisions? Now we’re hearing that education might leap into another minefield, artificial intelligence (AI). Students know more about AI than most adults, but they don’t know how to use it ethically or effectively. That’s the problem, so what’s the plan for teaching teachers how to teach AI? Scandinavia, which arguably has the best education system in the world and consistently tops the list of happiest people in the world, is returning to basic education. These countries, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, emphasise critical thinking skills from kindergarten through secondary school graduation. Their goal is to enable students to distinguish between objective and subjective information; authentic and fake news. Scandinavia now realises a heavy reliance on technology in education eroded those skills. Then there’s talk about doling out laptops to secondary students again. How well did that go last time? Because, as I keep pointing out, we have a colonial model of education under a Caribbean vaneer, I don’t suspect any of the points I am mentioning are of much concern to local politicians. Let me be clear here, I’m not attacking any political party. I’m talking about political culture in general and its lack of understanding for our educational needs. It’s really in our best interest to develop critical thinking skills – not government’s. If any government really cared about students graduating with any essential skills it would push reading as the foundation for education. That’s where critical thinking skills come from, not boring textbooks or AI. When it comes to education, we fail to ask an important question: Do you really want to know that your politicians, business leaders, doctors, lawyers, or anyone for that matter, have gone through school reading nothing but their textbooks and a couple of novels in English literature class? How do they keep abreast of changes and improvements in their fields? Critical thinking skills are essential for life – not just school. Those who have that important skill are the people who hold leaders accountable. They’re not fooled by false promises and empty platitudes. Changing the culture of education in this country won’t be easy, but it is essential if we want to address our issues. So take a side. Do we want to be a nation of test takers or a nation of thinkers? The post How failure pretends to be success in education appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.