Educational Challenges for the 21st century

In conjunction with OneWorld's Perspectives e-zine on Learning the Future, we hosted a live online chat with Patrick Fine, Senior Vice President and Director of the Global Education Center at Academy for Educational Development on Tuesday, October 17 from 2-3 pm EST. Patrick talked about educational challenges for the 21st century.

Here are some educational challenges he identified.

1. Consolidating gains in basic education in poor countries by ensuring access for all to post primary education.

2. Providing educational opportunities to children and youth living in societies in conflict.

3. Incorporating technology into all schools even those in poor, remote communities (recognizing technology is now a "basic skill" and also seeing schools as a span to bridge the digital divide.)

4. Recognizing the role of higher education in producing the talent needed to drive innovation and manage institutions.  (Increasingly, the value a society can reap from basic education will be unlocked by post-primary education.)

5. Continued emphasis on girls education to ensure equity and to support the demographic transition (especially reduced number of children per family) that appears critical to poverty alleviation.

6. New attention to "civics education" in the curriculum as a way of promoting tolerance and understanding of others and developing skills needed to negotiate/reduce conflict (i.e.: including compromise in the repertoire of skills people develop).

7. More attention to youth development that includes vocational skills for livelihoods, and also emphasizes good citizenship through community service, volunteerism, etc.

8. More accountability for educational results.  Trends in US education around testing and accounting for teachers' and administrators use of time are likely to influence things around the world.
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Patrick C. Fine
Senior Vice President and Director of the Global Education Center
Academy for Educational Development

Patrick leads the Global Education Center (GEC) at AED, which is responsible for AED's core business of assisting developing countries to increase access and improve the quality of their education systems.

Currently, GEC is one of the world's leading providers of technical assistance and education management services with programs in early childhood education, basic primary education, support to expand access to secondary and vocational education, and higher education.  GEC is also active in helping youth make the school-to-work transition and in consulting with client governments on issues of education management and policy.

Patrick recently returned from Afghanistan, Ghana and Liberia.  In Afghanistan he looked at the conditions affecting schooling and at progress in higher education, in Ghana he visited schools where teachers are using active learning approaches and in Liberia he discussed efforts to rebuild the education system.
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TRANSCRIPT

1. Sergio Ramirez: From your recent visits, what do you see as the priority areas for improving teacher quality in poor rural classrooms often with 50 or more children per classroom?

Patrick: I think building morale amongst teachers is one of the keys to improving performance. Many teachers in developing countries are teaching under terribly difficult conditions. Creating opportunities for teachers to share with each other and have peer-to-peer exchanges can energize teachers and disseminate useful techniques.
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2. Elizabeth N: Could you speak about the role, if any, media literacy and the promotion of critical thinking skills has in global education in the 21st century. Thank you.

Patrick: The ability to think critically, solve problems, and work collaboratively are key skills in a modern society and the US's success in teaching these skills has been central to its rapid increases in productivity and competitive advantage. In a world where reality is defined by a 24 hour media broadcasting on radio, TV, through CD disks and through the internet having the ability to analyze and discriminate amongst the blizzard of information is especially important and will gain increasing emphasis in schools.
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3. Jeffery Allen: Through the U.S. Peace Corps, I taught high school and middle school in a small town in Madagascar for two years. So many of the other teachers in the region were tremendously unmotivated -- largely because teacher salaries were often not paid, but also because the schools were bare cement buildings, there were no materials to speak of, and most students had little to no hope of moving beyond high school no matter how intelligent and motivated they were.

Of course devoting more government resources to education would begin to change all this, but a country like Madagascar doesn't have any more resources to devote. Is there anything else that can be done? Perhaps by NGOs or by local community members?

Patrick: So many of us working on education ask this question. One thing that we have been doing at AED is searching for the Breakthrough Ideas that can help improve schooling, as measured by student results, in resource-poor environments. Some say there are no magic bullets, no vaccine for education because it is too complicated a system. I believe there are methods and approaches that make a real difference. For example, AED has used School Report Cards in Central America to engage communities in improving school quality. We see this as an example of an important innovation that yields real results (and you can read about this on AED's website). Perhaps others participating today could cite some other breakthrough ideas?

OneWorld: To add to Patrick's question about breakthrough ideas here is Zarrin's and Sarah's article: Innovations in Education

 Here is the program that Patrick mentioned about Report Cards in Central America.
The Civic Engagement for Education Reform in Central America (CERCA) Project builds support for better education in five countries: the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. The project identifies conditions and develops tools that promote the active engagement of parents in supporting schools and in holding schools and policy-makers accountable for education quality. It involves researchers, education sector leaders, and civil society representatives in examining how the operational tools of education policy and management (laws, policies, availability of information, incentives, financial responsibilities, organizations, and structures that express "client voice") can best be used to engage the school community in improving the quality of education. Through studies of successful cases of community participation leading to improved quality, field-testing of a school report card, and a collaborative regional workshop, the project helps create a shared knowledge base for policy-makers and education constituencies at all levels to use in developing policies and practices that support the sustained involvement of parents and other local stakeholders.
Contact: Veronica Velez-Paschke
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4. Liz K: Your third point under the educational challenges you identified calls for technological skills as a "basic skill." I've heard a lot of talk that's both supported and panned efforts to create and disseminate cheap laptops to schools in developing nations.

Could you define what you mean by the incorporation of technology? What do you consider to be the most basic, necessary technology needs of educational institutions in developing nations? And what do you think of the One Laptop Per Child idea?

Patrick: Let me respond to Liz's question above. First, I love the idea of one laptop per child and I think it is attainable. I disagree with those who say that in poor rural environments there is no way to give kids access to technology. The means exist - and are improving every day - and I believe that being computer/internet literate is quickly becoming as important as reading used to be. It is the new basic skill of the 21st century. I've seen great examples of kids and adults discovering computers out in remote rural areas of Africa and this is one of the ways that makes those places not nearly so remote anymore.
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5. Zarrin C: I worked on OneWorld's e-zine "Learning the Future" and in one of the articles, I addressed the issue of increasing use of computers in school and virtual learning. While it's fantastic for kids to have resources they never had before and to open their eyes to the world via technology, I saw almost no critical analysis of the commercialization of education. In other words, any company moving into schools is going to want to sell their products, IT companies included. If I had a child in school, the presence of more and more companies in the classrooms would bother me a lot. Even companies in my local area like McDonalds sponsor certain schools, but I find this development troubling. What are your thoughts on this topic?
 
Patrick: Zarrin, I share your disquiet about commercialization of education. However, in my experience working in Asia and Africa the issue has not been how to get companies out of the schools but how to get them engaged in educating their communities' children and youth. We are seeing some great contributions by the private sector to education in the name of corporate social responsibility or corporate philanthropy. These public private partnerships can enrich schools and partly address some of the resource shortages that Jeffry Allen raised. In my experience these companies really have been investing in their communities and not in their own narrow interests.
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6. Jeffery: Can you talk a bit about the role that armed conflict (ongoing in Afghanistan and recently concluded in Liberia) plays in education?

Patrick: In both Afghanistan and Liberia the ability of the Government to get kids back into schools is important both from an educational and from a governance point of view. Seeing schools functioning is a powerful symbol of a government reestablishing its authority and demonstrates its ability (or inability) to serve communities.

In these cases full spectrum efforts from school construction to teacher training and curriculum development are necessary. Accelerated Learning Programs have been important to reaching children who were unable to go to school because of conflict. These programs offer basic education on a speeded-up basis so that kids who are in their teens can do a 6 year curriculum in 2-3 years and then move into formal school at an age-appropriate level. Programs that address the educational needs of youth are critical. The use of technology, such as interactive radio learning is often useful both for classroom based instruction and for supporting teachers' professional development.
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7. Jama Jama Musse: In Africa, for instance, what can be the role of the public education -normally run by the governments in free of charge- vs. a privately run schools where quality may be secured and be accountable but few people can access these schools for the relatively high costs? In other words for the overall society, is it preferable to give access as many individuals as possible to (a less qualified) education system; or we have to promote privately owned schools where some kind of quality is secured?

Patrick: Musse, Thanks for your question about the whether one should have elite or mass systems of education. I think we have to have both. From a public policy point of view it is essential that all citizens gain basic skills and have the opportunity to realize their potential through education. This is important for social, economic, and moral reasons. So, investing in mass education is, I believe, a fundamental responsibility of a nation. At the same time, diversity can add strength to a system. Certainly in developing nations private schools are an important part of total education provision. I'd add to private schools religious schools, which also play an important role in many countries. In some countries private and religious schools have been essential in providing education that is available to the masses, for example through community schools. Not all private schools follow an elite model. Do others have views about this?
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8. Robyn: There are currently more young people in the world than ever before, particularly in developing countries. Due to poverty and disease, many of these children have to assume adult responsibilities at an earlier age to keep the family unit going. How can these children still obtain an education while tending to needs at home?
 
Patrick: You've posed a tough question. On one hand, I think there is a general consensus that children should attend school and learn basic skills. In fact, child labor is defined as labor that prevents kids from going to school. So, I think we can assume a consensus that kids should attend school at least to 6th grade. But after the primary cycle most kids in developing countries won't continue. This, in my view, is one of the most critical issues facing us as educators: the need to extend schooling to children and youth beyond primary. The momentum is growing and progress is being made.
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9. Diane Raabe: I'd like to know about Patrick's direct experiences with students in the countries he's visited with regard to their desire for education. Also, is there enough openness to the education of girls and young women?

Patrick: Dianna - I've been inspired by children in poor countries who overcome such obstacles to pursue their education. I've often thought about kids who get one chance in life in a poorly-resourced school, with no books or electricity, and limited support from home. Somehow, many of them triumph over these conditions, sometimes, almost in spite of the education they receive. I contrast this to my experience in the US where I taught in Boston at a time when there was a 52% drop-out rate form high school. I used to think, "These kids don't know what they are throwing away." The demand and enthusiasm that kids in developing countries show for education is one of the things that keeps me committed to this work.
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10. Roshani: We face a lot of challenges here in DC in terms of the educational system. Are there some lessons we can learn from societies around the world for improving the schools in DC?

Patrick: First, I think there is a lot that US school systems can learn from what is happening in developing countries where there is exciting innovation taking place. Too often the sharing is only one way. When I've sponsored exchanges the sharing and similarities are very exciting and stimulating.

One lesson that we learn from each other is the importance of parents and communities in children's learning. There are great examples of community participation in the US and from other countries. For example, in Latin America the School Report Card has proved a powerful tool for getting parents involved in issues of school quality and accountability. There are also approaches to peer-to-peer support among teachers and the use of low cost materials/technology.
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11. Jorge Marrero: Here in Mexico where I live part of year I have observed severe needs and education deficiencies. Children and adolescents forced by need, quit studying and never return to school. The opportunities for education are proportional to one's level of wealth.
What can you share that might serve as orientation to generate a nonprofit program of support to learning. Organizations, web sites, resources, etc., Thanks for your work...!

Patrick: Jorge - You are right that educational opportunities, like almost all other opportunities, are influenced by wealth. That is why providing quality education for all is so important; education is the principle means to social mobility. This is why so many organizations that care about social justice, NGOs like AED, CARE, Save The Children, World Vision, etc. as well as churches and communities focus on education. They see that it is the key and that opportunities are distributed unequally. I'd suggest you start with the Education For All website.
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