Education in the 21st Century
Education is clearly one of the most important endeavors of humanity. How we educate children, youth, and adults is of paramount importance. In the coming Age of Intelligence the disruption of the workplace will be unprecedented. This will make lifelong learning, on-going training, and constant re-education more important than ever.
The key question for educators and anyone interested in education is simply: What does 21st Century education look like? Any other questions flow up and down from the answers to this one.
In the 21st century, how can we infuse Pre-K education with the ever increasing knowledge of early childhood brain development?
How can we make all education ever more learner-centric, and individualized?
Should the concept of age related grades be maintained?
Should the K-12 school year change?
How can we possibly make higher education more affordable?
What are the scalable, accessible, affordable structures that can be put in place to enhance and encourage life long learning for a world that has moved from the Knowledge Economy to the Learning Economy?
Many of these questions and topics were addressed at the first ever symposium of The Sarasota Institute, A 21st Century Think “An Educated Person in 2035” which was held on January 18, 2020 in the Neel Performing Arts Center on the State College of Florida campus in Bradenton, Florida. It was a full day of speakers, interactive sessions and panels that triggered much debate and conversation.
The symposium was live streamed to some 13 countries with 85% being in the United States. Here is the condensed, edited version of the live stream As a futurist, I was the only non-educator on stage. I followed Dr. Carol Probstfeld, the President of the State College of Florida at the beginning. She came up with a new 21st Century definition of PC : provocative and controversial. In addition to watching the two of us at the start of the recording, please watch or sample all the other truly insightful presenters and panels, including the panel of the presidents, the four college presidents in Sarasota-Bradenton address the current critical issues of higher education.
If you are an educator or someone deeply interested and concerned about the future of education, watching the symposium will most certainly trigger some thinking.
[Note: I am a Co-Founder and Co-Managing Director of The Sarasota Institute. The Institute will be producing three more Symposiums on Climate Change, the New Health Age of the 21st Century, and the Future of Democracy and Capitalism. You can find the dates and times here in case you might want to watch the any of the live streams]
