Aiming to encourage discussion about the future of education, a newly released whitepaper investigates current challenges facing the sector, the future role of technology, and how business and education can engage together.
Titled The Future of Education, the report was commissioned by Canon Australia and curated by writer, broadcaster and academic, Dr Sunil Badami.
Dr Badami is a lecturer at the University of Technology, Sydney. He has over 15 years of teaching experience in vocational and tertiary education, and extensive experience at the whiteboard coal-face. As the father of two young children he also has a very personal interest in the future of education.
“Before I began my research, I was just as anxious as many parents are about the future of education in the Age of Disruption, where so many old certainties seemed to be redundant. With everything changing so fast every day, how could I prepare my children for a future that seemed even less certain than ever before?” he said.
“Education and the commentary around it seemed so fraught, given the many daunting issues and challenges, like funding inequality, outcome disparity and falling standards, that exist today.”
Released on 16 August 2018, the report includes expert interviews with prominent academics, commentators and educators; exploring what the future of education might hold. It covers topics that include: The Future of Working, The Future of Teaching, and The Future of Learning.
Interview subjects were selected for their experience in various educational sectors, including primary, secondary and tertiary education, and private and public schools.
“After delving into the work of some of the world’s best education theorists and speaking to some of Australia’s most experienced and renowned policy makers, educators and commentators across the sector’s very varied spectrum, I discovered that it’s not simply any ‘right’ answer that we need to seek, but new ways of asking different questions: for it is in these questions we can not only discover knowledge, but come to understanding,” Dr Badami added.
“I hope that The Future of Education raises questions that spark new conversations to help us find potential solutions to these issues and challenges together, and I’m much more confident that the future of education can be an exciting opportunity for our kids and our country, if we as a community apply the same creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, communication and curiosity we’re now seeking to instil in learners to not only survive, but thrive in the Age of Disruption and to turn its possible challenges into potential opportunities – but we need to start those conversations, and working towards that future, today.”
Research for this whitepaper started in March 2018 and took place over a 12-week period. It included over 100 hours of surveying, compiling and annotating nearly 300 academic articles and government white papers, specialist and general media reports and educational literature covering both theoretical and current issues in education. Please click to view the Future of Education whitepaper.
