Educators need to adapt to reality of globalization

Educators need to adapt to reality of globalization

Mark Conners, Global Partners Education Consultant, Bandung

markconners295@hotmail.com

The world is struggling to adapt to the reality of
globalization. In this new era, national borders are blurred by
instant interaction and information sharing. If the ASEAN economy
collapses, it impacts western countries. If there is a terror
attack in New York, the rest of the world instantly feels the
effects.

If there is a bombing in Bali, it's not only Indonesia's
tragedy; it is the world's problem. Political instability this
morning influences decisions a potential investor will make this
afternoon.

How does all this affect the role of the Educator in
Indonesia? In a profound and dramatic way.

These new levels of interdependence have huge implications for
the future workforce of Indonesia, currently being prepared in
our schools. Will they be able to meaningfully participate in the
global economy of the 21st century? Or will they be sidelined,
limited by lack of skills to fill the role of "cheap labor" for
kids in other countries who are also currently being prepared for
the 21st century?

The world sees and shares an incredible amount of information
through the Internet and in the West this has transformed and
profoundly effected how business, politics and education are
conducted. The internet has introduced new modes of learning that
have revolutionized how, when and where people can access
information.

The IT (information technology) industry itself has even in
its relative infancy created incredible new opportunities for
employment and development. The nation of India has tremendously
benefited from globalizations' IT needs, training and educating
its youth for skills needed in this new world economy. But for
every success story, there are many countries that are on the
wrong side of the "digital divide." These countries are missing
out on many of these incredible new opportunities, still
struggling to "get into the game" of globalization through a
workforce well skilled in IT and its' mode of communication- the
English language.

So, here are two big questions: Are teachers currently
modeling and teaching the kinds of skills that are needed to take
advantage of Global opportunities? It's at this very basic point
of contact: Teacher and student -- that require serious attention
by Indonesian educators and administrators. Also -- what are some
practical steps educators in Indonesia do right now to move
forward?

All agree that basic IT skills will be essential, but more
important are skills that are able to meaningfully interact with
and synthesize vast amounts of available knowledge, and bring it
to bear on current problems or challenges.

With the development of the WWW, a growing network of instant
information sharing and access has introduced a New Paradigm for
interacting in our world.

Any discussion about increasing teacher effectiveness must
take into account these powerful forces of change present in the
world today.

The relationship between teacher and student takes a dramatic
twist in the new paradigm, namely, immediate access to
information is now offered to both through the Internet. A
treasure chest of knowledge has been opened to all educators and
students that were previously accessible only to the lucky few,
and this dynamic alone changes the relationship between teacher
and student.

Under the old paradigm, knowledge is in the hands of a
relatively small proportion of society. Handled like bars of
gold, knowledge has been kept secure in universities, by
governments, businesses, (and yes even teachers).

The challenge for teachers in the old paradigm is simple: How
do I communicate the small amount of information that I have to
the students effectively?

In the old paradigm, the teacher is the source of information
to the kids, for better or worse. If the teacher doesn't know
their topic very well, the kids suffer. If the teacher is a bad
communicator, the kids suffer. The role of Provider was the key
word in this paradigm.

In the new paradigm, through the Internet, knowledge can be in
the hands (and on the monitors) of anyone who is interested. The
latest research from great universities around the world, on any
topic is ready to read and ponder right now, through your
computer.

Almost all cataloged information known to mankind about
history, geography, economics, medicine, science, politics and
basically anything else can be accessed with a minimal amount of
effort. Suddenly, knowledge is no longer a scarce commodity, now
it's able to be interacted with freely, for better or worse!

Now the challenge is: How do we interact with all this
information, these vast resources of knowledge in such a way that
it positively contributes to making Indonesia a better place?

Bill Gates, CEO of Microsoft has a goal: A computer, hooked up
to the Internet, in every classroom, as soon as possible.

Already, the role of the teacher has been changed forever:
There is a better source of information for our kids, about many,
many more topics, and this source is always available: The
Internet.

What is its implication on teachers? in many ways, the basic
job is the same: Prepare kids for the future. Our kids need basic
skills to become good citizens, responsible contributors who can
make our world a better place.

The current generation of educators was prepared for life in
the old paradigm, and the system of education that we use now is
developed for the old paradigm.

We must be able to see the future well enough to know what
kind of preparation, skills, basics our kids need to be good
citizens, productive in the new paradigm.

Get a vision for how your kids can interact with vast amounts
of information in productive, creative, useful ways.

We need to develop a positive, powerful vision for our kids.

Many Teachers are intimidated and scared by the new paradigm.
"It's too much! I can't change now! The world of computers is
beyond me!" This attitude results in a tragic irony: The very
ones that should be modeling how to learn become irrelevant in
promoting the desire to learn among their students! Tragically,
it's the kids that are suffering because of our fears and
inaction.

Yet our kids desire to interact with the world through the
internet is gaining momentum and strength with each passing year.

The proof? Warnets (small kiosks providing Internet
connections) are full of kids! Every time they log on to the
internet, they have access to incredible riches of information
that can dramatically change Indonesia -- if they learn to
interact, and apply what they learn.

And forget the belief that Indonesian kids don't want to learn
how to speak English, the currency of global youth culture. There
may be no other country in the world which has so many kids who
truly want to learn how to communicate in English! Unfortunately,
educators often have no idea how to promote speaking skills in
schools, resulting in a discouraging, boring, irrelevant approach
that leaves students demotivated.

These questions and challenges are difficult to answer well
apart from the collective effort of a local school community. Yet
this is where the challenge is placed: not on the administrators,
parents, principals, teachers or students alone, but the whole
community.

Together, facing tough questions about change may be the best
catalyst for real change in our schools.

Perhaps the profound scope of this topic and its implications
were best summed up by CEO Jack Welch when he asserted at the
General Electric annual report that "GE's only competitive
advantage is its ability to learn.

Indeed, learning how to learn in the new paradigm may be the
most productive and strategic activity Indonesian educators can
do.

The opinions expressed above are personal.