So this is a post far different to my normal posts that I usually go with. However recently I have had such a explosion of thoughts about the education system that is in place today in the UK.
I am 20, so the education system is still pretty fresh for me, and I am still in it whilst I study for my degree. However until now I didn’t realise how stuck in the past it is and how much we are indoctrinated with the knowledge within the curriculum that is set every year.
Currently, the primary and secondary sectors are very pedagogical in their way of teaching. Pedagogy is a system in which the teacher gives knowledge to the student, and the student must learn the way the teacher decides. Having younger brothers and sisters lets me peek into the now distant memory of primary and secondary school. In the UK, it has changed so much. It is almost unrecognisable to me, apart from the number grading system for GCSE’s, which really confused the hell out of me. The system is so obsessed on memory recall rather than actual teaching knowledge.
For the past two years, I have been part of a revolutionary style of teaching that has taken some getting used too. I have been part of a Hetagogical style of teaching, which basically means the opposite to the pedagogical style, where the teacher and the learner both learn together and find their own ways to learn. We sit in circles and engage in dialogue rather than lectures. The lecturer is a coach instead, and drift into the background as the students have open discussion on a topic and all learn together, as a team. That’s the essence of this way of learning, team learning.
As a individualist society, this style of teaching can be a heart transplant of a change. It takes people out their comfort zone and is very inclusive on everyone in the room. It promotes more collectivist ways of thinking. Understanding team members and then using your strengths to boost other peoples weaknesses, use peoples strengths to boost your weaknesses and the idea is that we all learn as one, and all progress. It enhances and utilises your emotional intelligence, and makes every voice heard.
After two years, I feel I have such a deep understanding of what this style of teaching actually delivers, as at first i was genuinely confused and thought the idea was pretty crazy.
However its actually very logical and makes sense in a society like ours, where productivity is very much stagnant and even retracting in some ways. As a society we are complacent of past successes and some would argue are really coasting in the grand schemes of things. This approach pushes the boundaries of what a team can do, and really changes the landscape of teaching, where teachers and students are both on the same level, where for hundreds of years students have always viewed the teacher as an authoritarian figure.
The future is bright and the future is changing, the change is happening now. There are many places starting to adopt this way of teaching in schools, businesses, and institutions across the country, around Europe, in South America and now the Middle East.
Its a real game changer and it really does change the education system, for the better! I am so happy and so lucky to be part of this change and make my stamp on this evolving movement that is taking the world by storm.
B xoxo
Brandon's Blog 