Looking forward, Mr Puttock said there would be a change in the role of schools and the way they function in the future. He expects learning will shift into becoming a student-led, collaborative process. He said this will be the best and most conducive way children can imbibe the skills, attributes and values to flourish in a world where he (and other leading educators) believe will be directed by artificial intelligence and other technologies, and where graduates will experience multiple career changes in their lifetimes.
“Schools must realise they cannot continue to operate as transmitters of knowledge. Learning at its best is a social, collaborative and shared activity where you learn from each other. Students will not be receptors to be filled with knowledge – they will become agents of their own learning.”
Schools of the future will place greater emphasis on areas of learning such as the performing arts, interdisciplinary learning, global citizenship, greater engagement with technologies that focus on values over knowledge, sport or physical activity, well-being and entrepreneurship. For these shifts to occur, educators must change gears into becoming role models for life-long learning.
“NAE’s unique collaborations with world leaders in their field in these areas will enable these aspects to come to life in an unparalleled fashion for their students,” Mr Puttock said.