Just can't compete

A recent online newsletter touted the forward thinking of Sweden's school system.  They were retraining their teachers to teach an integrated curriculum.  It seems their people at the top didn't like their students taking subjects in isolation.  The article thought this was a first in the world move on the part of educators.

Apparently, the writer ignored or was ignorant of similar movements in the U.S. that have been occurring on a regular basis.  The first wave came in the form of magnet schools, but the during the last 5-7 years Harmony schools and STEM academies have been popping up all around the U.S. with similar approaches.  I suppose the fact that Sweden was making this a system wide change in one fell swoop is a first, but then again, Sweden is only the equivalent of maybe five states in the U.S., so a change would be much easier to accomplish in a smaller environment.  If the truth were known, the same number of children in the U.S. and in Sweden are probably undergoing the same type of formal training.

I would say, however, the world is about to see a really large change.  It's not in the area of integration of ideas anymore.  That is yesterday's news.  The change will be away from building knowledge of what has gone before, in favor of being able to use collections of ideas to predict the future.  In math and science this is known as learning the algorithms that have produced results and being able to change the algorithm's constituents to yield different results.  Presentation skills will supplant reading and writing skills.  Knowing where and when to touch a screen will be as important as having a high level of vocabulary.  Having the right set or combination of apps to rely on will be much more important than being able to recount and recall who did something when.

Schools that can read the tea leaves of where the world is headed will produce the next generation's leaders and wealthy class.  When cyber hackers are one of the world's biggest problems because they can steal identity and cost businesses billions of dollars in theft and prevention of theft, then knowing facts, or even integrated ideas, can't compete with what is available outside of the educational circle.

As always, there will be those lone voices who lead the way.  My concern is that this time, the usual number of followers a few years later (the better-late-than-never crowd) won't be able to follow.  They won't be able to even speak the same language as those who lead the way.  They'll be left behind.  That has happened in history before, but during the most recent time that happened, the Middle Ages, the masses suffered greatly.  At one point, (the Black Plague) the world shed its population by somewhere between 1/2 and 1/3.  It saddens me to think that could happen again.  But when people willingly leave themselves behind...