Fernando Alcoforado*
This article aims to demonstrate the need to restructure the education system in all countries of the world to adapt to the profound changes that are occurring in the world of work arising from technological advances. In addition to preparing people for life, a country’s education system must plan the preparation and continuous updating of people to the labor market. In the preparation of people for the labor market, the great challenge of education is represented by the rapid changes that are occurring in the world of work thanks to the technological advance, especially the impact of artificial intelligence which can lead to the end of some professions and generate unemployment in skilled and unskilled workers.
All of this suggests that we are experiencing a transition that puts enormous strain on the economy and society. The current education offered to workers and students who are preparing to enter the labor market is likely to be ineffective. In other words, education systems are preparing workers for a world of work that is ceasing to exist. The future of work in a world with Artificial Intelligence requires the adoption of new measures aimed at the qualification of the workforce that should know how to use this technology as a tool to complement their skills. Some functions are assigned to intelligent machines and systems. New functions for humans arise in the face of this new scenario.
It is incumbent upon education system planners to identify the role of human beings in the world of work in the future with the presence of intelligent machines to bring about a broad revolution in education at all levels, including teacher qualification and the structuring of educational units to prepare their students for a world of work where people will have to deal with intelligent machines. With a new education, it is necessary to prepare workers to carry out their activities adjusted, therefore, to the new times. In order to implement a new education, it is essential to begin to identify the skills needed for 21st century work and to adjust the educational system that is obsolete to train citizens better equipped for a reality that is different from the industrial era that is coming to an end and still prevails at the time.
In planning for a future-oriented education system, it is necessary not to adopt a single model, a single path to education, taking into account the specificities of each region of the country. Adopt pedagogical guidance that prioritizes problem solving and execution of real projects in the classroom by discipline and, above all, on a transdisciplinary basis with more participatory and procedural construction – and with more scripted models, previously prepared, planned in the smallest details. It is necessary to make the learning process with challenges, real problems, games with students who learn to do together and at their own pace. To prepare the teacher to be the articulator of individual and group activities with the capacity to follow up, mediate, analyze the processes, results, gaps and needs, based on the individual and group paths. Prepare the teacher to acquire broader skills, beyond the knowledge of the content, how to adapt to the group and each student; plan, monitor and evaluate meaningful and different activities. The new role of the teacher must be more complex than the former to convey information.
In planning for a future-oriented education system, it is necessary to increase the number of quality educational units with good managers, teachers and infrastructure that can motivate students and actually promote meaningful, complex and comprehensive learning. There needs to be a career plan, training and valuation of educational managers and teachers. Consistent training policies are needed to attract the best teachers, reward them well and qualify them better, innovative management policies that lead to successful management models for basic and higher education. Educators need to learn to be people and professionals in difficult and precarious contexts, to learn to evolve in all fields, to be more affective and at the same time to know how to manage groups. They must become inspiring and motivational educators.
1. The structuring of future-oriented educational units
The teaching units should work together to meet Murilo Gun, a lecturer who graduated from Singularity University and a professor of creativity, who listed four skills that will be essential to people in an exponentially growing future with disruptive technologies such as Artificial Intelligence:
i) Interpersonal intelligence – the ability to relate to other people, standing out the ability to create empathy, which is related to leadership ability;
ii) Intrapersonal intelligence – the ability to relate to oneself, emphasizing self-knowledge, self-control and mastery of emotions;
iii) Artificial Intelligence – ability to understand the impact of technology, such as Artificial Intelligence and robotics, and use these resources as tools to expand human potential; and,
iv) Creative intelligence – the main difference between human and artificial intelligence, that is, developing the capacity to create something new, using the other intelligences and applying them in an innovative way [SAP. As habilidades do futuro em um mundo com Inteligência Artificial (The skills of the future in a world with Artificial Intelligence). Available on the website <http://news.sap.com/brazil/2017/01/25/as-habilidades-do-futuro-em-um-mundo-com-inteligencia-artificial/>, 2017].
Countries such as Switzerland and Finland have already begun to actively consider this new reality and have started a process of adapting their societies – which began by reformulating their educational systems, favoring the development of the ability to metacognition (human capacity to monitor and self-regulate cognitive processes, ie the human being’s ability to be aware of his actions and thoughts), language proficiency (especially in English, because most human knowledge is registered in this language) and a curriculum based on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) associated with the Greek “method” of “liberal art” because it is understood to be an efficient way of adapting the way of thinking to a mentality more directed to the creation of intellectual property, in which the connection of knowledge – more comprehensively – and the imagination – to act creatively in society and generate innovation [TIBAU, Marcelo. Inteligência Artificial e o mercado de trabalho (Artificial Intelligence and the labor Market). Available on the website <http://www.updateordie.com/2016/10/08/inteligencia-artificial-e-o-mercado-de-trabalho/>, 2016].
The units of education should be prepared taking into account the 6 trends of the education system of the future presented in the article published on the CONQUER Blog – 6 tendências para o futuro da educação (6 trends for the future of education) available on the website <http://escolaconquer.com.br/6-tendencias-para-o-futuro-da-educacao/>. The 6 trends of the education system of the future are as follows:
i) Classrooms- Instead of being intended for theory, the rooms will have as their purpose the practice. The student learns theory at home and practices in classrooms with the help of a teacher / mentor.
ii) Personalized learning – Students will learn with tools that adapt to their own abilities, being able to learn in different time and places. This means that above-average students will be challenged with more difficult exercises and those with more difficulty will have the opportunity to practice more until they reach the desired level. This process will make teachers more able to see clearly what kind of help each student needs.
iii) Free choice – Students will have the freedom to modify their learning process, choosing the subjects they wish to learn based on their own preferences and may use different devices, programs and techniques that they deem necessary for their own learning.
iv) Practical applicability – Knowledge will not only be in theory, it will be put into practice through projects so that students acquire the mastery of technique and also practice organization, teamwork and leadership.
v) QE> IQ (emotional quotient> intelligence quotient) – Since technology brings more efficiency and is increasingly replacing human work in several areas, training should include the presence of essentially human skills and value social interactions. Schools should provide more opportunities for students to acquire real world skills that will make a difference in their work. That means more space for work programs, more collaborative projects, more practice.
vi) The evaluation system will change– Many people argue that how the quiz system is not effective because many students only decorate the contents and forget them the day after the evaluation. Moreover, this system does not adequately assess what the student is actually able to do with that content in practice. Therefore, the tendency is that the evaluations happen to occur in the realization of real projects, with the students putting their hand in the mass.
2. The role of the teacher of the future
Management and existing infrastructure in an educational unit are important in teaching at any level. However, the success of student learning depends on the teacher who, in the education of the future, would cease to be merely an transmitter of information for the students and would assume the role of articulator of teaching in individual and group activities with their ability to follow, mediate, to analyze the processes, results, gaps and needs, from the paths carried out by the students individually and in groups. It is proven worldwide that the teacher is the key piece to teaching quality and thus improves student performance. The role of the teacher in Finland, South Korea and Japan is exemplary which are countries that have the best education systems in the world.
In Finland, the pillar that underpins education concerns the selection and training of teachers with professional recognition and good working conditions. In each Finnish educational unit, teachers are permanently attentive to student achievement. Educational units are successful because their teachers are trusted to do whatever it takes to transform the lives of young people around. In basic education, many schools are small enough for teachers to know all students. If a method fails, teachers consult their peers to try another alternative. Almost 30 percent of Finland’s children receive some special help during their first nine years of schooling.
At the first sign of difficulty of student in learning any content, an alert sounds that mobilizes the entire teaching unit. The teacher asks for help from a special teacher, dedicated to breaking down barriers to learning. In addition, all cases are discussed by a “relief committee” which may include the principal, psychologist, other teachers and even parents. Each Finnish school has an “elite troop” to ensure that no student is left behind in in performance. At the first sign of difficulty, the teacher asks for the interference of another educator. This colleague, through the system called “special education”, is dedicated to attend to the specific difficulties of the student. Throughout school life, it is not uncommon for any Finnish student to be referred to the special teacher – and this is not seen as a failure. Director and teachers meet to discuss the situation of each student.
In Finland, the teaching profession is on an equal footing with other leading careers and with social recognition. The Finnish government lays down general definitions of the curriculum, but each teacher can adapt it to local characteristics. This creates an environment of highly motivated professionals. In each Finnish educational unit, teachers are permanently attentive to student achievement. In Finland’s history, teachers have always been seen as the people who brought civilization to small villages. In Finland, teachers are autonomous professionals respected for making a difference in people’s lives. In Finland, the teaching profession attracts the students’ elite. The best students saw teachers in Finland. As a result of the large demand, only one out of every 10 candidates is able to obtain university courses that prepare educators to work in schools. Training is another differential of Finnish education because all teachers need to have the title of masters in education to get work. The salary of teachers is in the average of European countries, as well as the amount of education per student.
Being a teacher in South Korea is worthy of pride and admiration. As well as in Finland, there is a rigorous selection and training of teachers with professional recognition and good working conditions. The teaching career in South Korea is among the most disputed, thanks to good salaries (a South Korean teacher of elementary school earns six times more than a Brazilian and is among the 10 highest paid in the world, with a minimum of US$ 4,000 a month) and good prospects for the future (prestige and salary increase only). After four grueling undergraduate years, all future teachers have to take a master’s degree – the minimum level of training to teach. In addition, there are no teachers left without a place in the market. How those who can finish the training are extremely well prepared, all are absorbed by the educational units.
One of the factors for the success of South Korea’s educational system are teachers who are highly valued socially. In addition to being well paid with the minimum training required, they have great recognition of society. In 2005, the Korean government began to invest heavily in information and communication technology in schools, distributing equipment such as laptops. It has also launched a program whereby students can access content on the Internet, from any computer. Now, there is a project to digitize all content of the curriculum when Elementary and Middle schools will have textbooks in computerized version.
In Japan, a teacher is a highly respected profession, and for Japanese the teacher is called a “sensei”, or teacher in Portuguese, because he is considered the wise, centered and guiding student. Japan has the exact notion that the future of the country depends on children and young people, so education is highly valued, rigorous, disciplined. And for all of this to work in practice, competent teachers are required, who have passed rigorous selections, who have a high degree of knowledge and are, in compensation, well paid. In Japan, teachers are admired. When someone says that he is a teacher, he gains the admiration of everyone in the act.
3. The unfortunate situation of education and teachers in Brazil
Meanwhile, in Brazil, the poor performance of the education system results from the inexistence of government policies that contribute to improving the management of education, educational infrastructure and, above all, teacher appreciation. There is a great deal of neglect in the treatment given by the rulers to teachers in Brazil, especially of primary and secondary education, that affects the quality of their work in the contemporary era. The Brazilian teacher has to face the problem of school indiscipline, especially of primary and secondary education, all this, combined with the very low salary he receives. Added to all this, the Brazilian teacher still submits to the various types of violence occurred in the classroom. Finally, the whole situation exists mainly due to the lack of commitment of the Brazilian rulers to education that is not placed as a top priority for national development. Valuing and further training the Brazilian teacher are determining factors for the advancement of education in Brazil.
The disregard of Brazil’s rulers for education is contributing to the reduction of teacher candidates undergraduate enrollment in the country, generating a drop in teacher training. The data from the 2013 Higher Education Census released by the National Institute of Educational Research Anísio Teixeira (Inep) confirmed a gloomy trend for the future of the country: the “blackout of teachers” in teacher undergraduate schools that occurs for the fourth year in a row, with fewer and fewer students seeking undergraduate courses in teacher. As a result, Brazil has had less and less teachers. This unfortunate situation in which the teacher is in Brazil is demanding a radical change in the way the education system in Brazil has been planned and managed.
Brazil needs to be inspired by successful experiences in the world, such as Finland, South Korea and Japan. Brazil’s rulers need to understand that Brazil’s future will be compromised without quality education. Valuing and further training the Brazilian teacher are determining factors for the advancement of education in Brazil. The role of the teacher is decisive so that through education a new kind of conscious and well-prepared man is created to transform the world in which we live. Regrettably, in Brazil, the Bolsonaro administration performs a disastrous administration with cuts of funds in education demonstrating that it does not consider it a priority for the country’s development. Everything presented here with respect to the achievements of education in Finland, South Korea and Japan should serve as a basis for the adoption of educational policies for the future in Brazil and in the world.
* Fernando Alcoforado, 79, awarded the medal of Engineering Merit of the CONFEA / CREA System, member of the Bahia Academy of Education, engineer and doctor in Territorial Planning and Regional Development by the University of Barcelona, university professor and consultant in the areas of strategic planning, business planning, regional planning and planning of energy systems, is the author of 14 books addressing issues such as Globalization and Development, Brazilian Economy, Global Warming and Climate Change, The Factors that Condition Economic and Social Development, Energy in the world, The Great Scientific, Economic, and Social Revolutions that Changed the World and Inventing the Future to change the World.
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