Design for a Future School in 2025 - Report Example

398557 DESIGN FOR A FUTURE SCHOOL IN 2025 Student Name ………………………….. Student Number ………………………… Tute Day & Time ………………………... Introduction The future school will be located in the slums in E-reserve. The future school shall involve learners to be innovative and creative. Their education curriculum will influence learners to be more innovative as much as possible The future school will allow learners to be educated and be very creative. Future school will allow the education system that nurtures creativity and not undermining. “Students learn how to identify and critique the prejudices, divisions and hierarchies of the aftermath of the Western colonialism that has so deeply affected today's world, and to see how these have come to be the foundations of the continuing and deepening inequalities in globalization” (Hickling-Hudson, Matthews and Woods 2003). The proposed future school would have a good planning so as to enable the school to choose what it wants to achieve in the future. The driving force in the world today is an implication that enhances the future of schools, learners and teachers. The most obvious is the use of information technology. In the future school, everything shall be focused on the learning programe. “Information technology is not only revolutionizing our lives, but fast” (gates, 1978-1998). Teachers and learners in the future school shall be computer literate so as to manage to communicate easily. The management and administration shall be of high integrity so as to manage the school successfully. They to shall be smart in the new technology that is they shall be computer literate. The future school shall be an online school whereby an online system shall be setup with an interactive resource that will support classroom teaching. The system shall be designed in a manner that it will be focused on individual student needs so as to allow interaction with their teachers one-on-one learning. The future school shall have its own curriculum with appropriate syllabus supported around the world. Students in the future school of 2025 will be able to log onto their virtual tutor on the screen. Student portal shall be designed so that the students may get all the learning resources at the touch of a button. The students in the future school shall be provided with Usernames and passwords in order to access the future school online from anywhere using any computer with high connectivity. They will be provided with the supports lesson materials which will be taught at schools. Each course shall be made up of multiple lessons which allow students to work through it on their own time. The resources for this course shall allow a student to search for a particular topic with ease. Student in the future school will use a reporting system to view and track all lesson activities such as progress reports, summary reports and study plan report. Teachers in the future school shall develop tutorials accompanied by sound lesson content, which can be replayed by student incase of unclear section. “Future school will be committed to expanding the circles of concern and most teachers will be active in designing and implementing programs and strategies to promote intercultural understanding and interrelationships” (Hickling-Hudson 2003) Teachers will also support students in classroom teaching and online i.e one-on-one teaching. Teachers will use the online system to assign lessons to students to access them in the classroom and even at their homes. The future school will have realistic procedures and planning. Since education is an industry, the school will be able to choose its format on what it wants to be. “If we use the past as an indicator of what will happen in schooling, then the negotiation of a programme of learning will resemble the way a person operates in the internationalized, professionalized, information-rich organizations which emerged in the 1990s with a high emphasis on cerebral rather than manual skills, on learning how as much as on learning what, on understanding underlying principles, on working jointly with others in a team, on joint problem-solving as much as on individual learning” (Handy, : ch. 2). The school will have eight classes, a staff room for teachers and an administration block which will house the principal, the accountant, clerk, bursar, secretaries and other senior officers. Among the school buildings will also be four dormitories – two for girls and two for boys, there will also be two laboratories, a music room and an arts center. At the heart of the school compound will be a library – a storey building with large and spacious reading area and a computer center inside. The teachers in the future school shall be diploma holders in education, and/or ECD and above. The teachers will have experience of at least one year where and be dedicated to their work. They must posses good interrelationship skills, communication skills, good Computer knowledge and should serve as a good example to the students. They must also show development in their career and personal lives. The students will be mostly children from the neighboring society, though students from distant places will also be entertained. “There were predictions from a wide variety of experts about the trend shaping the world into which this generation of school children will proceed”(Hedley). Most of the people around the town where the school will be located will be middle class people therefore we will expect average students. The concerns of the people around are good morals and determined, people therefore will expect a society which trains their children of the same. The school will strive to ensure that the parents are not disappointed. The school will also offer free computer classes and foreign languages so as to increase the career opportunities for these students. Future school will use portable computers (laptops and notebooks) which uses sunlight as a source of energy, and they will be combined with smartcards for accessing bank accounts. Computers shall replace pen and paper in the future school, because each and every student shall have access to portable computers. Schools will no longer be situated in some big buildings, but instead, they can be situated in any rented room, as long as the school programs are being favored. “Learning is like the intensive working life of knowledge Workers” (Handy : 36). Site-based experts shall be employed to give advice on information technology and computers, at to so that they will be updating the future school on what to be done. Future school curriculum will emphasize mostly on the progressive deepening of skill in identifying and analyzing issues. The future school will put more emphasis on knowledge production and skill development. It will release students from physical classroom and reliance on textbooks. Future school will conduct their examinations using computer, whereby the computer will conduct and mark exams, thus giving the learners good time to take their tests when they are ready and at their convenient time. Teachers in the future school will be responsible for directing their learners using online modules and tracking their progresses via the online. The assessments and outcome results shall also be online. “Many things about the way schools teach and what they teach are due for remodeling” (Gardne). Every teacher shall have a lap-top with compatible school software. They will be provided with email addresses by the school in which they will use it to communicate with their colleagues. In the future school, the Academic progress of every student shall be stored in database so that every teacher can be able to access it at any time. The parents also shall be updated about the learning progress in the school on some set dates. The school management shall computerized its system, so that all the internal communication, budget and their finances shall be controlled by this system. The future school will lease out production and it’s functions to other firm s who have the expertise to do it, thereby attracting lower costs and buying competencies from elsewhere. Some of the future challenges that may face the school include: Creating the conditions or learning that support the growth of this kind of person, a person comfortable with them self, as well as flexible enough to collaborate and negotiate with others who are different; to work on common projects and forge shared interests, and able to learn and to transform them self in new and changing situations.( Kalantzis 2006, p 232) Curriculum: New issues, new technologies and new needs arise as years pass by and hence there is a need to constantly revise the curriculum, the curriculum today may not be able to sufficiently serve a school in 2025, therefore this will be one of the challenge to deal with. The school will set up a curriculum review committee to look into such issues. Text books will also be revised to meet the new curriculum. Lessons plans and units will also be developed to meet the then educational standards of the time. Professional development: Teachers will need to get trained to be able to deliver the curriculum of the time. This might be a possible challenge if not addressed. But the school will set out workshops for teachers and teachers will be encouraged to further their education. Political influences: Politics of the day usually affect education systems in one way or another. Many are times when schools are affected by politics, for example, when there is political instability, there is insecurity therefore, students will fear going to school and parents will also be concerned. This disrupts the normal learning hence affecting the overall delivery and performance. “Professional developments includes personal developments, team development and school development”, “learning organization will be able to make continues improvements whilst adapting to change in the external environment”( Sonia). The school will lias with the relevant authorities to curb the security issues that may arise as a result of political issues. It will also set out emergency programs in cases where learning is disrupted by political and/or other security issues. Economic issues: The running of a school requires finances and the success can’t be reached without adequate funds. Global and local economies affect the school directly therefore, the school will set out programs to solicit funds, may be from donors and aid in cases where it won’t be able to sustain itself financially. Racism and ethnic issues: Race has been a major problem in this country and we appreciated what has been done to curb it though we cannot overlook it. This is a problem that could cause a lot of trouble to learning. The school will offer lessons to students so as to avoid stereo typing and ethnic hatred. Conclusion With the trend in which the internet and Technology is moving at, the future school shall be successful. The management of the school and the education leaders should be in a position to meet the challenges and approach them in a proper way, so as to allow to adopt to the new school with ease. “Change in mind-set and culture” occurring at the turn of the century was not superficial or shallow change, not a tinkering at the edges which leaves things substantially in the same framework. Therefore learning programs and curriculum should also have the same reflection as gates” (Gates: xviii). “It is possible to replay online, as often as one likes or needs to do so, significant demonstrations, lectures, talks and teaching episodes, and to access them from around the world”. Ken Robinson "Bring on the Revolution in Learning" References Gates , Claude Steel. The Oxford Handbook of African citizenship: Oxford University press, 2012. Hedley Beare. Creating the Future School: Student Outcomes and the Reform of Education: Routledge, 2001. Hickling-Hudson, Matthews and Woods . Changing schools for a changing world. 2003. University Press. Hickling-Hudson, A. (2003). Multicultural Education and the Postcolonial Turn. PoliCY Futures in Education, 1, 2, 381-401. Kalantzis and Cope .Future of Education: 2006. University Press. Sonia Blandford. Managing Professional Development in Schools: Educational Management Series: Routledge. Canada, 2000. http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/sir_ken_robinson_bring_on_the_revolut... http://www.youtube.com/watch Read More