In a previous post (Education and Innovation: a dangerous dichotomy), we saw how there is a clear dysfunction between the values or principles that govern the educational system and those that are necessary to advance on the path of innovation. That entry ended by questioning what are the factors of change that will affect education and how to access and manage knowledge and possible solutions to this mismatch between what is offered and what is needed, that is.
What are the factors of change that affect the way of access and dissemination of knowledge?
Among them we highlight three:
1.- Technology. Education is transformed thanks to technology. The digitization of content facilitates access to it in the way desired by the user, then we would be facing a change factor to consider.
2.- Economic motivation. Is anyone willing to pay for education outside of official proposals? Reality shows us that yes, then we are facing another factor of change.
3.- Reasons for training. What are the reasons why people want to train? People want to access knowledge, access the network as a means to achieve a job opportunity, improvement or start.
Are there alternative ways to meet these needs?
Yes. Through the Internet it is possible to access knowledge, by asking the right questions. Another way to access knowledge is through contact with many people. In this sense, access to social networks allows simultaneous contact with many people of various kinds, which in itself constitutes an alternative to traditional forms of access to knowledge.
The third aspect that drives us towards knowledge is access to the world of work, the possibility of obtaining job opportunities. The educational model is sometimes complemented by carrying out practices that generate distortions. Fernando De la Rosa affirms that “ If during the internships the remuneration received is 10; once they are finished, I intend to be paid 100. It is very difficult for anyone to do so, insofar as I lack the necessary experience to satisfy the contractor's needs and offset the added cost of renting my services or knowledge. ”
From a perspective of improving the competitiveness of a society, education is a key factor. The joint action of the change factors described announces that education and knowledge access and management will undergo important changes over time. It seems reasonable to think that the way out of the crisis will come with a long-term transformation of the training systems, which contrasts with the short-term approach that we are making at present, trying to resolve structural imbalances with short-term measures.
The change of system, principles and values related to education therefore seems inevitable. If we know what is going to happen, how would we like that change to be?
Given that a higher educational level produces people who are able to choose better and therefore freer, and that to be successful businesses require efficient management of available resources (including people), it would be advisable for everyone to have a kind of personal management.
What should the education of the future be like? What principles would it have to respect to be effective and in accordance with the requirements of the business world?
Business-oriented education should be:
a) Open. Abolish the figure of the teacher capable only of offering a personal vision of the subject. The collective intelligence of all together is much greater than that of any teacher.
b) Accessible. We should all have a basic business background. For example. When we go to a bank, you have to have basic conditions about what resources you have and what you don't. Business education should be just one more subject in primary school.
c) Social. Understood as a value to be introduced in companies, which do not have in their mission to return to society more value than what they receive from it.
The long-term vision has been lost sight of, which will help the company survive longer.
This lack of adaptation is very well illustrated in the attached video, in which Professor Sala i Martí highlights the importance of soccer in today's world.
