In this world of change, nothing which comes stays,
Content Matters
Information technology has for many
years been touted as an education
panacea, but it is wrongheaded to
believe that instant access to vast knowledge through the Internet and other
media means we now need to know and
comprehend very little. Content
remains essential; an “educated” person
needs to know what he or she is talking
about both to make sense of an increasingly knowledge-driven world and to
gain more knowledge.
should we teach and how much is
enough? Is basic biology adequate to the
task, for example, in a world in which
biology, chemistry, and physics are inextricably linked in nanotechnology
medical applications?
Skills Are Also Essential
Content is necessary but not sufficient.
Because teaching time is finite and
content virtually infinite, skills that
allow one to continue learning and to
make judgments about the meaning,
We cannot purchase a
well-rounded education for a flat world with new technology, a new standardized test, or an SAT prep course.
diverse ideas and people, working cooperatively with others, tolerating ambiguity, and possessing the resilience to
bounce back after setbacks.
Teaching for such outcomes involves
far more than asking students to
passively receive information. Consider
for example, problem-based or case-study teaching in which students are
asked to apply historical, scientific, and
cultural knowledge to address real problems. This approach could be used to
study the many world problems related
to water—such as the rapidly diminishing water supplies confronting
farmers and residents in Arizona and
California or the lack of potable water in
large areas of Africa and India. Asking
students individually and in groups to
tackle such issues, evaluate the nature of
the problems, consider the possible
alternatives, and defend recommendations and conclusions based on data
helps them develop skills in critical
thinking, imagination, moral consideration, identification of appropriate
knowledge, and cooperation with others
in finding and justifying solutions.
Indeed, students should learn U.S.
and world history, biology, chemistry,
literature, economics, and mathematics
if they are to understand and contribute
to important political, economic, and
moral discussions as citizens. And in a
world that cries out for far more
humane connections with others, how
can we neglect the arts and languages?
In a world in which there are serious
competing claims of “truth”—science
and religion competing in the evolution
debate; economic, biotechnological, and
equity issues becoming inherent in alternative health care programs; and consequential debates taking place about
energy and emerging global warming
policy—ignorance is not bliss.
With so much information already
accumulated and new knowledge being
produced—far more knowledge than
anyone can or should master—the usual
vexing questions remain: What content
adequacy, and accuracy of content are
more important than ever. Simply accumulating information without learning
to apply it results in what Alfred North
Whitehead (1929) referred to as inert
ideas that remain stale or dead unless
put to good use. We must also teach
students to apply knowledge, to think
horizontally crossing disciplines and
connecting the dots to make sense of
the seemingly infinite information available through information technology
and media.
The kind of learning we need stimulates the imagination and teaches how
to construct meaning and make
disparate information coherent. It
involves the ability to think critically
and solve problems and to judge what is
relevant, what is accurate, and what is
right. Moreover, it requires what some
disparagingly have called soft skills—
skills like valuing and embracing
Rethinking Engagement
A well-rounded education for a flat
world is not the result of a simple accumulation of courses and credit hours
but rather the cumulative effect of clear,
rigorous, and collective teacher and
administrator commitment. It is the
result of a pervasive school culture that
refuses to define education as the
passive reception of knowledge and
instead celebrates demanding,
profoundly engaging, and authentic
educational experiences.
By engagement, I do not mean simply
keeping students busy and interested,
but rather expecting them to construct
and validate meaning—to make sense of
things. Education needs to involve
students in a process of purposeful
reflection—researching, writing,
speaking, and being simultaneously
intellectually and emotionally connected
