Education of the future could be something which school prepares you for rather than contains. Perhaps in the next fifty years we will see a change from the formal-education-into-job progression of today, to life long knowledge acquisition. In Johnson’s book ‘Where Good Ideas Come From’ he discusses “The Slow Hunch”(1) theory of innovation, which suggests individual hunches can grow into innovative discoveries over time. Supported by the BBC article ‘IQ linked to levels of happiness’(2), my ‘hunch’ is knowledge and happiness are intrinsically related. Therefore if the active learning process is continued throughout adulthood perhaps there will be increased levels of happiness and job satisfaction whilst developing a process of “knowledge building”(3), making everyone happier, including the suits.
Whilst reading Johnson’s ‘Where good ideas come from’(4) it struck me that the current school system provides two paradoxical mantras: 1) ‘no copying’ and 2) ‘sharing is caring’. I remember being thoroughly puzzled by these two instructions. On this subject, Chiara Ambrosio’s phrase regarding an aspect of my degree stuck with me quite poignantly “the core courses should give you the ammunition to attack your chosen modules”(5). In a sentence, the formal education of the future should do just that: give us the ammunition to tackle life based problems in a way which is creative and innovative, resulting in greater self-fulfillment. Future leaning in adulthood should be about sharing ideas in a coffee shop (as Watson and Crick so infamously did)(6), spontaneously exchanging knowledge between individuals to compliment our own work or to aid the work of a fellow knowledge-seeker. Sharing knowledge could indeed be caring in this sense, but for society. There will no longer be the need for the close cosseting of ideas, everyone is encouraged to copy, and not just copy: adapt.
I now encourage you to reflect on your own education. What were the subjects that you were encouraged in? What were the subjects you enjoyed? Do they correlate? In Ken Robinson TED talk ‘How Schools Kill Creativity’(7) he raises how children are steered away from subjects they enjoy towards those more appropriate for job services. However in an age where information is everywhere and gathering it is not confined to institution walls(8), shouldn’t we be finding a way to veer away from Aristotle’s hierarchy of subjects(9)? In doing so, maybe we could create trans-disciplinary innovation beyond formal education giving everyone a hunger for continued learning at what ever age, in what ever job.
Perhaps the knowledge creation of the future needs to hold innovation at it’s frontier; in a world where many of the institutions are failing to change at a speed rapid enough to keep up with the outside world, more universal collective creativity(10) might hold the key to updating our society to the new model. Here I employ the Shirky’s idea of “Cognitive Surplus”(11), in his book of the same name, he asks “how much will we be able to take advantage of the cognitive surplus to produce real civic value?”(12). I think a shift to life long knowledge sharing will do just that: I envisage a world where in someone’s coffee break they read an interesting blog post on their smart phone, there is a FaceTime link on the blog and reader calls the creator. They have a few minuets long ‘face to face’ idea exchange about the topic and then part ways. The creator feels happy because his / her work has been acknowledged, whilst the reader has a greater sense of understanding, engagement, and inclusion in the project. The reader returns to work with that buzzy enthusiasm from creative brain stimulation and does better and happier work as a result. Cognitive Surplus put to good use.
I think the need for purpose is innate to the human condition, perhaps a positive cultural attitude towards infinite learning could offer that for everybody. If everyone was an Amateur Professor, researching theirown interests, learning and sharing for the love of it, maybe it there would be a rise in self-esteem. After all as Shirky says “the essence of amateurism is intrinsic motivation…to do something for the love of it”(13) – and you can’t be unhappy doing something you love. The beauty of the modern technological age is immediacy; for those who want to participate, knowledge is globally, instantly, immediately communicable, for almost no cost.
I will end on Johnson’s beautifully clear analogy of ‘Liquid Networks’(14): if society behaves like a liquid; flowing, bumping into other atom-people, sharing and creating all the way through our lives – by drawing our inventions on toilet walls or face timing a blog follower – innovation will happen naturally. So who knows, perhaps my hunch for the future of knowledge acquisition will follow the “Slow hunch”(1) pattern: and wouldn’t life be more inclusive if it did?
*watch this space*
Works Cited:
(1) Johnson S. Where Good Ideas Come From: A Natural History of Innovation. 2010 ed. London: Penguin; 2010. Chapter: The Slow Hunch. p.67.
(2) BBC. BBC News – IQ Linked to levels of Happiness [Internet]. 26/09/12. [26/10/13]: Available from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19659985
(3) Paavola S, et al. Models of Innovative Knowledge Communities and Three Metaphors of Learning, Review of Educational Research [Internet]. 2004. [26/10/13]; Vol.74 (No. 4). p.561. Available from: http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/3515981?searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3D
knowledge%26acc%3Doff%26wc%3Don%26fc%3Doff&Sear
ch=yes&searchText=knowledge&uid=3738032&uid=21
34&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&sid=21102832457657
(4) Johnson S. Where Good Ideas Come From: A Natural History of Innovation. 2010 ed. London: Penguin; 2010.
(5) StudyUCL. Chiara Ambrosio Arts and Sciences BASc 2 [Internet]. 21/09/2011. [20/10/13]: Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0izTmwu8mLk
(6) Johnson S. Where Good Ideas Come From: A Natural History of Innovation. 2010 ed. London: Penguin; 2010. p.169.
(7) TED. Robinson K. How Schools Kill Creativity [Internet]. DD/06/06. [20/10/13]: Available from:http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html
(8) Ericsson. The Future of Learning, Networked Society [Internet]. 19/10/12. [20/10/13]: Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quYDkuD4dMU
(9) Moran J. Interdisciplinarity. 2010 ed. Oxon: Routledge; 2010. p.3.
(10) TED. Leadbeater C. The Era of Open Innovation [Internet]. DD/01/07. [20/10/13]. Available from:http://www.ted.com/talks/charles_leadbeater_on_innovation.html
(11) Shirky C. Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age. 2010 ed. London: Penguin; 2012.
(12) Shirky C. Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age. 2010 ed. London: Penguin; 2012. p.82.
(13) Shirky C. Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age. 2010 ed. London: Penguin; 2012. p.159.
(14) Johnson S. Where Good Ideas Come From: A Natural History of Innovation. 2010 ed. London: Penguin; 2010. Chapter: Liquid Networks. p.43.
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