Author: Hazlina Aziz

Two challenges confronting education

Hazlina Aziz

By Hazlina Aziz.

 

With the students heading back to school yesterday for the new school year, let me lay out two challenges confronting education today that I think will dominate the year if we do not focus on certain areas.

The first is the lack of acceptance by students and parents of their responsibilities, and the subsequent undermining of discipline.

Nowadays, far too many parents are passive, protesting that they cannot handle their own children. Others actively undermine the disciplinary process, questioning the right of teachers or schools to impose discipline or to insist that all students be governed by the same set of rules.

We don’t talk very much any more about whether, for instance, parents are pushing their children to do their homework and school projects or respect their teachers.

The recent case of Cikgu Azizan brought up many discussions among Netizens on issues leading to the difficulties in educating youths today. The lack of student-parent accountability can be frustrating in regard to student discipline and striving to ensure that students accept responsibility for their behaviour and actions.

Responsibility for exam results, and for student success and behaviour cannot rest on the overloaded backs of teachers alone. Education would function best as a stool strongly supported by three legs — teachers, students and parents. Instead, it far too often stands on only one leg, that of the teachers.

Part of a teacher’s job is finding the way to open a student’s heart and mind. By the same token, though, the job of parents and guardians is to send to school children who are responsible, respectful and ready to learn. While compulsory attendance regulation can make children show up in schools, it is still hard to teach those who do not want to learn.

The days of parents adopting a hands-off approach to their child’s education and that it is the teacher’s job must come to an end soon. Parents, and even more importantly, students themselves, must be held accountable.

The other challenge is a generation addicted to smartphones or other mobile devices which leads to inability to focus and engage in the actual tasks at hand. Along with the Internet and its infinite distractions, there are a lot more products and platforms competing for attention today than there were 30 years ago.

One example is how to get students who are used to a different source of distraction every few seconds to focus, for instance, on reading a chapter from the textbook, analysing a poem, or writing a coherent essay. It is not easy and it will grow more difficult for teachers to get their attention during lessons.

Some students can “switch” attention between the phone as an entertainment device and as a learning tool; for others, the phone’s academic potential is routinely ignored.

Boys in their teens are addicted to video games and can play incessantly if given the chance. Girls of the same age, on the other hand, are addicted to social media wanting every moment for Snapchatting or Instagramming.

The problem as a result of this addiction runs deeper and is far more difficult to solve. We might think that students can handle the multitasking that using phones and devices for studies would require. For others, they are almost always a distraction. Even the visible presence of a phone pulls students — and many adults — away from their task at hand.

Yes, smartphones and other devices can be used in learning activities. They can provide instant access to information from a myriad sources and for a myriad reasons.

Although technology and the wealth of information that they can provide has the potential to shrink achievement gaps, the opposite can also take place within the classroom.

The Education Ministry’s plan to allow students to bring mobile devices to help in the learning process should be considered.

We must be selective on technology use in school not just because it is available, as it should be a means to a meaningful end, not an end in itself as teachers work to enrich the student experience.

In the New Year, the Malaysian Education Blueprint gets into its fifth year of implementation in transforming our education system.

The master plan needs a review along the way to add value and rectify any shortcomings to maximise its target by 2025. These two issues mentioned can have a negative impact on teachers and students if we do not address them properly.

Teaching, which is one of the very best jobs in the world, will remain one of the hardest jobs today. I wish a happy and successful new school year for all those who returned to the classroom yesterday.

Source of the article https://www.nst.com.my/opinion/columnists/2018/01/320906/two-challenges-confronting-education

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Can one learn to be creative?

Hazlina Aziz

By Hazlina Aziz

IN the next few years, more than three generations may be working side by side at the workplace. They are the Baby Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y (also known as millennials) and Generation Z.

Gen Z, who were born after 1995, are beginning to appear in the workplace. By next year, Gen Z is expected to represent more than 20 per cent of the workforce.

Growing up in a world where the Internet, social media and mobile technology have always existed, they will bring their new technology and big ideas with them. It can be a significant challenge to prepare for the clash of these four generations.

Many organisations are still struggling to analyse the challenge that millennials pose in the workplace.

But, how different will Gen Z really be? A digitally innate generation of students, Gen Z have access to more information than the generations before them. Growing up in the age of technology provides them with more outlets and digital tools for exploration and expression.

So, they are said to be more curious, innovative and open-minded than past generations.

While they should be more advanced in searching for information and figuring things out on their own, they also expect everything to be available at any time and with low barriers of access. With Gen Z starting university and the first batch graduating soon, are the schools preparing them for their future? Is higher education ready for them?

A study done by Adobe that provides insight into Malaysian Gen Z students shows that they are feeling unprepared for the problems the “real world” face today, and want greater focus on creativity and hands-on learning in the classroom.

The study, “Gen Z in the Classroom: Creating the Future”, surveyed 250 Gen Z students between the ages of 11 and 17, and 100 teachers in Malaysia.

A similar study was also conducted in five Asia-Pacific (Apac) countries — Australia, India, Thailand, China and Korea. For Malaysia, they found 97 per cent of students and 100 per cent of teachers — the highest rating among five other countries — see creativity as essential to students’ future success.

Malaysian Gen Z students also have mixed emotions when it comes to their future after they finish schools.

According to the study, they feel “excited” and “curious”, but at the same time “nervous” or “worried”. Some are concerned that schools have not properly prepared them for the real world.

They believe that there are a variety of careers that require creativity. Ninety six per cent of students from this study believe their future careers would involve creativity.

Both students and teachers alike agree that Gen Z learn best through hands-on experience and wish that there is more focus on creativity. Students feel that classes focusing on computers and technology hone their creativity and will best prepare them for their future.

Developing creative people is an aim that most in education share; there have been growing calls to nurture and teach creativity from an early age in schools and universities.

The World Economic Forum predicts that creativity will rise from the 10th most sought-after skill in 2015 to the third in 2020.

But, what is creativity? It can seem that creativity is a natural gift for those who are lucky, for instance, great artists, musicians or entrepreneurs. Can one learn to be creative? Can we prime the mind for creative ideas to emerge?

Research has shown that creativity is a skill that can be taught, practised and developed. With imagination, we can be wired to be creative. Creative thinkers in any discipline are those who can tackle complex problems and develop innovative solutions.

Of course, this does not mean that you can teach one to be a genius. The techniques of teaching creativity are not going to turn a student into Einstein or Picasso.

It is more about encouraging day-to-day creative thinking that can make a student, and then later, as an adult, more productive.

Many educators claim to value creativity, but they do not always prioritise it. In some parts of the world, teaching creativity is already a necessary part of an undergraduate experience.

The International Centre for Studies in Creativity at Buffalo State College in New York is the world’s first university department of its type.

The term “makerspace” in education — probably still new in Malaysia’s education scene — is also the buzzword now to refer to physical spaces that support learning and doing, in a way that redefines traditional schooling. It provides hands-on experiences and encourages creative ways for students to design, experiment, build and invent.

How can creativity be cultivated in the classroom? The way Gen Z students consume and learn today is very different from past generations, hence, educators in Malaysia need to provide the right environment, updated tools and creative outlets to bring out the best in their students and foster innovative problem-solving skills the future workforce will need.

Education systems should focus less on the reproduction of information and more on critical thinking and problem solving. There are multiple solutions to open-ended and complex problems, a situation that the students will face as they pursue future careers.

Encouraging divergent instead of convergent thinking leads to solving problems that do not have one correct answer.

However, it is important to remember that teaching creativity does not mean that we should throw out the textbooks and exams while encouraging children to let their minds wander rather than concentrate in the classroom.

Children should not be given free rein for their imagination to run wild at the cost of understanding a subject. In encouraging creativity, I believe if you want to think outside the box, you must fully understand what is inside the box first.

Link: https://www.nst.com.my/opinion/columnists/2018/01/330504/can-one-learn-be-creative

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