“We stand upon the precipice of change. The world fears the inevitable plummet into the abyss. Watch for that moment…and when it comes, do not hesitate to leap.“ – Flemeth, Dragon Age
Throughout the course of human history there have been certain periods in which the advancement of new technologies took quantum leaps. This is no more true than in the times we live in right now, where the very foundation upon which our societies are built are changing in rapid speed, especially through the introduction of a digital and global civilization.
Not only are we living in an era where more quantum leaps than ever are taken in the areas of human development on all possible levels; we are also living in a time where the traditional boundaries between children and adults are disintegrating before our very eyes.
I am sure that all parents, however old, can recognize themselves in the scenario where their 2-year-old or 5-year-old or 17-year-old navigates digital devises with a natural ease that they themselves can only dream of, and that because their child is able to navigate these devises as were it a native speaker of their language, feel like a foreigner in a foreign country.
Our adult-child relations are based on the foundation that adults pr. Definition knows more about the world than the child and therefore has the responsibility, but also the prerogative to educate and administer the child, based on the assumption that because the adult knows more about the world, they also knows what is best for the child and therefore assumes an automated role of authority and superiority with the child as their minion to mold as they see fit.
Through the rapid advancements, especially in the development of digital technologies, a transition of the role of being knowledge-bearing is shifting from adults to children, with the children being the ones who knows the most about how to best navigate the virtual world through digital devises as well as the devises themselves.
There have been other eras in the course of human history where the younger generations came up with, or embrace new inventions in ways that rattled the older generations, but it has never happened in the profound way that it is happening right now, where the new inventions are affecting all areas of human life from social relationships to banking and education.
This means that the generations growing up right now are faced with the challenge of having to teach themselves since adults are in many cases far behind them when it comes to understanding virtual and digital worlds, although most adults still cling onto the illusion that they are (or at least should be) capable of teaching children these tools from a stance of authority.
As an adult who works with supporting children to become self-empowered and self-directive, I can tell you that nothing could be further from the truth, and the more we as adults try to reign in children and prevent the integration between digital and physical societies, the more they are simply going to do it without us, because it is a process that cannot – and should not – be stopped.
What would be much more beneficial is for us as adults to be humble towards the transformation happening, and rather than trying to position ourselves as captains of a ship that we know nothing about steering, stand as pillars of support for the coming generations and together embark on a journey of discovery and immerse ourselves in this brave new world.
It ought to be clear now, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that we have come to the end of rope of our current way of conducting education in this world. There are absolutely no reason why children should not be able to direct their own educational processes aligned to their individual needs and interests – in fact, many results show that this type of education is the most beneficial for individual learning which in turn is most beneficial for society as a whole because the individual is able to develop so much more of their unique potential.
The current education system is archaic at best – and at worst it is clung onto and safeguarded by adults who fear losing their position of power despite knowing how redundant the system in fact is, because it would mean admitting that we as adults are redundant – like a species that did not adequately adapt to the demands of an evolving environment and therefore dies out and vanishes as new life forms takes its place.
We therefore have a choice: we can either embrace the imminent changes and support the coming generations to dismantle the current education system or we can cling onto an archaic system just because we are afraid of letting go of control and thereby make an inevitable process more difficult for everyone involved.
By immersing ourselves in the opportunity that lay before us, to deconstruct and redefine, not only the education systems, but the entire foundation upon which we live on this planet, we too will change, transform and evolve – so rather than trying to hold onto an illusion of importance and authority when it is evident that this belongs to a past long gone, we can make new meaning of ourselves, redefine what it means to be an adult – and create the life for ourselves that we’ve always wanted, but that we never even dared to dream of… until now.
There is a new wave of education underway. You can either let it wash over you and be crushed, or you can learn how to ride it. One thing is certain: it cannot be stopped.