Sunday 13 October 2013

If Sugata Mitra's vision is fullfilled, how would this affect the ability for future employers to verify whether job applicants have aquired the necessary standard of education?

homework: write a short paragraph answer to this question and leave it in the comments to this post.

Remember to watch the next video in our prezi.

http://bit.ly/19IkC4c

13 comments:

  1. PAWEŁ WOLAŃSKI

    To answer this question one would have to assume a whole new hypothetical status quo in a job market. Today employers base their opinion on candidates on a series of values - both educational and psychological - which are formed in present system. All this won't apply if we change the rules at the very beggining of each persons life...

    Right now the dominant option in education worldwide is based on tutor-student relationship. One comes to school, develops skills and obtains knowledge and is tested throughout the entire term and also at the end. Carte blanche given specific instructions should reach satisfactory results - and then one may use the skills creatively (or not) in one's professional career. Like it or not - this type of passing knowledge on to the next generation has long since been elected as superior and employers had years and years to adapt to it.

    Now let's assume that Sugata Mitra's vision comes to life. No tutor - only minimal guidance and big encouragement. No verification during the work - only of the final effect. No unification - each and every student may use all available resources to reach the expected conclusion. No hierarchy - students of all ages may work on the same matter without any supervision. All this would present employers with a huge challenge.

    First of all I think the companies would have to revise their systems of verification. No written rules would apply to the New Student. A self-trained work applicant recognizes no supervision which could be potencially problematic to each and every of his employers. The whole junior-senior-executive hierarchy would have to be revised. Also the diversity and versatility of New Students could bend the present system to form new kind of departments in big companies. Since each applicant had profoundly different experiences in his or her education, then forming groups of specific goals could be either impossible or highly promising.

    Digging deeper I even start to wonder, if there's no specific key to education once we run the SOLE programme - who and on what basis gets to train the interviewers?

    Sugata Mitra worked his experiment on fertile ground. A society that's not familiar with any kind of education gives perfect opportunity to try any method of learning experience. However western societies would need many decades to adapt. So the key to success - if we're considering the matter worth discussing seriously - is baby steps. No revolution here or we all find ourselves in an even more grotesque because real vision of Pink Floyd's music video.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wonder if Western students find the SOLE method so strange after all?

      Enter "calculus" into Wolfram Alpha and click on one of the results. You can follow the solutions to calculus problems step by step.

      The internet has already created a huge disparity of skills. Motivated students have more ways to learn than every before. Unmotivated students have more distractions than ever before.

      Doing homework with your computer open in front of you is a blessing or a curse, a khan academy video of a professor explaining physics or a video of kung fu lolcats.

      The revolution will not be televised, right?

      Delete
  2. Sugata Mitra's affects the ease of checking for those skills, as companies would have to write their own tests to check that their recruits are skilled in the areas they want.

    Let's say a company is looking for someone that can administrate a network, nowadays they check to see if you have a diploma in Computer Science or whatnot, and if you have any experience in administration. In Mitra's vision, there's no 'official' diploma or certificate from a legitimate source that proves you are skilled in that domain (although that could be fixed by third party diplomas/ certificates), and that leaves companies in the position of rolling the dice on each applicant (companies don't like gambling, even the ones that provide it).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yea, but the model exists. Lawyers must pass a third-party examination to practice, Architects and Engineers as well. Doctors too. Nothing strange about industry examinations.

      If you want your name to show up in comments, a google id is the easiest form of verification.

      Delete
  3. I am a pancake and suck at this blogging thing. I'm not quite sure how to get my name to show up in the comment by area.

    Daniel Hamielec

    ReplyDelete
  4. First of all I'm not entierly sure if this whole new concept of learning presented by him would even work on a larger scale. Sure, it has proven itself to be succesful when it had only few dozens of participants, but we have to remember that it would be difficult to foresee possible issues occuring even to a larger test group, let alone all of mankind. I bet lots of children would enjoy such ways of gaining knowledge and experience (and it would probably be more efficient for some), but I'm also certain that many kinds would simply refuse to learn, which could slow down or even block the progress of group/s.
    I remember how I and some other children used to treat school and learning in general years back. Some of us needed that „kick” (not literally speaking, of course), some kind of pressure on our backs. We were kids and just wanted to have fun, we weren't craving information about replication of human cells, how nuclear reactor works etc. Looking back at those times I realise that maybe looking for those answers might've helped me today some way, but childhood is actually the only time in our lives where we can really be irresponsible and enjoy everything the age we're in has offer (but of course we usually realise that when it's already too late).
    The so called „system” we use today to teach and learn isn't perfect and certainly needs some changes, but it works and has been doing so for centuries.

    And now, let's get to the point. IF his vision was fulfilled, we would probably have to forget about all kinds of tests and exams that we're used to these days. Since there probably wouldn't be any kind of curriculum (or even if there was one, it would be rather hard to carry it out), the differences between groups would be massive.
    We could probably use some basic exams, which would prove if the person taking them knows (just as the name suggests) the basics of a certain field, but testing one's wider knowledge about, for example, biomechanics when there wasn't any kind of pre-written curriculum? Impossible.
    Person interested in proving others that they know something about certain field, would probably be forced to do it by either making some kind of advanced project or writing a really, really insightful and detailed thesis (like we're used to do so these days).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It s been my experience that external pressure is a poor substitute for internal pressure. I believe children need external pressure only to the extent that their developing social and moral faculties demand it. This is the caveat for determining to live in society. Nobody needs table manners if they live alone in a hut in the mountains.

      SOLE does not dispense with having a curriculum, I imagine a SOLE curriculum would consist entirely of big questions.

      Delete
  5. I would assume it wouldn't change much after all. Inviduals tend to go to work, which is adequate to their skills, therefore each employer can only check, if skills which employe claims to have are adequate to work and then validating if epmloye claims were true by checking, if he can do his work properly.
    One big change that comes to mind, is clarity invidual would have after completing Sugata's Mitra method's course. He would be aware of what he has learned, as it was it's choice to learn certain things. It could allow him to chose his employment field with more ease than currently, i think.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Choice has a positive impact on learning. Both acquisition and retention. The clarity comes from becoming who you chose to be.

      Delete
  6. On our last lesson we were thinking about the world without teachers. For western civilisation it’s almost impossible to imagine how this particular world would look like. In my opinion school gives us an enormous amount of information, but at the same time it’s killing our curiosity. This thirst for knowing cannot be satisfied in every area. There are places, where people cannot acquire knowledge through simple lessons and lectures. They do not have access to whiteboards, blackboards or well-educated teachers. How can we help them get education? The answer to this question is Sugata’s Mitra project. Sugata Mitra thinks that children do not need teachers; he gives them the possibility to change their attitude towards learning. This attitude is the matter of vital significance. For SM not the body of knowledge is the most important but the approach to solving problems, creativity in finding ways of doing it and ability to adapt in new situations.

    Sugata Mitra wants to create autonomous learners who are independent for their pursuit of knowledge. When the time comes and they will stand before chasing their employment, they will be creative enough to convince the prospective employer about their value. Employer should give them a problem to solve. After this kind of project they will manage and the anticipated attitude will be shown for any specific sector.

    Nevertheless, the question is about external motivation to get a job, whereas SM project focuses on sustaining the childish internal motivation. I’m afraid we are missing the point.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I imagine that when Sugata Mitra speaks of teachers he means classroom teachers. But is the question about external motivation to get a job? I think the desire to be useful is a strong human need. Not only children but also adults who nurture their intrinsic motivations invariably outlast extrinsically motivated competitors. I wonder if you meant only the motivation of a child and not "childish motivation?''

      The body of knowledge which is acquired in the pursuit of a big question does matter to Sugata Mitra. It is simply not the end in itself but only the means, just as it is in life. We learn best where our wonder is strongest.

      Delete
  7. Sugata Mitra would like to introduce completely different educational system that we are all used to. Sugata Mitra believes in people's willingness to learn and that everyone would like to spend time on learning, even when there are no teachers. We all know that things are different. No matter how positive we want to be about our society some of us just don't have this thing in their minds to want to know more or have broader horizons. For these kind of people I believe there should be some basic program finished with test or any other kind of exam - oral or written.

    As we could have seen on the movie Sugata Mitra was conducting some tests during his projects. They were probably similar to tests that are now being used at schools or universitites. But he was conducting his experiment on a John Locke's white board - among children that don't go to school and are not based in any system.

    Plus, it all depends on a job. For medicine or engineering I believe present system is good as it allows us to believe that our doctor have spent few years on a univeristy, passed all necessary test and is able to cure us. In the real world we know what kind of doctors we have to deal with.

    I guess at the beginning it would be extremely hard for an employer to check what a job applicant can do and what his abilities are and what he lacks. But after some time every employer would be ably to precisely describe its needs and requirements. Even now with all this process of tests, degrees it is still hard to find a person that fits the position. School are teaching but not educating and some of the students are just sliding from one year to another. No matter what they will always have a problem to find a proper job. And, as far as I can see sometimes it is now about being well educated and having tons of certificates but about being willing to learn and having the basic knowledge of the world. Plus all these Human Resources offices for sure would be able to figure out something.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Medical students can excel at University or barely make the grade, after graduation they are all doctors. There is no surefire method of weeding out bad doctors. Which is why experienced doctors refer to July as the start of the killing season because that is when the fresh young doctors begin their residencies. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_effect

      Delete