How should current education systems prepare students for the future? Discuss concerning at least two contemporary challenges or problems.

How should current education systems prepare students for the future? Discuss concerning at least two contemporary challenges or problems.

 

Climatic change is a contemporary problem that we should program the current education system to address. Increased human-caused greenhouse gases influence climatic change, which is responsible for the higher temperatures, droughts, rising sea levels, and decreased food security. Scientists have linked global warming to increased human activities such as deforestation, intensive farming, waste disposal, mining, and overconsumption. We should enrich the current education system with environmental conservation knowledge, skills, and attitudes to prepare for a promising future. Environmental conservation is the conscious practice that humans undertake to save the environment from collapsing. It should aim at protecting the earth’s natural resources for current and future generations. This practice should save trees, animals, and water sources since we directly depend on them. Sutherland, M.R 2017 upholds the thoughts of Pedretti & Nazir, 2014 that the rapidly escalating problems of climatic change, environmental pollution, forest destruction, and loss of biodiversity have forced researchers, leaders, and educators from all over the world, looking for solutions. The growing and immediate need to address worldwide environmental concerns have created a global push to teach young people about these critical issues. Teaching young students in our educational system can help prepare them to address the ongoing environmental challenges. They will be able to understand the root and the possible prevention of these problems. Environmental education is essential to the future well-being of the planet, and educators will play a crucial role in delivering this message to students. These students who receive this knowledge will internalize and apply this knowledge personally and become essential vessels of a more promising future. The student should learn in a friendly way. Our young people should be encouraged to develop the skills, knowledge, and attitudes to make responsible decisions concerning the environment.

 

Another contemporary problem is violence. Violence is the behavior that intends to cause harm, including injuring or even killing people. The education system should gear towards conflict resolution and the spirit of togetherness. The human race should reflect on the severe effects of World War I and II, respectively. The long-lasting impact of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War (II) whose prolonged effects were increased cancer rates among survivors. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that over 1.6 million people worldwide lose their lives to violence.  Violence prevention aims at raising awareness, to change beliefs and motivation towards violent behavior. Violence is an inevitable part of the human condition – a fact of life to respond to, rather than prevent ( Dahlberg, L. L. & Butchart, A. 2005). Violence is looked into at an angle of prevention and not control. Part of the prevention techniques includes the education system targeting teaching students the following; the importance of honesty, goodwill to one another, maintaining interpersonal relations, and conflict resolution techniques. Dahlberg, L. L. & Butchart, A. 2005 continue to state that violence is a predictable and preventable behavior problem. Making the case that violence is a preventable health problem, therefore, rests, in part, on demonstrating that violence prevention programs work effectively. The current education system should prepare students for a future characterized by violence prevention. Educators should do this by integrating this into the syllabus. Rieckman, M. (2012) suggests that we should teach critical thinking, critical thinking, and anticipatory thinking to foster learning to prepare for the future. These will enable students to apply learned knowledge and skills to contemporary issues.

 

1. Sutherland, M. R. (2017). Conservation education in schools: Aligning teachers’ perceptions with students’ attitudes. Applied Environmental Education & Communication, 16(1), 29–40. doi:10.1080/1533015x.2017.1280430

 

2. Dahlberg, L. L., & Butchart, A. (2005). State of the science: violence prevention efforts in developing and developed countries. International Journal of Injury Control and Safety Promotion, 12(2), 93–104.doi:10.1080/15660970500086239

 

3. Rieckmann, M. (2012). Future-oriented higher education: Which key future competencies should be fostered through university teaching and learning? Futures, 44(2), 127–135.doi:10.1016/j.futures.2011.09.005