Features
Students from Canterbury Primary on a trip to Parliament House, Canberra, Australia.
Teach humans not subjects Brendan Hitchens offers a perspective on education for a changing world If education is solely about preparing young people for the future, then they are being sold short of the knowledge, the capabilities and the skills they already possess – so too the impact they are capable of making right now. 2019 was a prime example of the power of youth, with 16-yearold Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg being named Time Magazine’s person of the year, eight-year-old Texan toy reviewer Ryan Kaji becoming the highest earner on YouTube with an annual income of US $37 million, and then 17-year-old musician Billie Eilish nominated for six Grammy Awards for her genre-defying debut album. And let’s not forget the countless young people who campaigned for LGBT rights, gun control, Indigenous sovereignty, mental Winter
Summer |
| 2020
health advocacy, gender equality and immigration, leading to changing policy, laws, minds and thinking. The sage words of US academic and anthropologist Margaret Mead have never rung truer: ‘Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has’. So-called Generation Z are not only engaged; they are empowered, and education must react accordingly. With another decade of the 21st century upon us, jobs across all sectors of the workforce are already beginning to look drastically different. A changing economy, growing populations, environmental degradation and the automation of roles are but a few of the issues we continue to face. As
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