The why and how
Bez Sangari of Sangari Education,
a company which distributes
augmented and virtual reality
simulation for education, says “We
need to stop equating education
with knowledge acquisition.
Education, not knowledge transfer,
should be every school’s goal.”
Xolisa agrees. He suggests
an emphasis on application in
place of theory; highlighting the
relevance of each topic and showing
how it fits into their daily lives.
“Students need to transform from
passive recipients of information to
active participants in a personal
learning process. They need to be
able to construct their knowledge
actively, rather than mechanically
ingesting it from the teacher or
online sources,” says Bez.
The ideal classroom
So, what does the ideal future
education model look like? Des Hugo,
head of academics at Nova Pioneer,
says it starts with an environment
that reflects the children’s ideas,
wonderings and thinking, rather than
a teacher’s template. “In a classroom
environment, this shows up as artwork
that is very clearly based on a child’s
creativity rather than what the teacher
has told them to do.” In fact, she
adds, teachers should be doing a lot
of asking, rather than telling, giving
learners a sense of autonomy in a
democratic learning environment. “It’s
about getting the children thinking.
The teacher may pose a question, but
she’ll listen to their suggestions – and
encourage them to do the same –
before sharing a possible solution.”
She places heavy emphasis on that80 | SEPTEMBER 2019 | L&L
As part of this, Bailey says schools need
to take into account the different ways
children learn. While one child might
thrive on visual stimuli, another might
need auditory input before they can
process information effectively – and,
in an ideal learning environment, each
of these children is accommodated.
Xolisa says that if education can be
likened to a table, traditional models
have been balancing (make that
teetering) on two legs: students and
teachers. The involvement of parents
(the third leg) will make for greater
balance, as we’re entering an era
where parents need a little extra help
when it comes to raising kids. The
fourth input comes from corporates:
“We need to know what kind of skills
they require so we can be sure we
are helping our children develop
relevant attributes,” he explains.