This spring I decided I to enroll in an Education course at GWU, where I work. I am looking to apply to their Curriculum and Instruction Doctoral program and took this class to test out the waters before diving back in to graduate school.
Last week I had my third doctoral level class as a non-degree student. Now, I will admit its a pretty tough class, examining theory and foundations of education. For someone like me, with no academic training in education, its especially challenging. Luckily, we got a break and this week hosted a guest speaker, Dr. Mary Futrell the Dean of the school of Education at GWU. After listening to her history and hearing why education is her passion, it gave me a new sense of hope for the future of education (both mine and the realm of education as a whole.) She really cares about students, just like me, and I was really happy to see that as a Dean, students still are the core of her purpose.
Some memorable quotes and thought-provoking points:
“Reflect back on the last 100 years of education, do we still teach for the same reasons?”
I think deep down educators still believe in preparing students to become active, life-long learners in the community, but there are some educators who just teach for a paycheck.
“Our system needs a change. It’s worked for a long time, but now it needs to become better.”
Dean Futrell also listed out some very interesting statistics:
- 10-15% of education takes place outside of school grounds, not within the physical grounds of what we know to be school.
- Higher Education online enrollment will see double-digit enrollment increases within the next few years.
- 85% of future jobs will require a post-secondary degree.
- By the time most college-aged Americans today are 40 they will have had between 10-14 different jobs.
- Right now there is at least one virtual high school in every state. By 2020 1/2 of all high school courses could be online course.
- Education starts at age 1 overseas, with children attending pre-school from 1-4 years of age.
Right now, Futrell said education is all over the place. She believes the major contributors to the change and transformation of education are
- Global Competition
- Diverse Populations
- Technological Advancements
- Decline in Role of Outside Educators (ex: parents and neighbors)
She also touched on the subject of technology, stating, “Technology is coming- we can’t fight it,” and I couldn’t agree more. She pointed out that in Finland teachers are not certified to become educators unless they have proficient skills and training in technology. I wonder if the U.S.A would ever think of instilling that kind of pre-requisite on its educators? Interesting to think about.
Dean Futrell closed out the class with this bit of advice, “Many doors will open for you throughout your lives, but as an educator its up to you to help somebody else walk through those doors.”
Photo By: http://www.flickr.com/photos/martie/ / CC BY-NC 2.0
