Contemporary Trend In New Zealand or Internationally?
My definition of a “trend’ is a general direction in which something is developing or changing. One trend that is relevant to my practice which is becoming common throughout school curriculum globally is computer coding. Back in the 90’s I remember coding with my son on his Commodore 64 and using Logo and Roamer Turtle in the classroom. It all seemed to die a death until recently. Now our staff are talking about it, and getting prepared for the introduction of ‘Digital Technology’ which will be a new strand in the New Zealand Technology Curriculum next year. STEM activities, which include coding, are being implemented throughout the curriculum. This follows other countries, particularly in Europe where Estonia was one of the first and Finland in 2016, and Australia to name a few who have introduced coding into their curriculum. In the UK,one million BBCMicro:bit devices were put into schools for the children to learn coding. Is there research that coding will make a difference to their learning or are we going with evidence that it is a skill that is predicted to be important in the future.
In Horizons,(2016), Code.org predicted in 2020 there will be 1.4million jobs and only 400.00 computer scientists to fill them. Are we just teaching coding to provide workers for the future? In the OECD report it suggests teaching programming and advanced computing skills to provide the skills needed for the future. I certainly don’t think I am teaching coding for the economic future. I see the value in the creativity and computational thinking that the activities provide. This is a component in the new digital curriculum. The students are able to think creatively, solve problems, accept challenges work collaboratively and show resilience. These skills flow into other areas of their learning and hopefully make a difference to their achievement. However in Horizons Report, these skills can be applied to many jobs. Again, preparation for future needs and jobs.
Education does have a role in providing the skills and competencies needed to work in the students ever changing world, but also to live. Teaching coding does keep bringing me back to the purpose of education. Camins, in The Washington Post, discusses the debate as to whether the purpose of education should be to prepare students to enter the workforce or as he states, ‘education should prepare young people for life, work and citizenship’. Critical thinking, creativity, interpersonal skills and a sense of social responsibility all influence success in life, work and citizenship. The need to be prepared for the labour market is mentioned in the OECD report but it states that there is a need for other competencies, which should not be neglected such as the social and emotional intelligence. If learning to code helps them be successful in the future, it will hopefully flow into success in their personal lives and enable them to contribute to society.
In the OECD 2016 report, coding was identified as the new ‘trend’ for the year and was identified as a short term trend. This means the adoption of coding into K12 (NZ Years 1-12) education globally would be rapid. My Year 3 & 4 class is on board as are classes all around the world,enjoying coding. It is fun and enables them to work in an environment where they can take risks and try new ideas. They are aware that they are part of a global trend and I am preparing them for their future.
References
Horizon Report.(2016) NMC/CoSN. Horizon Report. K12 Edition.
Trends Shaping Education. (2016) OECD Publishing.
Interesting view on the purpose of education and a good question to ask. It seems we are in a period of exponential change and coding is part of the change in the technology curriculum. Has business had a big influence on the inclusion of coding in the curriculum? I agree with your view about holistic education versus employment.
ReplyDeleteJanet, I really enjoyed reading your blog post this week, I see that we have similar views on how we see education and the new curriculum is going to change things. I try to teach taking the STEM approach as I to think that it helps to develop resilience, to encourage students to think creatively, solve problems, accept challenges and work collaboratively. Skills that are very important for our students heading into the 21st Century and unfortunately often lacking in our students, who I believe are from a generation of instant gratification. I find it interesting that our education system was once set up for industry and now deemed as failing our 21st Century Learners is being adapted and reworked for the ‘new industrial model’ workplace of the future- interesting times.
ReplyDeleteThe number of resources for STEM activities being promoted is amazing - part of the 'trend.' I have just had 2 emails today with new resources to purchase! The STEM approach is beneficial in developing the much needed 21st century skills but what concerns me is the activities are too often stand alone rather than being woven into authentic contexts. I try to make my coding activities purposeful by putting them into a context, usually to solve a problem or create an activity. Pinterest is a good resource and it's free.
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