Preparing Teachers for 21st Century: Learn, Unlearn and Relearn

21^st century is having the characteristics of globalization, fast-changing, and technology-based economy where social relationships are interwoven through digital tools and technologies.  In the same manner, Educational experiences are now in the transformational stage. Vision of 21st century pedagogy is quite different from 20th-century pedagogy in conceptualizing the curriculum with respect to the subject matter, pedagogy, and diverse skills. The pedagogy of the 21^st century is based on Ps i.e. Participation, Production, Personalization, and Cs i.e. Creativity, Critical Understanding, Communication and Collaboration. Moreover, students of this century are a digital native. The utmost requirement of twenty 21 century pedagogy is learning skills through digital learning experiences with reference to rethinking the role of teachers. Alvin Toffler has strongly stated that literate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn. This is now an emergent status quo for teachers to unlearn the previous trends and practices of teaching with regard to the past century and relearn present techniques and tactics of the millennium trend.

UNESCO stated that all teachers must harness technology for teaching excellence. This is a famous statement that technology can never replace great teachers, but in the hands of great teachers, it can be transformational. Technology helps make teaching, learning, and research more meaningful and enjoyable. There are a number of powerful technology tools in the classroom learning that teachers can use in the classroom that goes beyond textbooks. Digital skills and competencies will always be the ground on which education of the 21st century will grow and thrive. The teacher of the 21st century must be reflective and recognize their role as active practitioners who assume their responsibility in building skills among students with regard to critical understanding, communication, collaboration, and creativity along with technology skills and media skills. Indeed these core competencies are the 21st-century landscape.

 In this era, technological supported pedagogical innovations in form of MOOCs, Flip classrooms approach, Open Educational Resources are being popular in educational experiences. This is the need of the hour that teachers must try to relearn the psychology of young people, their interests, and passion. They must try to unlearn their assumptions and biases about education and keep abreast of happenings around the globe. Of course, someone has stated that Education is not rocket science. It’s much harder. Rocket science is about moving atoms, education is about moving minds. There is nothing big as a change mindset.

The author has the firm belief that technologies can help to develop the skills of the 21st century skills in a better way. Teachers should adopt a brave, confident attitude toward the use of technology, prepared to take risks, and become students along with life. They must assist students to pursue their questions, search, organize, and interpret information so that they may develop abilities to reflect and think critically about the quality of information from the sources through digital learning environments. Of course, digital learning experiences are fundamental to 21st-century education, it is not enough to simply add technology to existing teaching methods. The teacher must learn how to integrate technology in a strategic way that actually benefits the students. Because as a millennial learner, they are advanced users of technology, sometimes it becomes useless to utilize technology in front of them.

There is another emerging concept for preparing teachers for the 21^st century is the teacher’s digital competence.  Digital competence consists of digital knowledge, digital skill, and digital attitude. Every teacher must possess digital competence.  It consists of five segments as Accessing and Analyzing Information, Content Creation, Collaboration, Digital Awareness, and Problem shooter or Problem-Solving regarding digital technology.

In recent years, Govt. of India has done remarkable efforts in form of Indian Digital Initiatives to attract teachers to use technology and re-conceptualize the role of the teacher and a facilitator. These Indian Digital Initiatives are E-PG Pathsahla, ARPIT, NISHTA, CEC, etc. Teachers are provided access to good materials through technology, and they facilitate peer learning among students. In concluding statements, teachers must realize that learning can now take place round the clock and across the globe, with or without us in form of a virtual learning environment.

Unlearning might be harder than learning. It stated that we can change our practice only if we oppose our previously held beliefs, assumptions, and values. This phenomenon gives rise to a threat to identity and challenge which may affect the emotional, social, and intellectual state of an individual.   We need to teach learn to unlearn the habits and beliefs that hold back and to be open to new skills, experiences, behaviors, and knowledge for 21st-century requirements. In the end, it will come down to survival of the fastest to learn to unlearn and then relearn for better prospects. We must be ready to learn, unlearn, and relearn.

 

 

(Prof. Vandana Punia, Human Resource Development Centre. Guru Jambheshwar University Of S&T, Hisar. She is also the Course Coordinator of National Resource Center, Pedagogical Innovations and Research Methodology.  (MHRD, Govt. of India)._