The past

Back in ancient times people lived as tribes in villages, there were no cities and no schools. People lived in tribes and each member of the tribe had their role to play in the survival of the group. So, say that your dad was the tribe huntsman. He would have likely taught you to hunt and then hunting would be your role within the tribal society.

At some point, a load of people decided that it would be cool to get together and see what they could achieve as a larger group. And so, the first cities were founded. Having so many people in the same place, meant that some people had time to scribble stuff on to clay tablets instead of looking for food. By writing stuff down, they could remember things for longer (and the king also thought it was pretty neat that people could still read what he had to say, long after he was dead). Over many years societies evolved and people kept writing down their knowledge, so that others could learn from their experiences.

For a very long time however, only the richest members of society were able to learn. Schools and teachers were very expensive, since knowledge and written material was rare. With the invention of the printing press around 1500, that slowly changed. Now books were becoming much more accessible and less expensive and so more schools were popping up around the world. In the 19th century school became mandatory for all children. Over time we evolved to the point where we are now, where most of you enjoy an extensive education. 

The present

In the developed world, education has become a norm and something people often take for granted. Ypu all have the privilege of being able to go to school and learn things that help shape you into the human you want to be. But even though most of you are privileged, we see that this process is not always perfect. In the past the job market was quite rigid, the jobs schools were preparing students for would not change much over a lifetime. This fact made it so that education would also become quite standardised, it was the same for everyone. 

However, more recently the job market is changing increasingly fast. Because of these changes, people are needed who can be flexible and change their skills, even when they are no longer attending school. So, what we see today is essentially a disconnect between the education system and the job market. This has further become evident with the covid-19 pandemic, with many schools lacking the necessary digital infrastructure. To address this problem, legislators in for example the EU want to shift the focus of its education systems from drilling knowledge to digital literacy; The ability to find and use the information you need online as well as to verify its validity. This focus on change in education brings on many exciting possibilities! Let's have a talk about how the futures might look.