An interesting phenomenon occurs when you examine the behavior of light at the microscopic level. Depending on the kind of test you use to observe its behavior as light passes from point A to point B, it is, at the same time, both waveform and particle form. Without getting into what exactly that means, since you can, I suppose, simply Google it, this “wave-particle duality” is central to the field (notion?) of quantum mechanics. I would also venture it is central to, at least correlated with, and perhaps even somehow responsible for the world’s current socio-digital zeitgeist, especially when it comes to the sanctity (or lack thereof) of notions of sequence, order, and predictability in time and space.
Source
Culos, Greg, Waves, Particles, Cats, and Captain Kirk: The Quantum Impact on Social Thought in Education, Values and Meanings, Scientific Foreign Countries (НАУЧНОЕ ЗАРУБЕЖЬЕ, Ценности и смыслы), 2019, No 3 (61), pp. 138~155.
This essay is an expression of thoughts and concerns towards current trends in education. It expands upon a particular correlation between current scientific theory, advances in technology, and how their combination has, in recent decades affected both social thought and education theory and practice.
For the UNESCO Chair on Global Education at the Institute for Strategy of Education Development of the Russian Academy of Education
I’ve come to a realization. Effective education is simply, and exactly, this:
To encourage and
inspire people to communicate well; and through this process, enable them to
develop their inner selves and their potential as it relates to both their
success and that of their communities.
What we learn is not inconsequential, but to presume we can teach someone, anyone, to be good at anything in particular, is, I believe, misguided. People take themselves on those journeys and end up in places that are entirely of their own discovery, making, and determination. We can guide, suggest. Put coals on fire, and stoke it; but the direction the flames take, should there even be any, has nothing at all to do with us. We can stand by, watch, and, perhaps, become inspired ourselves by witnessing the potential people have within themselves. Our role, as teachers, is quite straightforward: to stoke the inspiration that will take people on journeys of their own determination.
This realization rests at
the core of this, my little exploration into the future of education. It’s a
simple idea, not reliant on technologies or trends or modes of pedagogical
thought that are, on many occasions, flavours of the day. Indeed, it’s an idea
that I believe has never changed. While the tools, science, social systems,
modes of thought, and resources that surround us today most certainly have
evolved, we are ultimately the same vulnerable, sentient beings that have
existed for millennia. We share the same capacities, strengths, limitations,
needs, desires, hopes, and dreams as our distant ancestors who learned to control
fire itself (something, incidentally, we’ve yet to perfect). We learn what is
relevant and necessary for survival determined by the environments within which
we live. Beyond that, we learn best those things that catch our interest and
inspire us to delve more deeply. We learn best in an effort to define who we
are, to ourselves, to others, in ways we hope to be perceived, and in ways we
yearn to be able to interact within our communities.
The future of education,
I believe, is no different than the past of education. While trends in
education will continue to come and go, trends are derivatives of a whole; they
tend to be particular aspects, qualities, approaches, activities, and
philosophies elevated to lofty cultish heights. The truth is, when separated and
formalized into “new approaches to learning,” they lose both essence and
effectiveness. Without delving too much into current trends and directions in
educational thought, theory, and application, safe it to say that much emphasis
is currently placed on the notion that our level of technological prowess
enables approaches to learning that are somehow superior to “traditional
approaches.” Here, and pointedly, I disagree. First, the notion of a
traditional approach to education is a vague one that tends to fall apart with
closer inspection. And second, while our current state of technological prowess
enables us so much further than humans have ever been enabled in the past,
those technologies are not capable in themselves to improve how and why we
learn.
So, what, in my mind, is
the future of education. This is where I return to my opening words. The future
of effective education lies in what effective education has always been: “To encourage and inspire people to
communicate well; and through this process, enable them to develop their inner
selves and their potential as it relates to both their success and that of
their communities.”
How do we proceed? We
forge communities of learning, something that has always been core to effective
learning. We create reasons for people to be together that hinge on shared
challenges. While our social and environmental surroundings define basic levels
of understanding that we share and require to participate and survive within
them, we then and together discover how each of us carries some particular
solution to the larger questions we face as a whole. There is a place for
learning skills we apply in unison. And there is a place for our individual
strengths to benefit those communal needs. While society requires us to work in
teams, in synchrony, according to requirements that apply equally to each of
us, it also gains from individual understandings and approaches that can and do
improve the ability of the community to improve how it behaves as a whole.
We all must learn to
read, write, sing, count, and strategize. Beyond that, we all should be enabled
by and engaged in the breadth and depth of the tools and capabilities now
available to us: incredible technologies, fantastic mobility, and seemingly
instantaneous access to information, anywhere, and anytime. Human society has
changed dramatically in the preceding three decades. We live in a world that I
believe is experiencing a schism of a magnitude never before seen. On one side
we have the political orders, isolated communities corralled by power
structures and defined by invisible and arbitrary boundaries determined (more
than we’d like to admit) through oppression within and beyond those boundaries.
On the other side we have an entire world of people all sharing the same needs,
hopes, desires, and goals: to live, love, succeed, survive, and to feel
included in community.
As a direct consequence
of our incredible technologies, fantastic mobility, and seemingly instantaneous
access to information, traditional borders are rendered meaningless. Power
structures of the past should remain there. I have spent my professional career
in education, and in particular international education. And through my three
decades in this field, I have concluded this: technology has brought together
people from around the world in different locations for different purposes and
to accomplish goals that are relevant to all of us. Each of us today belongs to
social circles where colleagues, mentors, friends, teachers, mothers, fathers,
relatives, brothers and sisters were, only a half century ago, bifurcated as
allies or enemies. For the most part, we were led to believe that “they” were
not “us.” The fact is, what we have discovered in recent decades, is, indeed,
exactly the opposite. The past 30 years has provided all of us an emancipation
of thought and being that changes everything… except for how we learn. That
remains the same, and rests at the core of our future together.
Our incredible
technologies, fantastic mobility, and seemingly instantaneous access to
information will only improve, and dramatically so. As a global society we will
continue to use those tools and technologies to bring us closer together in
greater diversity to face challenges of survival and social improvement that
will benefit all of us. We will continue to require education in fundamental
skills and awareness. At the same time, the opportunities available to each of
us as a consequence of our own unique talents and dispositions will increase
exponentially as well, and as a direct result of the exponential increase in
the kinds of communities we are now capable of creating.
We’re excited you have discovered Cross, and we welcome and encourage you to explore our pages and learn about who we are and what we do.
Common Ground & Common Purpose
Cross Education was born from a simple idea: when we learn together, on common ground, with common purpose, we, people from around the world, become more versatile, more effective, and more impactful. In doing so, we increase our capacity to make the world a better place for everyone. When we learn together we remove the traditional biases and boundaries of education, and create a platform of inclusivity and open-mindedness where all of us share and benefit from what we all share equally: the human experience.
At Cross we believe that no matter where we are from, and indeed we are all from often very different social, geographical, linguistic, and cultural backgrounds, the essential things that make us human are equal. We are born, we live, we strive to accomplish, we seek the company and comfort of others, and when we are gone, we hope that our lives and actions impacted the world, somehow, positively.
Discovering Ourselves Discovering the World
We believe in encouraging people to discover themselves, their potential, their strengths and weaknesses, and their capacities. We facilitate the ability for people to explore the world, it’s vast diversity, its beauty and potential. We celebrate problems, questions, and challenges in life, and through exercises in learning and effective community building, look for solutions to them. We seek ways to help people grow confidence in the abilities and capacities they discover within themselves, and learn to use them together and in combination with those of others.
Our Academy and Camp programs for youth are deeply rooted in these ideas. Our philosophy of education is manifested through applied learning experiences that include learning in communication (in Japanese & English), technology, society, culture, the arts, media, engineering, performance, sport, and much more. At the core of our approach is, indeed, diversity: diversity of people, of places, of ideas, of activities, and of challenges.
Showa Women’s University: at the Center of Our World
The Cross Summer Academy is our signature program held annually for the entire summer on site at the Showa Women’s University Campus in the heart of Tokyo. Located only minutes from some of the most exciting metropolitan centers in the world, within the rich cultural landscape of Japan, the Cross Summer Academy is based in a world class education facility. However, since a defining characteristic of Cross is diversity, our programs take advantage of a variety of locations in Tokyo and in different parts of Japan; we have an ecology center and farm in the outskirts of Tokyo, a full facility school in Okutama in the foothills of the Japanese Alps, and program facilities in Iwate and Gunma prefectures. In 2019, we look forward to expanding our reach of opportunities for students to other other parts of Japan, with considerations even beyond that!
Strength in Diversity & Community
Our community is equally diverse. We are a community of students, staff, and faculty who gather annually from Japan, from around the world, and from many different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Diversity is also demonstrated within our team of instructors. Not only do they come from around the world, but they are also professionals in their fields of specialization: world class athletes, renowned technology specialists, and accomplished performers and designers. Together, in English as our common tongue, we experience a world of learning opportunity, through the lens of Japan, that is second to none.
Finally, what we are most proud, is this: the smiles on our students faces that don’t ever seem to fade.
Cross Education has come to Japan to establish its fully cultural & communicative immersive learning experiences for both Japanese and inbound international students.
There are certain places in the world where international education community building has happened and flourished. We’ve seen so historically in the USA, Switzerland, Canada, the UK. We believe that Japan now makes absolute sense for may reasons: one for its global economic reach and impact; two for its positioning in the East, from where global economic growth is now largely being driven; and three, from a country that provides the connectedness, the safety, the security, and the richness of life and experience that inspire learning in all ways.
The directors have a long heritage in both Canada and Japan offering English-based experiential programs for international students. Through Cross Education, Japan, they proudly bring an exciting new brand of education to Japan to create a venue for people from all corners of the planet.
The 2019 Cross Summer Academy is a multi-locational program based in the Tokyo and in the Kanto region. It brings a community of children and teenagers (from 5 to 18 years old) together from around the world, and from around Japan.
Together they engage in up to seven weeks of challenge and discovery.
