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From Gatekeepers to Facilitators
In today’s rapidly changing world, it’s more important than ever to be ready for the unexpected. As teachers, we frequently say that we are preparing students for the 21st-century, as if we are forgetting that we are already several decades into it. The skills required for the time we are living in and the future that lies ahead are still a topic of contention for many of us from older generations. This is where the next generation comes in. Young people, who will be our future leaders, must be given the opportunity to help determine which skills we should help them develop so that they can deal with the critical issues that will arise in the coming decades.
The reality is that many people currently making decisions, about what students need to learn, cannot even use modern tools such as AI or the apps that are coming online every day. We are being very shortsighted if we are not including youth voices in decisions that impact the future.
Democratic education is a way of teaching that has already been well studied and that gives a road map for including student voice and preparing young people to participate in society in a meaningful way. Democratic education is not a new idea, and it's time we took it seriously if we want to prepare our students for the future and have a real democracy. In the short term, by giving kids a say in their education, we can boost their self-esteem and confidence. When students are given the opportunity to utilize their strengths for the majority of the day, their mental health can improve, and they are able to focus on their learning.
We must recognize, like it or not, that the educational landscape has radically changed and that schools must adapt accordingly. Some educators continue to assert that online education is ineffective. That is just false. We must acknowledge what our students already know — we can now learn virtually anything online. From repairing a toilet to building a computer or learning how to complete math homework, the information needed is just a few clicks away. Students can learn whatever they want online; type it into YouTube, and they’ll have many videos to choose from, and they can pick the one that works for the way they learn best. Information is getting easier to find, and artificial intelligence is making many classroom activities obsolete. Therefore…
