Redefining Education for the Age of AI: A Personal Journey with My Son
What should today’s education be like to meet the creative and problem solving needs in the era of advanced computers and AI?
I think this question can be answered thoroughly for each age and stage of the developing child.
Today, I want to share a small but significant incident involving my 10-year-old son, which led me to reflect deeper on how I facilitate his education.
It all started with an enlightening encounter I had with my son. After completing grade 4 through homeschooling, he now grasps numbers quantitatively and delights in manipulating and playing with them in his mind . He can add, subtract, multiply, and divide, transitioning smoothly from whole numbers to fractions and back . His joy in this understanding is palpable! Beyond mathematics, we explore every subject in a manner that resonates with the human being-child, fostering a deeper understanding of the world and, consequently, of themselves.
During the summer break, I introduced him to some Olympiad mathematics books, marking his first experience in applying his understanding to solve math problems in an MCQ exam format. Since then, I’ve been observing his self-motivated engagement with the material, which he thoroughly enjoys. Our educational approach has never been about just getting to the ‘right’ answers for tests. Instead, we delve into the true essence of the concept, in this case, the mathematical operations, steering clear of teaching abstract methods or procedures, too early, for solving equations by rote. This method prevents memorisation without (much) understanding. To genuinely teach a child how to add, subtract, multiply, or divide, we need to convey the real meaning behind these operations. This can be done through stories that are rooted in our real-world experiences, where all these operations boil down to ‘counting’.
Counting helps us make sense of the quantities we’re dealing with. For example, ‘adding’ means gathering more of something, so we count them all up. ‘Subtracting’ involves giving away, using, or consuming, which also requires counting to figure out what’s left. One can also view this more holistically or spiritually, as adding and subtracting are really parts of the same whole. For instance, energy is neither created nor destroyed; it only changes form. When I eat some apples and subtract them from the basket, there’s also an addition to my body, my health, and nutrition. This deeper understanding is what we aim to instil, making every concept a meaningful exploration of our world and ourselves.
Coming back to the encounter that served as a catalyst for these musings and this blog itself, an intriguing moment arose when my son encountered a long division problem presented in a traditional format, which momentarily puzzled him. His usual method involves mentally dividing or redistributing smaller, manageable portions of the dividend until it is fully accounted for, a process he understands and enjoys.
However, the conventional, step-by-step division method presented in the problem seemed alien to him, prompting him to ask for my help to connect with what he knows. When I tried, his reaction, “not today, maybe later when I’m ready,” left me in awe of his innate sense of self-preservation, especially since he is at a developmental stage where the ability to think abstractly and make complex connections is still emerging. He was clear about not wanting to rote learn a method that didn’t make sense to him when he could do it in a way that he understands.
This brings me to a critical inquiry for parents and educators:
In today’s fast-evolving technological landscape, what holds more value — comprehending the world and our interactions within it , OR mastering techniques to derive ‘correct’ answers?
As computers and AI become increasingly capable of performing routine tasks, the traditional emphasis on rote learning seems increasingly redundant. Conventional education served society in the past by training individuals to develop certain mental labor skills, with or without understanding, as computers at the time did not fully support task forces due to economic reasons.But today, is that educational approach still relevant?
What is the need for young children to learn the abstract methods of carrying, borrowing, canceling from numerator and denominator, among other brilliant but potentially obsolete shortcuts for arriving at the right answers, when what they truly need in today’s age is to understand the essence of their actions and their purpose?
Do we need speed tests — exams that time children to solve a certain number of questions within a certain time when AI will take over the mechanics and speed, and what humans really need is creative thinking power?
Wouldn’t it be more beneficial to revisit the fundamentals of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division in adolescence, when children are capable of making abstract associations and can thus fully appreciate the ingenuity of these traditional methods, devised by brilliant minds of the past for efficient manual calculations? At their age, adolescents can recognise how these procedures are logically coherent and how they relate to tangible, real-world operations.
This experience with my son serves as a small yet profound example urging us to reassess our educational strategies. It prompts us to consider whether it’s time to move beyond conventional methods that may no longer serve our needs.
What thoughts does this stir up in you?
What other conventional ways can we break free from, especially when we can see that they really no longer serve us?
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