Education in the 21st Century

This essay analyzes the changing scenario of education in the 21st century. It discusses the 21st century teaching and learning, the factors driving this change, and the comparison between traditional and new teaching practices. The importance of education to change is also highlighted.

Running head: EDUCATION IN THE 21ST CENTURY
EDUCATION IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

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EDUCATION IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Introduction
With the turn of the century, many things changed drastically including education. The
world witnessed innovations and ideas that could not even be imagined in the previous centuries.
All spheres of life were influenced by the innovations, education in particular. The impact has
been remarkable in the field of education especially with the emergence of technology Goldin
and Katz (2018).
The aim of this essay is to analyze the changing scenario of education in the 21st century.
In doing so, the essay will first discuss the 21st century teaching and learning. Then, it will
highlight the prime factors, three to be specific, which are driving this change. The factors will
include globalization, social change and technological innovation. Further, the essay will
compare the traditional and new practices of teaching to reveal the way pedagogy and curriculum
are changing in the new century. The last section will discuss the importance of education to
change.
Discussion
The influence of the ever-changing and abundant technology often dominates the
conversations and interactions in the modern society. the same could be said about education as
well where the integration of technology and the stress laid on disciplines associated closely with
technology such as mathematics, science and engineering are considered crucial. These are
significant contemplations but teaching and learning in the 21st century is even beyond the
integration of technology simply Algan Cahuc and Shleifer (2013). The reason is that teaching
and learning is about nurturing customs of thinking and encouraging temperaments that support
accomplishment in an age determined by quickly changing and intensifying technologies.

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Receptive 21st century teaching and learning necessitates educators to generate environments and
offer experiences that give confidence to investigation and inquiry, and foster curiosity and
creativity.
In order to generate these environments, educators now have access to the different
components of teaching and learning of the 21st century. These components include critical
thinking, problem solving, authentic learning, collaboration, cross-disciplinary teaching and
suitable use of technologies. These components emerged because of growing importance of
innovative thinking in the 21st century (Kivunja 2014). The innovative thinking in teaching and
learning gave rise to several characteristics that could be associated with the current century.
Learner-centered classroom with personalized instructions, students as creators, use of smart
phones are some of the many characteristics of the 21st century education. Smart classes are a
trend now where teachers make use of technologies like projectors to teach students.
Weinstein and Hernández (2016) also, points out that the social media platforms, an
emerging feature of the 21st century, also facilitate teaching and learning in this era. The author
states that the social media platform is the perfect place where the educators could locate and
share information. In the 21st century, educators do not shy away from encouraging their students
to use their phones as important tools to support knowledge.
Various factors contribute towards the changing environment of education. However,
globalization, social change and innovation have been the three dominating factors. Although the
globalization phenomenon began in the later years of the 20th century, its impact on education
was felt only at the turn of the 21st century. Globalization has caused borders to blur, which has
invariably affected the way education is disseminated. Prior to globalization, teaching and

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learning was confined to regional or national boundaries. With the emergence of globalization,
this trend has changed. Students are now exposed to knowledge that transcends boundaries.
Globalization made it possible for students to visit foreign countries through scholarship and
exchange programs especially at the university level. Educators introduced these programs at the
college level as well and that has increased competition amongst students thus raising the level
of education. Pellegrino (2014) argues that globalization is not only changing the education
scenario, it is also transforming educational leadership. They state that because globalization has
affected all spheres of public life that includes education as well; educational leaders have to
demonstrate “visionary capacity, new professional skills, instructional design, assessment
literacy and crisis management”.
Another factor that is contributing towards changing educational context is the social
change. it is interesting to note that globalization also has a role to play in social change. Social
change occurs when one could see visible changes in the many aspects of the social process,
patterns, social interaction and organization. According to Henn and Foard (2014) however,
education and social change are interrelated. The author states while education safeguards,
transmits and distributes the entire culture, social change is the tool and requirement of
educational thought. Education and social change influence each other, for example, education
aware people about the incompetence of the society and drives them to bring about social
change. When this happens, people realize the value of education and start placing more
importance to it owing to the social change.
Innovation is another important factor that has brought about significant changes in
education. Innovation hugely affects education because it provides a new dimension to the
educators for teaching. However, is is important to know the ways to manage innovation.

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Saunila, Pekkola and Ukko (2014) conducted a study on the influence of innovation management
in the secondary schools in Thailand. The study revealed that the innovation management factors
such as organizational learning, transformational leadership and resource management had deep
impact on school performance. Innovation has helped educators focus on the holistic
development and education of the children rather than just focusing on their academic
development (Voogt et al., 2013).
The changing trends in education have also caused changes in the planning and
implementation of curriculum and pedagogy. It could be understood in a better way if one
compares traditional and modern education.
Traditional education, known also as conventional education had a one-way teaching and
learning process. The educators only had to provide study materials to the students who in turn
only had to recite it. Teaching in the traditional education is all about memorizing the
assignments given by the teachers. The curriculum had modules at the end of which, students are
to sit in written or oral test. Pedagogy in traditional education focused on managing student
behavior by rewarding them for their efforts. Class periods were used efficiently and clear rules
were exercised to make the students disciplined. In addition, traditional teaching practices
focused on students as a group and rarely as individuals Darling-Hammond and Lieberman
(2013). Modern education, on the other hand, encourages teaching practices that encourage
focusing on each student, which means that modern teaching practices realize the different levels
of understanding each student possesses. While the rewards and punishment method that the
traditional teaching practice followed is still practiced in modern teaching, the techniques have
changed. In the traditional practice, students were rewarded for their academic performance and
punished if they failed to perform. On the other hand, modern teaching practices encourage

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rewards for overall performance and the system of punishment is almost non-existent. The
introduction of modern teaching methods has contributed to the planning of a curriculum that
encompasses not only the academic aspect but also other aspects such as sports, arts and so on.
Pedagogical studies now focus on training educators to enhance the creativity, cultural
knowledge and leadership skills of the students amongst other skills.
The above discussion demonstrates the need for and significance of education to change.
Considering the new teaching practice especially the focus on students’ holistic development, the
need and importance of change in education is more strongly realized. According to Mama and
Hennessy (2013), education is a tool that empowers people to challenge the wrong they see in
the society especially when the people have knowledge of multiple areas. Holistic development
involves teaching the students, the concepts that they previously did not understand. For
example, students previously were not given education on how to appreciate different cultures or
how to become effective leaders. Now, students are provided all necessary opportunities that
facilitate their overall development. However, in order to make sure that students continue
receiving these opportunities, it is important for education to change at every level. Presently,
most educational institutions focus on technological advancement of students. With the help of
new teaching practices that involves holistic development including critical thinking, these
institutions could allow students to choose their own path. It however needs to be stated that, the
most effective way to change the education in the 21st century is to have a perfect infusion of
both traditional and new teaching practices.
Conclusion

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To conclude, it could be stated that the 21st century has brought about revolutionary
changes in education, which is visible from the curriculum and pedagogical practices followed
today. The essay analyzed the different aspects of the 21st century education. It first discussed the
teaching and learning practices of the 21st century and then identified and discussed the three
main factors that drove changes in education. The analysis found that globalization, social
change and innovation were the three major factors that contributed towards change in education.
Further, the essay highlighted the changes in curriculum and pedagogy by providing comparison
between traditional and new teaching practices. It was found that the new traditional practices
encourage holistic development of the students. In the end, the essay discussed the importance of
change in education.

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Algan, Y., Cahuc, P., & Shleifer, A. (2013). Teaching practices and social capital. American
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