ASSIGNMENT- SUMMARY & CRITICISM

COURSE: FUTURE STUDIES

INSTRUCTOR NAME: DR. NAZIM AMAN
TOPIC: EDUCTAION (CHAPTER 19)
BOOK: 21 LESSONS FOR 21ST CENTURY

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 31-05-2022

SUBMITTED BY: MUSKAAN KHAN
(44549)

CHAPTER # 19: EDUCATION

Summary:
Change is the only constant, that’s what Harari focused on in this chapter as he emphasized the
importance of the fast changing world and how the humankind needs a change too. The emphasis
on the past years where the events took place has no longer a strong power in our present as the
stories seemed crumbled, and that’s exactly what Harari is trying to convey. The things that
happened in past evolved to what our world is now today and the same thing will happen as the
things that are happening today will have a very less to no relevance not the coming years.
The future is unpredictable, the skills the people had in 1018 are no longer required, same thing
will happen in the future. SO what exactly will happen in future and what today’s generation
must learn to actually be able to fit in? all such questions do not have a specific answer as once
again we cannot determine the future but one thing at can be done is to limit the amount of
information regarding the history and other domains taught to students. Today’s generation is far
more able to incorporate what needs to be learned. Stuffing young minds with the hard skills
might not all be what’s needed for them. Though hard skills play vital role in today’s world it
might not even exist in the future. So the young generation are capable enough to understand the
4 C’s that must be taught critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity. The
capacity to deal with change, learn new things, and maintain mental equilibrium in unexpected
settings will be most crucial. You will not only need to generate new ideas and goods to stay up
with the world of 2050; you will also need to reinvent yourself on a regular basis. The emphasis
on life skills is a must and schools should be focusing more on these skills.
Your entire life changes when you are a teenager. The majority of youngsters find it both
terrifying and intriguing. You don't want to alter by the time you're fifty. You may still value
fresh experiences and slight changes. However, most people in their fifties aren't ready to make
major structural changes. Humankind will face major changes in the years to come and you’ll
need a lot of mental flexibility and emotional balancing reserves to live and thrive in such a
society. You'll have to let go of some of your favorite things over and over again in order to
become comfortable with the unknown. Teaching children to accept the unknown is far more
difficult than teaching them a physics equation.
So Harari advices our youth to explore themselves try making a picture of their own instead of
focusing on a boring school where all you get taught about are the history and equations. He
instructs them to not reply on the adults completely as they are from the past where everything
was way lighter than it is now, changes were not that common, world was not evolving at a fast
pace and there was much more understanding of the things as they were not complex.
Harari then questions what exactly should your youth rely on and he then mentions the word
technology and said though its great and can be very useful however the technology has become
dangerous for humans, people are glued to their screens and that’s what technology did to us,
instead of making a good use of it the entire generation is addicted to it as slaves.
You'll need to put in a lot of effort to obtain a deeper understanding of your operating system if
you want to succeed at such a difficult undertaking. To understand who you are and what you
want out of life, and you need to be quicker as your data is at risk, each and everything about you
is being monitored and you are acting as a data to large companies and government.
CRITICISM:
This chapter underlines the importance of new ways of teaching students, not only the students
must be taught the technical skills but the analytical skills as well. The chapters says that the old
traditional systems are still common and students are still locked up with the old techniques of
teaching, as the teacher themselves are from the past generation and are not ready to accept new
methodologies of teaching. However in my opinion ever since COVID-19 spread across the
world and the entire states was in lockdown, it was the teachers who brought in the change
moving from traditional teaching methods to an online learning facility. Apart from that in
universities importance on the 4 Cs is greatly highlighted, by involving strategies in the form of
projects or taking it to a higher ground by industry experiences. The teaching methodology has
changed immensely and the teachers are ready for a change as “CHANGE IS THE ONLY
CONSTANT”