At the closing of the ninth International Congress of Educational Innovation (CIIE) that took place in Monterrey – Mexico, global leaders met to share trends and practices that are changing the world of education and provoke reforms based on access to it. .
The closing conference was given by Michael Fung, director of the Institute for the Future or Education from the Tecnológico de Monterrey. In the final conference he shared from the institute’s experience the five paradigm shifts that are required, in his words, to revolutionize global continuing education. These are strategies with which people will have the possibility of updating their skills in the face of the demands that arise from the world of work.
Trends show that some of the skills or capabilities that we receive in higher education become obsolete and companies and institutions require renewal in the sector so that the generation of knowledge and innovationMichael Funvación make companies and institutions competitive.
1. The first change is to rethink academic pathways. To date, a large part of the world affirms that they tend to be limited academic and vocational paths and that it is necessary to broaden the options of that academic offer. According to his words, it must be passed to unlimited modular paths that can serve students from their different origins. It is what in Colombia is called micro credentials, offering specific activities that allow certifying skills, which opens up a universe of options in continuous training.
2. Bring learning from the classroom to the real world. He affirms that learning based exclusively in the classroom must be overcome, by another that allows students to approach the labor market. Practices and workspaces collaboration with the productive sector. The way to have job-relevant skills, according to the director, involves bringing the industry into the classroom.
Develop cooperative education programs based on the challenges that are experienced in favor of companies and institutions. Today it is more common for the professional to learn from his work at work compared to what he studied at the university. Therefore, it is necessary to better articulate education with practice.
3. Lifelong learning should be promoted. It indicates that in the current education system, a lot of time is invested in the first years of education, that is, between 4 and 16 years of age, but afterwards the investment of resources by each country is irregular and the reduction of resources in the sector is greater. That is why he argues that more resources and time should be invested in lifelong learning, continuous education and where the public sector plays a central role.
4. AIncrease collaboration between the public and private sectors. He considers it relevant that the public sector build alliances with the private sector to offer a greater number of opportunities for mass learning. In the case of Mexico, it indicates that the burden of public spending for the State is high and often lacks the capacity for rapid response. He expresses that the private sector must be more involved, when thinking about a continuous and lifelong education. The system must be complemented with the contributions, resources and capacities of both sectors.
5. Develop more transversal skills. He says that as the world becomes more complex, people need ways to embrace change, innovate and develop critical thinking, actions that allow them to solve problems that, even today, are difficult to define. He exposed that much of the technical knowledge becomes obsolete in the short term. We learn things that in ten years are not needed or used, therefore, it is necessary to offer a set of skills to adapt and emphasize transversal adaptive skills.
What is defined as continuing education is a type of training that is self-directed and focuses on personal development that recognizes the need to continue learning over the long term from different media.
From this perspective, he proposes that it is necessary to think about ways to transform higher education and for this he quoted the Prime Minister of Singapore, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who expressed at the 2022 meeting the need to provide different learning opportunities that are convenient, relevant and of quality. for the labor force.
Technology makes the need to adapt to labor systems greater every day. An expert person in a job who is absent five years from it, may not adapt to the changes. That is why continuous training must be permanent, and updated with the needs of technological, cultural, political, environmental and social changes.
For the Colombian case, the need to think about continuous education, articulated with the productive sector and with a greater investment by the State in it, applies.
*Specialist in education