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Authors
Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
The reflection on teaching methods is as old as the hills and it has ensued the introduction of new
strategies and methodological approaches, especially since the 17th century. A brief historical review of
the primary methods since then enables us to realise the underlying, persistent thought in educators’
minds of all times that there must be a more complete, more perfect approach to provide pupils and
students with success. Every new method presents itself as the ultimate answer for the painstaking
question: how can we reach students and teach them something worthy of their future? Method after
method, approach after approach dethrones the previous, proclaiming to the winds that it is the
panacea for all evils and that a new dawn in education is to rise. However, we have yet to see this
bright future of education. In the 1970s, it was the communicative approach; a couple of decades later,
the project- and task-based approaches. From the beginning of the new millennium on, technology
has again been hailed as the definitive response, that enlightened manner to get hold of students’
focus and lead them through avenues of budding success. It has been become fashionable to present
studies, surveys and case studies on the miracle advantages of using twitter and akin technologies
in the classroom, persuading us that we have finally found the answer. Nonetheless, various studies
emphasise the harmful effects of the excessive use of screens, social networks and virtual reality. From
our standpoint, this is a rather desperate attempt to use the same gadgets students do – and convince
them that we are on the same side of the fence – though the truth is that we are no more than another
brick on the wall and the bricks are tumbling down. Education may no longer be heading for progress
but rather for doom. In our bewildered attempt to obey to the winds of change, we have become
oblivious to the importance of high standards and quality, content and practice, of the human contact
to establish the liaison between knowledge and feeling. Bearing in mind these considerations, our aim
is thus to reflect upon the future of education and where it might lead us.
Description
Keywords
Education systems Teaching methods and approaches Technology The future of education
Citation
Martins, Cláudia (2018). 21st century education: progress or doom? In Rui Pedro Lopes; Luís Castanheira; Elisabete Mendes Silva; Graça Santos; João Sérgio de Pina Carvalho Sousa; Manuel Vara Pires; Cristina Mesquita; Maria Raquel Patrício; Paula Marisa Fortunato Vaz (Eds.) III Encontro Internacional de Formação na Docência (INCTE): livro de resumos. Bragança
Publisher
Instituto Politécnico de Bragança