Originally published in TEACH Magazine, January/February 2010 issue
By Richard Worzel
In my past columns, I focused on how education will change. This time, I focus on why it must change.
The society in which we live is driven mainly by commercial interests. The daily bombardment of advertising and its pervasive yet subtle pressures to own something are so common that we hardly notice its influence. Society does not suffer because these pressures exist; after all, this type of pressure has largely been responsible for the richness and luxury of our lives. Yet, there is more to life than commercial offerings especially because they are shallow and lack deeper purpose. Moreover, commerce and society tends to emphasize novelty and while there is nothing wrong with new things per se, there is much more to life than just the novel.
There are few people however, who would delve deeper than today’s satisfactions and that is where education enters the picture. Education provides context to history, art, depth of understanding, and perspective that some people would not otherwise experience. This is part of the traditional role education fulfills in teaching about culture and the transmission of our society’s values.
Richard Worzel is Canada’s leading futurist. Over the past 25 years, he has spoken to an estimated half a million business people around the world. He volunteers his time to speak to high school students for free as his schedule permits.
