Is Knowledge Everything? Here's Our Honest View
It is still vital in many aspects of life to ‘know your stuff’.
Knowledge is a recurring theme on the podcast. Our conclusion is that knowledge is important, but so are skills. It should not be an either or and setting it up this way is a false dichotomy.
It's an imperative to know things, but critically evaluating that knowledge is crucial.
Never before have we had so many global figures sharing information which is simply not true. It is happening in plain sight. Learners desperately need the skills to discern fact from fiction. But how do educators do this? This is not in the national curriculum. These skills need nurturing, developed and discovered in a different way.
In episode 192 of the podcast the Apollo engineer and futurist Bill Halal joined us. We talked about the knowledge era and how businesses have grown in this time to drive knowledge consumption. We delved into what Bill describes as the coming ‘age of consciousness’, where beliefs, values and morals - rather than cold knowledge - will impact decisions and how we act as a society.
The 'age of consciousness' represents the human race moving into a phase of maturity. From childhood to adulthood. In this coming era knowledge will not be sufficient. Decisions will be based more on feelings and their impact on our environment, the planet and future generations.
Sustainability is being taught in many countries, but there's more to be done. If we are only providing information and not allowing learners to take agency of this knowledge then we are not truly preparing them. Self-discovery of this knowledge needs to take place, where they can explore, communicate their views, add their opinions and analyse what it means now and for future generations to come.
The true educational revolution that is needed, will be forced by businesses, not the idea of a political party (at least not in England). Although some will see the positives in this, it could also cause unease. However, in Bill's analysis, the 'age of consciousness' will encourage businesses to act on sustainability and with corporate social responsibility, moving beyond the profit motive.
These businesses will need a workforce that can think critically, beyond the bank balance. This will surely cause a seismic shift in how we prepare people for this world.
Patagonia is a company that embodies the 'age of consciousness'. It has always been a wonderfully well lead organisation, but recently its founder Yvon Chouinard has decided to simply give the company away so that the profits will go to saving the planet. What an example to many businesses and billionaires across the globe. To read more on this please see here.
We are confident that these new businesses, inspired by the likes of Patagonia, will help education go through the revolution it needs.