Are we are sleepwalking into an educational abyss? | Louis Naudi

Jeffrey Pullicino-Orlando, CEO of the Skills Council, recently stated “we must move beyond exam-based teaching systems”, reinforcing my long-held views whilst a Skills Council member, where our educational focus is primarily based on content not attitude or thinking processes.

It is argued that Malta urgently needs to address its skills shortages. But what do we mean by skills? What skills do students need to be successful and what do we mean by success?

What skills, behaviours and attitudes do students need to reach and thrive in college? What skills, behaviours and attitudes do they need to be successful in employment? What skills and behaviours are needed to think entrepreneurially? And which can be reliably taught by schools up to college level and beyond?

The idea of developing students to prepare them for the challenges Malta faces internally and in an increasingly competitive environment, seems to take second place. I would argue that we need radical change in our thinking approach to teaching, not tinkering, as we are failing both students and teachers with a focus on content not critical thinking processes and analysis skills.

Are we sleep walking into an educational future which fails to question its teaching methodology, where excellence does not appear to be an objective and relevance for tomorrow’s needs?

Fiddling with and applauding ad hoc examples is not OK and falls far short of the changes needed. Skill development and teaching methodology are both interrelated and important. The latter is largely ignored yet impacts on the type and quality of skills developed.

Many argue that education is primarily, whilst some say, exclusively, concerned with the production of work-ready students equipped with specific skills. I would argue that this is a simplistic view and in Malta, we should embrace an education system that develops its people who are members of society, not just employees, equipped with critical and creative skills that enable them to actively be involved in all aspects of work life.

However, tertiary education suffers from a process which focuses on generating more and more students and income yet success in boosting the capacity of students to learn, is rarely acknowledged as a critical performance indicator by those responsible for preparing our younger generations. Too many graduates leave with qualifications unable to engage in clearly articulated written work to satisfy employers, reason clearly, or perform competently in identifying and analysing complex issues.

The current approach and primary focus to education in our schools and even tertiary institutions primarily rewards the memorising curricula learning model which leads to a workforce that is often ill-equipped to deal with problems requiring critical and innovative thinking.

Reliance on exams, the primary method to determine a student’s worth in a subject, divides many, giving an edited snapshot of a student’s subject knowledge, filtered and tailored for purposes of passing specific exams.

Is this the kind of learning we want to encourage? Are standardized tests the sole barometer for achievement? What matters most about teaching these skills is how they are taught.

While students may acquire subject-specific expertise in tertiary education, many employers believe they emerge from university lacking skills in complex reasoning and writing. Ironically, many graduates believe otherwise! My experience in Malta sides with employers.

Engaging in critical minds and critical thinking, is not solely reduced to what’s good for industry or the economy; it’s to enable individuals become efficient and effective in life’s challenges and also about what’s good for society, citizenship, and the environment.  Such thinking clearly goes beyond a specific career path and includes universal problem-solving skills.

Critical thinking involves questioning, evaluating, making judgements, finding connections and categorising information and being open to other points of view, not being blinded by our own biases.

Whilst reproduction of knowledge is important, moving away from teaching and assessment that gives too much importance to memorising curricula learning, and moving towards more intellectually stimulating and engaging methods that help students become independent thinkers, is even more essential today than ever before.

It is important to foster critical and innovative skills in our students from an early age. I would argue that these should be taught in primary and secondary schools as part of the basic curriculum.

We need to make our teaching more relevant for tomorrow’s world but also more fun and engaging for both students and teachers.

Ultimately, a major challenge for both the government and tertiary institutions is the lack of effective strategic leadership in the educational sector. Sometimes, rocking the boat, leading and engaging in a national debate requires us to be brave.

Can we continue to ignore this debate? A workforce possessing these thinking tools is a necessity for a Maltese society capable of evolving.