KIEF-2019: innovative solutions for the education of the future
Knowledge economy, innovative solutions in the education system, and competitiveness of the next generation in the labor market. These issues were discussed by the participants of the “Education 4.0: how to prepare people for tomorrow” panel at the Kyiv International Economic Forum-2019, the topic of which was the future of the changing world.
We continue the series of reports from the year’s main business event a strategic partner of which is UFuture holding company.
Speakers of the thematic debate were:
- Armand Doucet, Co-author of the best-selling book “Teaching in the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” leading international expert in the field of education;
- Ilja Laurs, leading ideologist, lecturer, founder of the Nextury Ventures venture fund;
- Ari Pokka, director of the Schildt Upper Secondary School in Finland;
- Olga Harasahal, winner of the Intel ISEF 2019 International Science Projects Competition in the USA, young scientist from Mariupol who already holds two patents for cancer detection equipment.
Zoya Lytvyn, founder of “Osvitoria” NGO and Novopecherska School moderated the panel.
Arman Doucet spoke about key details of educational development, investment in innovative learning and teachers, and important personal qualities for the future.
“If you do not understand who you are working with, you will not succeed. It’s necessary to build a unique model of education, just copying will not work here — it’s not McDonald’s. Countries that work simply in terms of education feel bad, we need to invent and provide modern content in the curriculum. They need to invest in teachers, need to pay them like professionals, treat the teaching profession as a star profession,” Douceе said.
It’s interesting to compare Ukraine to Finland because everyone has heard about the Finnish educational miracle. Ari Pokka, director of the Schildt Upper Secondary School in Finland, outlined the key Finnish cases that helped them succeed.
“In our country, we believe that every child should study in good schools. Not just those who pass the exams, but generally everyone. Traditionally, teachers have always been respected by us. Being a teacher is prestigious. This is one of the main things that helped us build a good education system. Today we are investing in the prestige of pre-school teachers,” Ari Pokka said.
Ilja Laurs, founder of the Nextury Ventures, spoke about the main difference between the American education and how Stanford graduates made a trillion-dollar economic product.
In the post-Soviet space, all education is separated from business. Meaning significant economic results. In the West, they produce knowledge that is transformed into an economic product. It brings money into all areas then. $2.7 trillion is the gains from the graduates of Stanford University alone in the market. I also believe that the passive model of education when studying at universities is already outdated, and the most up-to-date knowledge can be obtained peer to peer. I think that the world is moving towards the fact that there will not be two people with the same competencies,” Ilja Laurs concluded.
Olga Harasahal spoke about how to reform education and what the Ukrainian teachers were missing.
“The United States and Asia have the most successful education systems, but they have two different concepts: the United States aims to make the largest percentage of successful students – look foк smart, work with them, and create future specialists. And in Asia, they believe that every child is gifted. I think the truth is somewhere in the middle. In Ukraine, education reforms have affected only material support, not teachers. This is the most pressing problem. It’s also very important to introduce a personalized education schedule and to provide not only knowledge, but also practical skills,” Olga Harasahal said.