The Future of Education

In January of 2018, a statistic was released by Education Queensland that stated out of 53000 enrolled year 12 students 17 000 did not successful graduate from high school. That statistic did not make sense. WHY was this number so large? WHY were we not offering a system of ‘opportunity in learning’? HOW could this happen? WHAT must change? The ‘change’ is an industry/education model – A collaboration for the Future of Education. Educators of this model of teaching have a complex understanding for multiple learning styles, and a deep pedagogical understanding that content should be industry driven and relevant to the learner. Engagement with Employment Consultants who engage with education to have a complex understanding of entry level opportunities within industry sectors. These industry connections are then linked to specialists of further study in certificate and diploma courses that are industry sector specific. What differs from the contemporary post-industrial model of learning is this - a ‘pathway of learning by doing’. By focusing on specific learning programs to achieve State Education Standards as well as vocational certificate and diploma credentials, career opportunities in specific industry sectors, skill  development for specific industry standards, employability skill growth, and mentoring with industry sector leaders, we are allowing students to take control of their career pathways for the future. Industry sector leaders choose students from this model’s graduate program for employment because the learners invested themselves in working with the educators and employment consultants to create a program that teaches the key issues of skills and employability. The model is sustainable and driven to produce positive learning outcomes in an educational world that has not evolved with changes in technology as well as employment. Under the current learning initiatives, the PISA ranking of Australia (2017) continues to decline yet we still insist on the same education model that has not supported the improvement of literacy, numeracy or science. In 2015, the Australian P-TECH schools were given a two-year pilot which ignited a positive evolutionary step for learning. In 2016, the P-TECH Australia program extended toward 10 sites nation-wide, and by mid-2018, 14 Australian pilot sites will be operating. The 2017 employment projections showed that health care and social assistance careers are set to make the largest contribution to employment growth, followed by professional, scientific and technical Services, construction, and education. These four industries are projected to provide more than half of total employment growth over the five years to May 2022. By collaborating with industry, employment specialists, academics and governments, Australia will ensure a diversity in learning model which reflects the future of education to the World, while ensuring that 32% of learners failing will be an education model of the past.

Keywords: Industry Education, Career Learning options, Alternative learning pathways;