The Peoria Area World Affairs Council presented a panel about education in a globalized economy in Westlake Hall last night to a crowd of Bradley students and Peoria locals.
The panel consisted of Peoria Public Schools Superintendent Sharon Desmoulin-Kherat, Bradley education professor Heljä Antola-Crowe and Chief Learning Officer at Caterpillar Chris Yates.
Antola-Crowe opened by discussing what lessons the United States can learn from other countries’ education systems, specifically her native country of Finland.
“The success of the Finnish education system lies in its democratic nature and the great deal of respect afforded to teachers in Finland,” Antola-Crowe said. “Being a teacher is a very prestigious and sexy profession in Finland. As a result, becoming a teacher is much more rigorous and selective, meaning only really talented and competent people become teachers.”
Antola-Crowe said Finland’s success also lies in its more holistic approach to teaching.
“Finnish education focuses on the whole kid. The kid’s creative side as well their practical side, their mind as well as their body,” Antola-Crowe said. “The body is something that is often neglected in the U.S., however, in Finland physical wellbeing is thought to be deeply connected to learning. This is why outdoor activities are a very important part of the education system there.”
Desmoulin-Kherat said she agrees with Antola-Crowe’s desire for educational reform, but she also emphasized certain strengths the American education system had over other countries.
“I went to China in 2005 to talk about the differences between the American and Chinese education system,” Desmoulin-Kherat said. “They really respected and admired the creativity of American students. Additionally, the United States’ classrooms, unlike the classrooms of Finland and China, are fairly diverse. This early exposure to different cultures, ways of life and perspectives gives American students certain advantages in the globalized economy.”
According to Yates, creativity and experience with other cultures are qualities very appealing to employers currently.
“Employees and leaders must also be flexible and capable of learning fast and apply that learning to new situations,” Yates said. “Part of that flexibility deals with cultural agility. The ability to jump between many different cultural frequencies is often the difference between success and failure in our global economy.”
Yates also discussed how globalization has made the world more chaotic.
“There is a term being bandied about a lot lately in the world of management, and that term is V.U.C.A: Volatility Uncertainty Complexity Ambiguity,” Yates said. “Because of V.U.C.A., corporations are looking for people who purpose-driven and have a clear idea of where they want to go. In this V.U.C.A world, you can’t rely on rules because there are no rules, so instead you must rely on your belief system and your purpose to successfully navigate all the chaos.”
Students attending the panel said they were able to learn more about foreign education systems.
“Attending this panel was a requirement for one of my classes, but I ended up really enjoying it,” senior elementary education major Breanna Turner said. “It made me really excited to teach and try to implement some of these ideas. When I was in school, it was a lot of memorization but when I start teaching, I’m hoping to give my students plenty of opportunities for hands on learning.”
