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Eco123 Revista da Economia e Ecologia
Sunday, the 19th Abril 2020
by Uwe Heitkamp
Dear Reader,
How do you feel right now? Can you see the light at the end of the tunnel? I am sure that the questions running through your head are the same questions that I put to myself today. What will my future look like, what will the future of my family and friends look like, and which course will Portugal, Europe and the rest of the world choose to take? Crises are always a challenge to the way in which we learn. Cognitive knowledge dominates the school curricula, and these curricula are themselves copies of other curricula repeated ad infinitum. This is the sad nature of reality. But, starting today, we can begin to think in a new way, broadening our horizons. Our education system largely follows linear models of thinking – an outdated vision. The world is a complex system, and our methods for acquiring knowledge should help us to understand the world of tomorrow, or else artificial intelligence will begin to replace people.
We should think first of the values that guide us. As far as the climate crisis is concerned, values like humility and abdication, the ability to let go of things, are important, although during this pandemic, it is solidarity that will guide the way. This is the moment when values become our most important tool for overcoming the crisis. Education involves not only the advancement of knowledge and skills, but also the development of heart and character. Education isn’t just about the fundamentals of mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology, but also philosophy, psychology, economics, and history; the fundamentals of all that is beautiful and good. It’s about everything that makes a person a human being. It is a spiritual attitude.
At school, children and young people are learning more and more about less and less – they need less of what they learn, and they often forget it again in a heartbeat. What’s the result of all this? I am focused on this issue. What should the goal of education be?
Let’s start by doing something we do at home when we feel that our house, or our storage space, is full of stuff that we no longer need. We should seriously review the educational curricula. The aim is for the content of these curricula to make more sense, to be better suited to the current times and the issues that we face, to be more challenging, and to have more value. To achieve this, let’s start by thinking about sustainability. Natural sciences are taught as separate disciplines. If, today, in order to comprehend the world, we need to recognise the links between subjects to understand the roots of our problems, how about connecting our knowledge of mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology together in one discipline called science, and trying to reconcile this science with philosophy, psychology, religion, economics and sociology? Why not look beyond the limits of each discipline and linear thinking towards an interdisciplinary future, considering the whole as well as the parts? Finally, let’s promote the value of teamwork, both among teachers and between students.
I will certainly be accused of being a dreamer. And yes, I am, because in times of crisis, we become more aware of our dreams. We have time to think constructively about how we want to live, learn and educate one another. Let’s begin this morning by imagining how we can reconcile our dreams and our children’s ideas about the future. Because there is a future, and it has to be sustainable. We must not limit ourselves to cutting down trees to make paper – we have to plant them and appreciate their beauty. In visual education classes, we could start by teaching all children that asking questions and being curious are important requirements for understanding life.
And, finally, something to reflect on. We are always learning from our mistakes, right? And that’s it? Are we really aware of our mistakes? We need a completely different evaluation system – a different format for exams, both for teachers and students. Those who make no mistakes are not experts. The real experts are those who discover the mistakes in the machinery of our development. What lessons should we learn from the Covid-19 crisis?
