EDUCATION IN THE 21st CENTURY – CHALLENGES AND TRANSFORMATIONS

Abstract

The new reality of the 21st century has changed the goals and quality of education worldwide. Deep understanding and acquisition of lasting knowledge is a necessary but insufficient condition for academic and personal realisation. Successful socialisation requires critical thinking, teamwork, resource management... Young people should not only be competent, but also conscious, effective individuals who can overcome difficulties and support the development of society.

The aim of this article is to follow the challenges in the field of education in the new century and to look for an answer to the question how a teacher can become really successful and the students more motivated. The implementation of this task includes an overview of current works and developments on the issue, personal observations and practices conducted in face-to-face and distance learning, lectures with trainers and trainees.

In the modern dynamic and ever-transforming world, where changes in information and communication technologies are taking place at such a rapid pace that “the future is now today and not tomorrow”, it is extremely important for young people to see the relevance of what they are learning. The focus of training is shifted, and what and how the student learns becomes of paramount importance. The new directions and ideas of time do not exclude the teacher’s leading and defining role in the learning process, but certainly give a more active and central role to the learners and impose new approaches and methods of teaching. Digital skills and literacy become mandatory and information technologies – an integral part of everyday life, as well as the professional and pedagogical competence of the trainer. The teacher in the new century must be adaptive and constructive, constantly improving his or her qualifications, seeking solutions and solving problems. His or her new role is a facilitator, whose main task is to develop learning skills and abilities for planning, conceptualisation and management of the learning process, and counselling skills in order to build a calm and protected educational environment. In the new era the most successful are those teachers who work for the personal development of their students and make them build up key social and emotional competences (self-awareness, self-governance, social awareness, relationship management, responsible decision-making). The successful lecturer concentrates on these competences and provides for practices in the learning process that provoke the development of each of the specified skills. Taking into account the challenges of the information society and the globalisation of modern times, the successful teacher adapts the teaching models to the changing learning patterns and enriches them. It is precisely in the synchrony and balance between the new and flexible forms of learning (at the core of which is the distance learning), the trainer as a mentor and the learners of the so-called digital generation, where the effectiveness of the educational process is found nowadays.