Diversity, Learning and Change ~ Changing Worlds

Howard Gardner

Learning in a changing world can be difficult and requires teachers to change their teaching styles to accommodate the global changes. The world is gaining increased changes in the areas of technology, globalisation, consumerism and environmentalism. Schools are changing from being a place of learning just for reading, writing and arithmetic to a place which places emphasis on the process of learning which develops children on all areas of life whilst taking into consideration cultural contexts, needs and interests. Gardner has explained the five minds for the future and by future he refers to ‘the increasing power of science and technology; the interconnectedness of the world in economic, cultural and social terms; and the incessant circulation and intermingling of human beings of diverse backgrounds and aspirations’ (Gardner, 2009, p. 1). Gardner’s Five Minds for the Future includes; ‘A disciplined mind… A synthesising mind … A creating mind … A respectful... An ethical mind’ (Edgar & Edgar, 2008, pp. 200-202).

Five Minds for the Future

My learning has been greatly influenced by the growing use of technology. When I was in primary school we were taught to use books to research information and that the internet was not accurate and that any information found on it must be re-checked with a book. Now at university I have found that I am using more internet resources than ever before and that this is because of the increased technology available to me. I now don’t have to try and find a book that shows clearly what I am trying to explain; instead I can just search in an educational database and sort through until I find what I would like this draws on elements of the synthesising mind. This has changed my learning because information is now easily accessible for all areas of research and this is because of technology.