Education trends are constantly evolving to meet the needs of the time. We’ve seen marked shifts in education trends over the past twenty to thirty years. As we enter 2023, it’s interesting to take a look at current trends in education and how they came about.
4 Current Education Trends
1. Focus On Soft Skills
Did you ever think that soft skills training would be included in a school’s curriculum? Up until a few years ago, that would have been unthinkable. But here we are in 2023 and educationists are doing away with rote learning and focusing more on skills-oriented learning strategies. Memorizing facts and figures is no longer good enough in today’s work environment. Instead, school curriculums are being redesigned to provide students with the skills they need to apply academic knowledge to resolve real-world challenges.
Alongside mainstream academics, 2023’s curriculum also equips students with leadership, communication, and team-building skills, all of which are considered essential in today’s workplace.
2. Technological Upskilling
There’s no denying that technology is developing and advancing in leaps and bounds. Colleges simply cannot afford to teach students yesterday’s technology. They must keep re-designing their curriculum to keep up with technological advancements. That’s the only way to ensure that their students are employable in today’s automated workplaces.
To meet the growing demand for individuals skilled in the latest cloud technology, professional courses are expanding their curriculum to include cloud-based technological skills.
3. Inclusive and accessible learning spaces
This is one of the education trends that is long overdue. It’s very heartening to see schools taking into consideration the special needs of students with disabilities. Colleges are waking up to the fact that in sidelining students with special needs, they could be overlooking many geniuses in the making. With that realization, more and more schools are designing special education modules that make education easily accessible to all students.
This current educational trend is particularly significant as it levels the playing field for specially-abled students and increases their employability. This is a huge step towards eliminating long-held but undeserved biases against persons with disabilities.
4. Innovation in subject matter
In 2023, we see more subjects being offered in colleges than ever before. Even up until a few years ago, colleges offered students a variety of subjects in their curriculum. However, these were mainly mainstream subjects. Students who wanted to specialize in a non-traditional field had to enroll in another course that included their choice of specialty.
Thankfully, colleges are beginning to see that they have to expand their course offerings to keep up with the current scenario. With that realization, they are beginning to include courses such as foot anthropology, applied linguistics, ethical hacking, and artificial intelligence into the curriculum. This is great for both, students as well as schools. It makes it easier for students to choose exactly the courses they need to improve their employability without having to enroll in another professional course. By expanding their curriculum schools benefit by attracting a wider pool of students, creating a more diverse and engaging campus.
While these are the four major current educational trends, they aren’t the only ones. Virtual learning was a major education trend during the pandemic. It is slowly gaining more traction and is set to become more mainstream in 2023.
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