marcie boucouvalas, ph.d. professor & program director, adult learning & human resource...
TRANSCRIPT
Marcie Boucouvalas, Ph.D.Professor & Program Director, Adult Learning & Human Resource
DevelopmentVirginia Tech Graduate Center/National Capital Region USA
April, 2010 Iasi, Romania
Work in the Information Society: Past as prologue to the future in understanding our
transformational times
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SOCIAL TRANSFORMATIONCHANGE
Alteration or modification; shift, transition, passing from one state to another; becoming different
TRANSFORMATIONRestructuring
SOCIAL TRANSFORMATIONRestructuring of society, especially underlying societal structures
& institutions
Societal Institutions
Provide stable infrastructureMost affected by social transformations
Not specific concrete institutions but the concept from a sociological lens such as education, religion, work, the family, etc. (we will focus on work and education)
ADAPTATIONS CALLED FOR ON THE PART OF INDIVIDUALS AS WELL AS
SOCIAL STRUCTURES
Adaptation: Response to a force or pressure that is causing change reducing one’s ability to successfully function unless one adapts.
Adaptation: An essential ingredient in surviving &
thrivingIt is not the most
intelligent or strongest of the species that survive but the ones who can adapt the best ~ Charles Darwin
Importance of Lifelong Learning
In times of change learners inherit the earth while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal in a world that no longer exists ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower
Complementary to Adapting: Ability to change environment
Margaret Mead … writing in 1974..for the first time in history we know
we are in a transformational period as substantial as the Copernican & Industrial revolutions. As a species we have the power to shape the outcome & recognize counter forces (paraphrased)
SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION
Technology as CatalystIn the “Information Society”
Information & Communication Technologies
…but technology has always been a catalyst throughout human history for societal transformations
Let’s journey back in history …
1 Million Years Ago Primitive HumanAnimal Human
Duration: 970, 000 years
Homo Sapiens: develop language (sound to meaning),
Technology? Use of fire; invention of stone tools
Ability to Change & Control, rather than merely respond & adapt to environment
30, 000 Years AgoArchaic HumanStationary
Nomad
Duration: 18,000 Years
Follow natural migration of wild herds, rather than stalk single animal
Technology? Development of more refined tools (harpoon, spear)
Ability to change & leave environment; emancipate oneself & migrate
12,000 Years AgoTribal VillagerNomad Village
AgricultureDuration: 5,000
Years
Agricultural RevolutionFrom hunter-gatherers to farmers
Beginning of Settled Communities
Technology? Domestication of Plant & Animal
Ability to cooperate with nature & cycles; Beginning of social organization & group life
7,000 Years AgoCivilization Tribal Civilized
Culture
Duration: 4,000 Years
Organization of city & development of architecture, art, etc.
Manorial(life) to Mercantile (money) Economy
Development of 2 classes: ruler & ruled
Technology? Extract metal from ore: metal tools & weapons (end of Stone Age)
De-emphasis on biological survival; shift to cultural & social development
3,000 Years Ago
Axial HumanOuter Inner
World
Duration: 2600 Years
Spiritual nature of humankind stressed
Bodily activities repressed to reach goal of purification from animal nature
Church came into prominence
Shift to world dominated by religion and primacy of spiritual nature
400 Years Ago
Mechanical HumanInner Outer
World
Duration: 400 Years
Copernican Revolution (1500s)Industrial Revolution (1700s)“Enlightenment” Era
Emphasis on Outer World & mechanical, material, technological progress
Change from village to centralized industry (concept of labor force)
Technology? Machine
Shift to world dominated by intelligence & primacy of scientific method
New Transformation in ProcessSynthesis of Inner &
Outer Worlds
Information Rich Society Learning Society?
Duration: 50 years in process
Exploration of the frontiers of outer space and inner space of human consciousness; Integration of “eastern” & “western” worldviews
Shifting paradigm (scientific/spiritual view of world)
Technology? From ICTs to Biotechnology & Nanotechnology
Shift from industrial to information (learning?) society & planetary/world culture??
Industrial vs. Information SocietyProduction of Goods & Services
Industrial(Advent of machine)
Greater material production; design & division of labor force
Information(ICTs + Biotechnology & Nanotechnology)
Greater production & transmittal of information distributed instantaneously
around globe, higher speeds, lower costsLabor Force? Reconceptualization!
Societal Structures Transforming:Selecting Work & Education for Discussion
Work: What do we mean by “work” & “workforce”?? How has it changed throughout history. What about the future of work?
Education: How has term “educated” changed throughout history? What do we mean by “education” now …and in the future? What does that mean for preparing the “work force”?
CONCEPT OF WORKFormer historical times: Leisure time
heralded by aristocracy; those who had to work pitied, scorned, or spurned.
Pre-Industrialized Non Market Cultures: Work NOT separate sphere of life
Move to Industrialized: Work is necessary but not necessarily avenue of fulfillment
Present to Future: Meaningful work sought. Can we restore it to “human dimensions & meanings? Applebaum (1992). The Concept of Work
Work? The Labor Force?Changing: Way people are working &
relationship between individuals & organizations
Telecommuters, new business ventures and professions, rise of free agents (“most significant transformation since [leaving] the farm for the factory”)
“Citizens abandoning one of Industrial Revolution’s most enduring legacies—the job—and are forging new ways to work”Pink (2001, pp. 10-11)
New Kind of Workers? Labor Force?
What is our responsibility to help prepare these new workers … OR
Will they prepare us
…for the future?
CONCEPT OF EDUCATION
Earlier Times: Educated individual? Liberal Arts
Rise of Professional Schools: Emphasis on Practical Application
Looking to the Future: State specificity of knowledge (ability to enter & exit the relevant state of consciousness at will)
Preparing a Work Force for an “Information Society”
Liberal Arts + Practical Knowledge & Skills Development + Self-Knowledge of one’s Ways of Knowing and Levels, States, & Structures of Consciousness =
Potential toCultivate a Flexible Worker
UNESCO: Greater framework
Conceptualization of Learning: Skills Development + learning to think & know, learning to be, live together, and change.
World Assemblies: World Summit on the Information SocietyGlobal Assemblies on Education (4 during 2009)
World Summit on the Information Society
Aim-Build an inclusive information society
(marginalized, indigenous, disabled); success stories shared on web portal www.itu/wsis/index.html
e-learning, e-governance, e-health, e-commerce, e-business
Follow-up: 10-14 May 2010
UNESCO EDUCATION ASSEMBLIES
Concern with embracing a broader perspective on the meaning of learning & recognizing connection with the world of work as well – hosted 4 Assemblies
Higher Education (July, Paris) & Adult Learning (December, Brazil) witnessed similar theme: transformation
The Future?
Concept of humankind being transformed
Technological enhancements?Fusion of body with technology?
Implications for leadership?
Some Challenging Thoughts
Melding of biology & technology?Nanotechnology & enhanced humans
a la Kurzweil
Different kind of digital divide between “have’s” and “have-nots”?
“Black Swans” a la Talib: Changes neither predictable nor expected—great impact in history
Kurzweil’s Model
Understanding Our Transformational Times
Remember Margaret Meade …convinced that as a species we have the power to shape the outcome & recognize counter forces…
..beyond skills development: learning to think & know, learning to be, live together, and change (UNESCO-DeLors)
Mega Challenge?
“If we fail to understand that …society indeed pregnant with the new social order and mistake the creative forces for threats to our well-being, we could respond defensively and end up …with a miscarriage”
Willis Harman (1978) Stanford University, Center for Study of Social Policy, futures researcher
Together as Planetary Citizens
What are we doing ORCould we do toEmbrace these
Challenges?
What other challenges abound?
Thank You! Va Multumeic!
QUESTIONS?Întrebări?
COMMENTS?Comentari?