What is the purpose of education ? Actually the question should split into: What is currently the purpose of education?. What is the purpose of future education?
As fewer of us will have jobs in the future (because we cannot match the productivity of robots and AI agents), our grandchildren will not need education to prepare them for the world of work. We need to prepare them for a world of no-work, of leisure, of filling their time constructively without the inherent motivation of work.
This assumes, of course, that (part of) the wealth generated by automated processes and systems is divided among these non-working citizens in the form of q universal basic income which meets their essential safety and security needs.
Education can then , and must, concentrate on their personal development and their enrichment.
The number of changes this will require of current education models is frightening and I do not have great confidence in the ability of our educators to refine their models appropriately. If they don’t we will condemn future generations to increasing frustration snd lack of direction.
Oddly enough,. some of the answers lie in the changes that are bringing about this situation. We need our children to go through something similar to ‘machine learning’ whereby we allow them to experience situations through which they can develop their own knowledge and perhaps experiment with new ideas. No longer do they have to accept a standardised model of learning – they develop their own,
Their learning and development must include social development so some of this learning must be in groups – but these can be mixed age, mixed gender, mixed ability – though we may have trouble defining ‘ability’ in this new world.
I hope someone with power and influence is already thinking about, and planning, this new system as it will be a long and difficult transition. I also hope that future parents realise their part in this transition. In fact their participation is essential since if we leave it to governments, the drag of bureaucracy might mean it never happens – or not until it is too late for the next few generations.