It is necessary to address the paradigm shift in education with a holistic approach to provide future generations with the skills of the new century and ancient values.

Affecting all aspects of human life, scientific and technological developments are taking place rapidly and as a reflection, debates on change in education continue. In this scope, the learning area and form are extended noticeably. Obtaining sufficiency and competence has become prominent with a structure that requires the mix of formal-informal learning in both face to face and online platforms.

Education Evolves Internationally

The personalized education environment evolves to take place in an international habitat. Factors like beyond-the-limits educational applications and open access to resources increase the impact of culture and education diplomacy. Nowadays, skills of global citizenship, innovativeness, creativeness, the use and production of technol ogy, interpersonal communication, cooperative, and lifelong learning have also become important. Additionally, attempts to integrate information and communication technologies have become strategic with an atmosphere formed by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and digitalisation in education accelerated with the triggering effect of the crisis.

Basic Dynamics Of Access To Education Have Changed

On one hand, some difficulties and obligations occur in this unexpected development, and on the other hand, education systems are also dragged on to meet the still-debated smart community requirements. Nothing is the same as before now and in this new period, the basic dynamics of access to inclusive education, which is one of the requirements of sustainable development, have changed. The situation includes both opportunities and threats and has uncovered the issues like increasing the capacity of strategy development and digital gap as problems to overcome in the short-term.

The Shift In Education Should Be Seen As A Strategic Investment Area

The developments have affected not only the education service sphere from a social perspective, but also, the education-employment relationship as an indicator and dynamics of the labour force market. Besides creating a new market in the business world, it is important to consider the issue as a strategic investment area in the framework of a public-private sector partnership to manage the period soundly. On the other hand, for creating added value, it is quite valuable that some practices become a part of cooperative social responsibility projects under enterprises to overcome problems that show up in adapting to the new normal.

The Shift In Education Should Be Addressed With A Holistic Approach

It is necessary to address the shift with a holistic approach to provide future generations with the skills of the new century and ancient values from pre-school to postgraduate education, from general education to occupational and technical education, from pre-service teaching to obtained skills, from diploma programs to certificate programs, shortly, in all formal and common education areas. This is the only way where we can play an active role in this sharp change in education.

Prof. Dr. Cihad Demirli, Lecturer at Istanbul Commerce University