The trends and practices of education have always been through subtle changes and evolutions. This is also evident by the fact that people taking birth in different generations have a very distinct way of approaching the world and its matters. In recent decades, the trends of school education have grown to become more and more individualistic, emphasizing more on customizing school education so that it caters to the specific needs of every student.
The underlying idea behind this is that every student, whether a boy or a girl, processes information differently. The cognitive faculties of the children not only respond to stimuli around them differently but the students also combine different kinds of information differently. This has naturally made it necessary for schools to diversify in the ways that it approaches education. Since the goal of education in modern times is mainly to help students become their best selves through learning, there is now a great deal of emphasis to empower students through effective educational measures.
This is a stark contrast to the educational ideas and policies that were adopted by schools during the previous generations. If we look back to the educational approach taken by schools some 80 or 100 years back, we will find that instead of schools trying to cater to the individual needs of the students, there was a greater emphasis on social mindedness than anything else. The world was very different back then and this also had its impact on the school system. Social mindedness was at the core of worldview in those times. Organizations and individuals who came up with schooling policies had the responsibility of bringing up children in such a manner that they can become an asset for society as a whole. The focus of schooling was not on enabling people to develop their own careers or work for their own dreams and goals. Instead, great emphasis was given to developing a workforce that can contribute to the growth and progress of the society and the nation as a whole.
Such a schooling procedure had a far-reaching impact on how people used to view their own lives as well as the lives and actions of people all around them. Living life solely for personal pleasure and happiness was practically unheard of during the previous generations. Individuals were expected to conform according to social mores, traditions, and practices instead of standing out in a crowd. People’s choice of work was also driven by an emphasis on social wellness instead of achieving personal goals and ambitions.
In fact, the idea of pursuing personal goals and ambitions was more or less nonexistent. In schools, students were often encouraged to develop skills that were believed to be of some use for society as a whole. There was also vocational training in some cases that allowed people to find work after school. Since society was less dependent on technology, most of the work was done by hand, and students in a school were needed to be prepared for that.