Articles by David Hood

This article was submitted to the Initiative by David Hood of New Zealand. The content is of interest to anyone concerned about the connection between ... Read on

There is nothing natural or given about the way schools are organised. The “rules” were not etched in stone brought down from Mount Sinai. Schools are the historical product of particular groups with particular interests and values at particular times. They are, in other words, political in origin. If we are to understand schooling as it is we need to understand the key influences of the industrial age – the modern era- on education. If we are to understand what schooling can and should become we need to understand the essential features of the information age, or the post-modern world.

For me, 1997 marked 35 years of involvement in education and training. Those 35 years have seen the most dramatic and unprecedented period of change in history. World commentators are saying we are into a once in one or two hundred year change process, more dramatic than that which saw the advent of the industrial society. We use the term ‘revolution’ to describe that period in our history. As we move out of the industrial age into the new age of information technology another revolution is occurring.