FAYETTEVILLE — Students today need stronger foundations in foreign languages, physical education and the arts to participate and compete in a global economy, several panelists said Tuesday.
At the same time, schools need to be more responsive and tolerant to diversity, focus on higher educational standards and to be more effective in the use of data to better understand student learning, said Springdale School Superintendent Jim Rollins.
Schools also need a stronger foundation in multiculturalism because by 2030, research indicates more than half of all students will be non-white, Rollins said.
Those were the messages Tuesday from a panel of educators who spoke on standards and curriculum and how that will impact tomorrow’s education. The panel was organized by the Iota Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma Society International, a professional organization of women educators to promote excellence in education.
A small audience of about 10 people attended the discussion at the Fayetteville Public Library.
Panelists included William Schwab, dean of the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Arkansas; Rollins; Tom Dillard, head of special collections at the university’s Mullins Library; Freddie Bowles, assistant professor of curriculum and instruction; Susan Mayes, instructor in the Department of Health Science Kinesiology, recreation and dance; Kassie Misciewicz, executive artistic director of Trike Theatre in Bentonville; and Denise Thomas, director of public relations and membership at the Arkansas World Trade Center.
Thomas said students today need to understand history, especially world history, to better understand the people with whom they are doing business. They need to be physically fit because in some countries they might have to do a lot of walking.
She recounted a visit to Morocco several years ago and a camel ride in which the attendant wanted to speak only English in an effort to sharpen his skill in the language even though he spoke six other languages.
Bowles spoke on the importance of learning another language besides English to get along in the changing global economy.
“Sixty percent of the world’s residents are multilingual,” she said, noting in other countries many people often speak three, four or more languages. “There are 29 languages spoken in Arkansas. We need to get foreign language back into schools in a stronger way and at a younger age.”
A new core curriculum requirement at the university will allow students to have a more flexible college degree, Schwab said. A recommendation is to go to the faculty senate this academic year to lower the core curriculum requirements from 66 credit hours to 35, meaning students will get a broader knowledge in their majors because more hours will be required for graduation.
The number of hours needed for a bachelor’s degree is 120 hours.
The core curriculum is changing, Schwab said, because 21st century students need communication and math skills, a grounding in the humanities, a passion for life long learning and the arts.