YUVAL NOAH HARARI's VIEW on the CHALLENGES of 21St
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YUVAL NOAH HARARI’S VIEW ON THE CHALLENGES OF 21st CENTURY EDUCATION M. Jiva Agung W Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia [email protected] ABSTRAK Salah satu tujuan dari pendidikan formal adalah untuk memungkinkan orang untuk hidup atau bekerja sesuai dengan kebutuhan zaman mereka. Pembelajaran saat ini (khususnya Pendidikan Sejarah) di sekolah masih berfokus pada menghafal dan jauh dari produktif apalagi progresif. Yuval Noah Harari, seorang profesor di Departemen Sejarah Universitas Ibrani Yerusalem, yang buku triloginya menggambarkan peta dari tantangan, masalah, serta rekomendasi untuk pendidikan di abad ke-21 sehingga orang-orang abad ini dapat menjalani kehidupan mereka dengan baik. Penelitian ini adalah tinjauan kritis terhadap pemikiran Yuval Noah Harari tentang tantangan pendidikan abad ke-21. Tiga karya Harari yang monumental diperiksa dan dibandingkan secara kritis dengan karya-karya lain yang relevan. Makalah ini menyimpulkan bahwa ada tiga cara untuk menyelesaikan masalah pendidikan di abad ke-21. Pertama, dengan menghubungkan tiga periode; kedua, mendorong pemerintah untuk membuat kebijakan positif pada tiga isu paling penting (perang nuklir, krisis lingkungan, dan gangguan informasi dan teknologi); dan ketiga, mengundang dunia untuk berpartisipasi dalam memecahkan masalah global. Kata kunci: Abad 21, Pendidikan, Tantangan ABSTRACT One of the aims of formal education is to enable people to live or to work accordingly to the needs of their era. Unfortunately, instead of being used as a tool of living, nowadays learning (particularly History Education) at schools still focuses on memorizing and is far from productive let alone progressive. Yuval Noah Harari, a professor in the History Department of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, whose trilogy books describe maps out challenges, problems, as well as recommendations for education in the 21st Century so that people of the Century could live their lives properly. This research is a critical review of Yuval Noah Harari’s thoughts about the challenges of 21st Century education. Three monumental Harari’s works (Sapiens, Homo Deus, 21st Lessons) were examined and critically compared with other relevant works. This paper concludes that there are three ways to resolve the problem of education in the 21st Century. First, by relating three periods (past, present, future); secondly, encouraging governments to make positive policies on the three most important issues and thirdly, inviting the world to participate in solving global problems. Keywords: The 21st Century, Education, Challenges 160 161 INTRODUCTION phenomenal changes in the post- Human today is facing an modern society, which have unprecedented revolution in which challenged every aspect of our all old stories collapse and no new modern lifestyle. stories emerge to replace them. As It is so different from the the question posed by Harari, “How situation and conditions in the can we prepare ourselves and our previous ten centuries where even children for a world that is though no one could predict the constantly transformed and offers future correctly, they believed that radical uncertainty?” For example, the basic characteristic of society at for babies born today, then they that time was not to experience will be thirty years old by 2050. If significant changes. Harari gave an the world is fine, the baby will live example of the situation in China in around the year 2100, and may 1018 where the Song Kingdom even become an active citizen in the might collapse, the Khitans would 22nd century. The problem is what invade from the North, and disaster we need to teach the baby so he can might kill millions. These survive in 2050 or 2100? And what conditions were still imagined even skills need to be prepared so that though the year has changed to they get jobs and understand the 1050 where the majority of people situation around them?1 would still work as farmers and The pessimistic view of weavers, the rulers would still Harari is understandable because depend on humans to regulate as expressed by observers, the forces and bureaucratic affairs, combined impact of globalization, men would still dominate more, life information technology, and expectancy would remain the same biotechnology, including Artificial which was about forty years. So Intelligent (AI) has led to parents in 1018 taught their 1 Yuval Noah Harari. (2018). 21 Lessons (trans, Hans Algebra). Manado: CV Global Indo Kreatif, p.281. Yuval Noah Harari’s View on The Challenges of 21st Century Education 162 children the same thing as natural, countries. Today’s education must such as for wealthier parents equip individuals with taught their children how to make cosmopolitan and cross-cultural classic Confucius books, to write understanding to enhance the calligraphy, to fight horses, and to capability of working in prepare girls to be a simple and multicultural settings on group obedient housewife. Meanwhile, projects, and the capacity to think poor parents taught their children creatively and critically to the how to grow rice or to weave silk.2 digital natives of today and Beyond that, some have tomorrow.3 tried to explore these educational Besides, there is John Joseph challenges and dealt with them. Lupinacci who discusses the One of them was Prof. Ranbir Singh challenges of 21st Century Malik. In his article, Educational education, but his article focuses Challenges in the 21st Century and only on the issue of educational Sustainable Development, he leadership.4 Then there is also reveals that even though the world Aleksandra Tluściak Deliowska today is overwhelmed with whose article focuses more on globalization and the explosion of technical and instrumental ICT and knowledge/information problems, especially related to which affects every area of life, the teacher-student relations which world of education can be the she thinks need to be given great solution. The method is by radically changing the ways of delivering education, especially in developing 2 Yuval Noah Harari. (2018). 21 4 Lupinacci, John Joseph. Lessons, p.282. “Addressing 21st Century Challenges in 3 Ranbir Singh Malik. “Educational Education: An Ecocritical Conceptual Challenges in 21st Century and Sustainable Framework toward an Ecotistical Development” Journal of Sustainable Leadership in Education” Impacting Development Education and Research, Vol. Education: Journal on Transforming 2, No. 1, 2018, pp.9-20. Professional Practice, Vol. 2 (2017), pp. 20- 27. ISTORIA, September 2019, Vol. 15, No. 2 163 attention. However, her study does in the academic world, there aren’t not detail.5 many people who have discussed it None of the studies seriously. Existing studies just cite mentioned above discuss education the contents of the book or review for 21st Century from a historical the books and throughout my perspective, like Yuval Noah search, there are no journals that Harari’s perspective. Even though discuss his thoughts specifically Harari is a historian it does not regarding the issue of education. So mean that he has disconnected that it can be said that this article is from the field of education. Harari’s very important to be used as a life is in the circle of the education preliminary study and needs to be system. Equipped with mastery developed more deeply.6 over human history along with the The purpose of this article is twists and turns of their actions, to provide an overview of the Harari finally ventured to discuss challenges of education in the 21st 21st Century human problems. Century based on the views of Even further, he also tried to Yuval Noah Harari. These explore the possibilities of future challenges are discussed and then long-term human life, such as those several solutions are proposed. reviewed in his book entitled Homo Because of Harari’s analysis based Deus. on the global and macro On the other hand, because perspectives, the interaction and Harari’s name is still relatively new interconnection between fields of 5 Deliowska, Aleksandra Tluściak. Vol. 34, No. 1, 2018, pp. 1-34 and Allan “About the School and the Student- McCay’s “The Value of Consciousness and Teacher Relationship in the 21st Century: Free Will in a Technological Dystopia” Some Perspectives and Challenges: Journal of Evolution & Technology, Vol 28 Problems of Education in the 21stCentury, Issue 1 (Sept, 2018), pp. 18-30. There is Vol. 76, No. 4, 2018, pp. 422-424. also a Bibliography Review written by 6 I found the study of Harari’s Tamas Pesuth. “Money in Harari’s thoughts both from the Mardohar B.B. Historical Philosophical and Technological Simanjuntak’s article. “Disposisi Religio- Approach” Vintage (Public Finance Strategis Skemata Algoritma Mark C. Quarterly), London, 2018, pp. 275-280. Taylor dan Yuval Noah Harari” Melintas, Yuval Noah Harari’s View on The Challenges of 21st Century Education 164 science are difficult to avoid. Even University of Jerusalem.7 From though it focuses on the challenges 2003 to 2005 he pursued of education, the analysis and postdoctoral studies in history as a discussion will touch the other Yad Hanadiv Fellow. relevant issues. Being gay and deciding to RESEARCH METHOD marry his husband, Itzic Yahav, in This research is a critical 2002 in Toronto, Canada, did not review of Yuval Noah Harari’s prevent him from becoming a great thoughts about the challenges of 21st century thinker and 21st century education. Three philosopher. He has several works monumental Harari’s works in the field of world history, (Sapiens, Homo Deus, 21st Lessons)