JULIUS CAESAR D.

MACUSI 18 May 2019

MAT Methods of Research

Reflection: Prospects and Challenges of Graduate Education in the Fourth Industrial

Revolution

I. INTRODUCTION

Came the eleventh day of May, faster than a rocket jet;

Students scampering, scrambling, stimulated to ferret;
About the prospects that fourth industrial revolution set;
Mightier than the sword, they write and listen to not forget.
II. HOLD FAST THE FUTURE

If there would be one thing that I got from the convention, coming to contemplate about it,
is that we should come to terms with the fourth industrial revolution as fast as we can and boldly
shape the future. For the future sounded like darkness and gloom (see Isa 60:2), e.g. the use of
Artificial Intelligences (AIs) that threatens human existence, the misuse of data, the proliferation
of weapons of mass destruction (biological and/or nuclear warfare, the “displacements” of
Indigenous People as one united community but now becoming fast “polluted” and unpreserved
through “westernized” teaching without the proper contextualization, the increase in scientific
knowledge through the fast-track technology changes that occur every moment of everyday that
greatly influence learning itself, etc.

Truly indeed, the implications of the fourth industrial revolution baffle us, making us
petrified and mortified, having the inkling that heated disputes between or even among some
nations could trigger the “annihilation of humanity” through biological/nuclear and even “spiritual”
war.

III. THE SEER ASPECT

We must do something now to ensure a better tomorrow. Simply said than done. “How
are we going to simply just do that, when in the very first place, we do not know exactly what the
future holds?” we might complain, right? But we should not fret, when we do know that there is a
God who holds the future (see Joshua 29:11, Phil. 1:6 and Prov. 3:5-6 – that our future is brighter
than the shimmering of the sun (“…the Lord will rise upon you and His GLORY will appear OVER
YOU – Isa. 60:2). This is not to exaggerate and even to romanticize, I’m simply stating a mere
truth. For God said, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself (Mat 6:34)
…” and He advised us “to be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of
salvation as a helmet.”
IV. LEADERS ARISE

The world need leaders to emerge and to come out into the open. So, where have now
the heroes/ leaders gone? As the saying goes,
“Everything rises and falls on leadership.”

What we need now are leaders who are highly visionary (the seer) and who do not remain
complacent with the status quo but act or even take positive chances of the opportunities of what
we have today that have great repercussion in whether in the short or long run, setting the course
of the ship of today’s generation in the sea of uncertainties for future generations. As the tsunamis
of change keep on coming every now and then, for change is inevitable, we have to course
through or redirect these changes to have a lasting positive impact, shaping not just today’s
society but especially that of the future.

So every leader, especially those at the forefront, the catalyst, and even the “disruptive”
leaders must see to it that their actions are toward not a bitter end but a better and brighter future.
Therefore, every leader must have the right perspective in everything to avoid traps or backlashes
of any action that they are going to take. For every action, there is always either a positive or
negative equal reaction. We are in need of leaders who does not just able to see into the future
but are able to know what exactly are the right things to do and be able to do it right, they are not
re-actionists but positive action-takers to create a better world especially in the major mountains
of influence: religion, science and technology, the media and the arts, education, sports and
business. And lastly, in order to be able to do this exactly, they need “empowerment” from
wherever they might positively source it out, matching it with 21st century skills and capabilities:
creativity, innovativeness, critical thinking, effective project management, complex problem
solving, collaborative, emotional intelligence, able to judiciously judge and make decisions,
servant-hearted etc.
V. EDUCATION MOUNTAIN OF INFLUENCE

The role of education should be one that serves as a bearer of light or a lighthouse that
shows to people and guides them towards their destiny, students coming to know their “blue print”
success path early on in life. I am dreaming of a school, both faculties and staffs that know and
move according to their own true calling in life and in turn teaches students to grasps their own
calling and let them move towards and embraced it without neglecting to provide the necessary
needs in their environment for their growth and development.