A cautious step forward: Finding the right balance between the Western and Asian traditions of learning will be a challenge as schools in East Asia try to foster critical thinkers. PHOTO: Tan Yi Wen

The knowledge-based economy requires individuals who do not wring their hands in despair when confronted with a seemingly intractable problem or situation. It needs people who have the versatility to be able to focus at the micro level, while never losing sight of the macro picture.

Since machines have already taken over much of the muscle work and are increasingly used for process work, it demands more brain and much less brawn.

This radical shift is placing a heavy burden on schools now charged with producing school leavers and graduates of a different calibre. Teachers nearly everywhere are overworked, underpaid and sometimes underappreciated.

Nurturing students to learn how to learn comes naturally to some, but to others, it is an insurmountable challenge because of limited time, pressure from all sides and personal shortcomings.

While the East is starting to embrace the notion that "learning without thought is labour lost", the West is going back to basics by strengthening its maths and science education.

China, the ultimate pragmatist, has a tradition of adapting things to its own needs, such as in the economy — "socialism with Chinese characteristics" — or in education.

After their defeat at the hands of the British in the Opium War, the Chinese adopted the education philosophy of "zhong xue wei ti xi xue wei yong", which means "Chinese learning for the foundation, Western learning for practical use", and sought to acquire the know-how of the superior Western technology.

It is feared that many countries across the region are unlikely to swallow the idea of teaching critical thinking without regard to their sense of identity or particular circumstances.

Long associated with Western culture, some in the East point to the downsides of unbridled critical thinking.

It remains to be seen what the long-term implications of nurturing a generation of critical thinkers would be.

The forces of technology and globalisation have already delivered a tectonic shift to the way some young people think and choose to live their lives, compared to their grandparents or even parents.

While some may be future entrepreneurs, inventors or thinkers, others may be less afraid to challenge authority and demand more Avatar, less Confucius.

But there is the possibility that critical thinking cannot be taught successfully, and that the exercise may prove to be a grand failed experiment.

Several countries in East Asia could be accused of having a bias towards incrementalism — they appear to be "crossing the river feeling for one pebble at a time".

Lee Peng Yee, an associate professor at Singapore's National Institute of Education, said: "For education, if you make a mistake, the turnaround time is 20 to 25 years. That means you sacrifice one generation.

"You can't change things overnight, because the hardest thing to change is human beings."

Read more in The Straits Times' Saturday Special Report and contact the authors on: eastasiaschools@gmail.com