Are even our "best" schools failing to prepare students for 21st century careers and citizenship?
View the following videos:
Education Today and Tomorrow
A Vision of K-12 Education Today
The Lost Generation
"We can teach them the technical stuff, but we can't teach them how to ask good questions- how to think." Clay Parker, President, Chemical Management Division of BOC Edwards
"How do you do things that haven't been done before, where you have to rethink or think anew?" Ellen Kumata, Managing Partner, Cambria Associates
"We are routinely surprised at the difficulty some young people have in communicating: verbal skills, written skills, presentation skills. They have difficulty being clear and concise; it's hard for them to create focus, energy, and passion around the points they want to make....Kids just out of school have an amazing lack of preparedness in general leadership skills and collaborative skills. They lack the ability to influence." Mike Summers, Vice President, Global Talent Management, Dell
"There is so much information available that it is almost too much, and if people aren't prepared to process the information effectively it almost freezes them in their steps." Mike Summers, Vice President, Global Talent Management, Dell
View the following videos:
Education Today and Tomorrow
A Vision of K-12 Education Today
The Lost Generation
In the new global economy where many jobs are either automated or "out-sourced" to other countries and some have not yet been invented, what skills will our students need to build successful careers and be good citizens? Are our schools teaching and testing the skills that matter most?
I do not understand why these people are surprised when young adults do not have the same thinking and problem solving skills they have. How old are these people who are being quoted? We are working with teenagers. Their brains are not fully developed. Their ability to make choices based on the understanding of consequences is not quite what it will be later on in their lives. We should and we do work on teaching them to use higher level thinking skills. But we should also keep in mind their age and remember what level we were thinking on when we were their age.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Lorri. I remember personally having a horrible time with Algebra as a young teenager. When I took the class as an adult college student, it was a breeze. Brain development definitely affects scholarship.
ReplyDeleteIt is true that there are a number of things that the educational system could improve; however, I too agree that the student, his parents and the extended community should become stakeholders in educational process. Should this happen on a whole scale basis, not only will the teacher be the one planning for the academic success of the student, but the student, the parent, and the community as well. As teachers put much thought into developing avenues for which students can travel successfully, this too must become the goal of all the stakeholders.
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